Shopping in the Poconos runs from Pocono Premium Outlets, about 100 brand-name stores right off I-80, to the boutiques of Victorian Jim Thorpe, Stroudsburg's Main Street and the Hawley Silk Mill, plus family candy makers, orchards and antique markets.
Below is where to go for each, and the closest big grocery stores to our homes, because Lake Harmony, Blakeslee and Albrightsville don't have one.
Pocono Premium Outlets
The Poconos' big outlet center, formerly The Crossings Premium Outlets, is at 1000 Premium Outlets Drive in Tannersville, right off I-80 at Exit 299. It has about 100 brand-name and designer outlet stores, including Nike, Coach, Columbia, kate spade new york, The North Face, UGG, Under Armour, lululemon, Levi's, Michael Kors, Crocs and aerie, plus a food court and Barley Creek's tasting room and pub.
Regular hours are Monday to Thursday 10 AM to 8 PM, Friday and Saturday 10 AM to 9 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 7 PM. Holiday hours differ (it opens early the day after Thanksgiving), and individual stores set their own hours.
Small-town shopping
- Jim Thorpe: Broadway's Victorian storefronts hold independent bookstores, record and gift shops, an olive oil shop, an old-fashioned five-and-dime and the Jingle Bells Christmas Shoppe; Race Street's Stone Row is just off Broadway. Go early on fall foliage weekends.
- Stroudsburg: a walkable Main Street of boutiques and galleries, including long-running Dunkelberger's Sports Outfitter and the American Ribbon and Craft Factory. Meters run Monday to Saturday, 9 to 6.
- Milford: Broad Street's makers, galleries and independent shops, and two floors of antiques at Antiques at Forest Hall.
- Hawley: the Hawley Silk Mill, a National Historic Landmark bluestone mill with shops, galleries and a coffee house, plus more storefronts downtown.
- Delaware Water Gap: the Shoppes at Castle Inn, a restored grand hotel with an ice cream parlor, a toy shop, a candy shop and an art gallery.
Local favorites
- Callie's Candy Kitchen, Mountainhome: family candy maker since 1952, with a free candy museum. Open 10 to 5, closed Wednesdays.
- Heckman Orchards, Effort: family farm market since 1962 with its own fruit and vegetables, cider, pumpkins in fall and Christmas trees and wreaths in December. Daily 9 to 6.
- The Olde Engine Works, Stroudsburg: a 22,000-square-foot antique market with nearly 100 vendors. Daily 10 to 5.
- Country Junction, Lehighton: billed as the world's largest general store, open seven days a week.
- Village Farmer and Bakery, Delaware Water Gap: farm market and bakery since 1976, known for apple pie and pot pies, open all year.
Groceries near our homes
There's no big chain supermarket in Lake Harmony, Blakeslee, Albrightsville, Pocono Lake or Pocono Pines, so stock up on the way in. Route 940 in Mount Pocono has ShopRite, Weis Markets and a Walmart Supercenter. There's a GIANT in Bartonsville (next to Tannersville), Lehighton (often closest for Albrightsville) and East Stroudsburg, and a Walmart Supercenter in East Stroudsburg.
