Rodeo Drive

Note: The correct pronuniciation of "Rodeo" is not the same as the word that refers to cowboys (attempting) to ride bulls. Properly pronounced, its "road - ay - o".

The actual area of interest (where the shops are and the tourists come) lies on the stretch of Rodeo between Santa Monica Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard. If you plan to visit, be forewarned that the decent men and women who call themselves Beverly Hills Cops are very thorough in their enforcement of local parking regulations, and you'll be competing for a parking space (and road space) with a pleathora of expensive cars, including those made by Rolls Royce, Ferrari, and Aston Martin. Fortunately, there is plenty of publicly accessible parking in the area - much of it is metered and will cost you "only" a quarter per 15 minutes.

Although Rodeo Drive has the name and prestige, there are many other shops and boutiques on adjacent streets, especially on Beverly Drive, many featuring brands / labels that you might expect to find on Rodeo Drive itself.

The most suprising thing about Rodeo Drive is the number of brands on the Drive itself and in the nearby area that are not typically associated with products and big ticket items that only the wealthy can afford. Oh sure, Tiffany's is here, as is Versace etc., but also to be found are The Sharper Image, Radio Shack, Banana Republic, The Gap, Pottery Barn, Baja Fresh and a host of others. Perhaps many of the latter companies have shops here for the prestige factor - given the enormously high rents it is unlikely that many are particularly profitable without selling enormously expensive items.

There are also several mid-tier brands that have brand showcase shops in the area. Nike, in particular, has a Nike Town store nearby on Wilshire Blvd.

The result is that a trip to Rodeo Drive can be quite fun, even for those of us who are not enormously wealthy. There are plenty of affordable shops here, and plenty of opportunity to window shop for those more lavish items.