C.O. Bigelow

Bigelow, the oldest apothecary in the country--Mark Twain used to fill his prescriptions here--is a New York institution par excellence. (Mr. Bigelow, the store cat, had his obituary in the New York Times.) Shopping at Bigelow feels like an experience out of another, chain-free world, not only because of the old-fashioned wooden counters, but also because of the unusually varied selection of goods.