Like many Midwestern destinations, shopping in Bloomington includes a range of shopping malls, strip malls, and a downtown complete with antique stores. If this doesn't deter your need to shop, here are a few places to check out:

Eastland Mall  -- This is the largest concentration of retail in the area, and is located at 1615 E Empire (at Veterans Parkway). This enclosed shopping center features typical mall stores, and five anchor stores: Bergner's, Macy's, JC Penney, Kohl's, and Sears. There is a Talbot's in an outlot.

Veterans Parkway, in eastern Bloomington and extending north into the town of Normal, is the main commercial street in the area, with hundreds of retail stores. Most chains have branches along a seven-mile stretch of this commercial area. Some strip malls in that area include:

Colonial Plaza, located at 1500 E Empire, includes K-Mart, Circuit City, Office Max, Michael's, and Big Lots.

The Parkway, located at 2103 N Veterans Parkway, includes Best Buy, TJ Maxx, and Factory Card Outlet.

The Shoppes at College Hills along Veterans Parkway just over the border in Normal has several upscale shops such as Ann Taylor, Chico's, and Joseph Banks. There are also three larger stores remaining from the old indoor mall at that location: Target, Hobby Lobby, and Von Maur. Von Maur, along with Bergner's and Macy's at Eastland Mall, are the upscale department stores in the area.

There are several big-box stores, including Office Depot, Pet Supply, Bed Bath & Beyond, D ick's Sporting Goods, Cost Plus, and Border's Books in the strip mall at Veteran's Parkway and College Avenue.

Downtown has few chain retail stores, but does have a few unique shops, some antique stores, and several interesting art galleries. An outstanding shop is A. Renee, on the first floor of the office building at Center and Jefferson Streets. It features a great selection of food and wine items, some artwork, and gifts. other speciality shops are scattered along, or within a block or two off of, Main Street.

Just east of the Illinois State University campus in Normal, in an area that the town leaders have rechristened as "uptown", there is a nice food and kitchen item store called The Garlic Press. Most of the other shops in that area would appeal mostly to college students. Also in Normal, east of Veterans Parkway on College Avenue, is a 200,000 square foot branch of the Meijer chain. That store is open 24 hours.

For children's toys, there is a Toys-R-Us located near Eastland Mall, but a local store, The Gingerbread House, carries more unique and upscale items, including a large selection of dolls. It is located near the intersection of Morrisey Drive and Oakland Avenue in Bloomington.

There are a several nicer shops, including a well-stocked international food store and a gift and apparel shop called The Bronze Frog, at a small shopping center located at Veterans Parkway and Washington Street (northeast corner) in Bloomington. Barnes and Noble Bookstore is located across Veteran's Parkway from Eastland Mall.

Wal-Mart has two superstore locations: on Veteran's Parkway at Fort Jesse Road and in a commercial area along Market Street west of I-55/74 on Bloomington's west side. In that latter location is Farm & Fleet, which caters to the agricultural trade, but also has good prices on homewares, tools, and (at Christmas) toys.

Lowe's (Veteran's Parkway at Empire), Menard's (Veteran's Parkway at Shepherd Road), and Home Depot (across from Menard's) have large home-improvement stores here.

Larger grocery chains are Jewel, Kroger, Cub, and Schnuck's. Drug store chains include: Osco, Walgreen's and CVS.