The Nashua Region: Paradise for the Serious Shopper

We all know what they are like and who they are. They are our wives, our husbands our children, our loved ones. They can be compulsive, perpetually in motion and forever pressing on to the next frontier, the next conquest.

Yes, this is the common breed of American we call the "serious shopper." If they were to describe retail paradise, it would include everything from bookstores to bicycles; from computers to kitchen sinks; from Persian cats to Persian rugs; from giant retail boxes, to category killer stores, to boutiques; from malls to man-made handcrafts; from appliances to antiques. They want it all. They want to drop in and shop, and shop 'til they drop.

Well, there is such a place. There is a retail paradise custom-made for the serious shopper. It is right here in the Nashua region. In fact, it is commonplace for serious shoppers to come here in large numbers, by bus even, to tap into the wellspring of retail opportunities this region offers, all free from any hint of a sales tax.

From north, south, east and west, this seemingly endless string of retail opportunities rolls out in front of the serious shopper like the yellow brick road, and, "gee, Dorothy, it is clear we are not in Kansas anymore" This is Nashua where serious shoppers roam.

In the south, Nashua's famous "south-end" hosts a million-square foot-mall complemented by three million other square feet of retail opportunities. All this is packed into just eight tenths of a square mile of, yes, shoppers' paradise. Now that is serious shopping.

But wait, just up the road a few miles, as a change of pace from the mall and the national retail giants, there resides one of the most picturesque and successful downtowns in the country. You can stroll on red-brick cobbled sidewalks below historic buildings and wander in and out of specialty shops and boutiques punctuated by sidewalk cafes and restaurants.

Don't despair if you wander too far west because you are back on the road to a new set of retail opportunities, restaurants and bargains that rolls out in front of you as you make your way to the limits of Nashua to the towns of Merrimack, Milford and Amherst along Amherst Street. The farther you drive out of the city the more the character of the roadside begins to change, and you begin to see antique stores and flea markets that will make the most devout fan of "Antiques Roadshow" smile.

If in downtown you turned east and not west, you would cross the Merrimack River and once more discover a series of retail opportunities on Route 3A in our neighbor by the river, Hudson. Hudson is the town across the river, but there is no "trouble in river city~" just more places to shop, eat and enjoy.

All of this could take some time, so do not expect to do it all in a morning. The good news is you don't have to pack a lunch because restaurants abound on this retail pilgrimage. Just be sure to keep gas in the car and wear comfortable shoes, or be ready to buy them along the way.