Shopping

While it may be history that brings visitors to the Historic Triangle, once they get here they want to shop. This is nothing new: Merchants Square dates to 1935 and bills itself as one of the oldest shopping malls in the country. West of town, the granddaddy of outlet shopping, The Williamsburg Pottery Factory, started drawing visitors in 1938 and has spawned many an imitator along Richmond Road, including some upscale competition.

What follows is a list of where to find what, beginning with the Historic Area. In general, you’ll find specialty shops offering unique fine-quality items grouped near Merchants Square. If you’re looking for manufacturers’ outlet stores, head westward out Richmond Road (US Route 60), where shopping centers give way to outlet malls and finally to the Pottery Factory.

For shopping specialists, we’ve broken out those places where you can browse bookshelves, shop for Christmas decorations, or pick up a unique item of Virginiana.

Turn to our close-up in this chapter to learn more about New Town, which became Williamsburg’s second city center and its first of the 21st century.

Shopping - The Arts

The first performing arts theater in the Americas was located in Williamsburg on the edge of Palace Green. Long gone, that early theater has not been reconstructed but when it comes to the arts, the Historic Triangle offers plenty to see, hear, and do. There are museums and galleries devoted to the visual arts. Live concert performances are an almost weekly occurrence, and dance is alive and well here.

Travel a bit east to Newport News, Hampton, and points south of Hampton Roads, and you’ll find museums with state-of-the-art IMAX movies, interactive exhibits, and other places to keep children as well as adults entertained for days. You’ll also find performances by the Virginia Opera, Virginia Ballet Company, and other professional performing arts groups.

Two especially popular and longtime Williamsburg festivals include An Occasion for the Arts, held the first Sunday in October, and the Junior Women’s Club Art Show, in the spring. Both are held on Merchants Square. Growing in popularity is a performing arts event called First Night, an alcohol-free New Year’s Eve celebration of the arts, with performances staged at several venues around downtown Williamsburg. (For information on this and other events, check our Annual Events chapter.) Here, all venues are in Williamsburg unless otherwise stated.