From fresh-baked pies to vintage girlie mags, Vermont Avenue's retail strip defies stereotypes--and the Gap.

by Contributor

In Short
Sure, Rodeo Drive has Tiffany's and Melrose has Fred Segal. But Los Feliz has Y-Que Trading Post, repository of grinning Franken-berry mugs, vintage girlie mags and more tchotchkes than you can shake a tiki at. Artfully disheveled indie rockers in distressed denim shuffle down Vermont Avenue, the area's main retail drag, and disaffected youths loiter around alternative salon Purple Circle and gorge on mac and cheese at the aggressively retro diner, Fred 62.