While shopping at the Northshore Mall I was feeling thirsty so I decided to buy a bottle of soda…read morefrom this little stand near the food court. This little "Newstand" has all the items you would expect from a mall kiosk. The major sellers here are their scratch tickets as well as their cigarettes, but overall they have a decent selection of drinks and snacks. The staff here is a little short, but overall the experience was OK. You can find a bottle of soda for cheaper in the mall, but since this place is conveniently located it just made sense to grab a quick pick me up.

The Salem News folks recently redesigned the format so it's almost a tabloid -- a long, skinny…read moretabloid. And they added a "screamer" headline on Page 1 (whatever the Big Story of the day is, is placed in the right-hand column with a huge bold-type header). It's okay, but there are only so many ways you can design a newspaper. It should always be easy to handle and page-turn, easy to fold, and easy for the eye to follow. Especially the eyes of older readers, who comprise, I suspect, the majority of Salem News subscribers. It would be nice to have a slightly larger type/font size for news and bulletin board items, but the publisher needs to save ink and paper, so it ain't gonna happen. To the SN's credit, they do make the editorial pages' layout cleaner and easy to follow, but maybe that's so not even one older set of eyes will miss the publisher/corporation's opinion on things. ;-) There is just enough local news (I live in Salem) to make it readable; if I want real "Salem News," I get a copy of the weekly Salem Gazette from one of the freebie boxes around the city. The AP filler news and feature items have all been posted on the Internet news sites days before the SN publishes them, but we know that this is a sign of the times. The best thing about the paper is the Police blotter (I happen to like the humor in the non-serious-crime items, despite what other reviewers might say), Dear Abby and the comics, though I am REALLY PISSED that "For Better Or For Worse" was dumped, unannounced, and replaced by the vapid "Dustin" strip. What the hell is up with that? Intelligent, creative, perceptive, original and genuinely full of real-life humor, Lynn Johnston's strip is far superior to the empty-headed, gag-type, unfunny crap that passes for "comic strips" that increasingly take the place of good stuff. Was "FBOFW" too expensive for the SN? I would like an explanation! Salem News (I still call it the Salem Evening News; old habits...) is a small-town local paper published by a big-ass corporation with headquarters in another state. As there are not many small, family-owned newspapers left, this should be no surprise. But, the reporters and editors are local yokels, and they write about local things, so except perhaps for the editorial influence of a "foreign" owner reaching its corporate fingers out into our little community, at least we have local people writing for local people.

The scam now is no physical paper on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Started during covid...but never went…read moreback. Still paying an outrageous price for this rag.

With more and more local small gay oriented print media disappearing, the Rainbow Times has quietly…read moretaken the place of many large gay weekly papers that have been bought out and moved away, or went bankrupt. The relatively small weekly paper, has small font, and focuses on 4 out of the 5 New England states. Maine is not reported on for some reason. The paper offers local state news, national news, music and fashion articles, club and night life, pop culture, cooking tips, and advertising the next big circuit party. Kind of hard to find a copy if you live IN NH or VT, but the online version is good too. Found on line at http://www.therainbowtimesnews.com

The Rainbow Times is the best quality GLBT newspaper out there today in the greater New England…read moreregion. Offering local, national, and international news, politics, entertainment, fashion and everything in between, it is a hybrid of a "typical" newspaper and a magazine. It also pays special attention to the people of color community, something not so common in mainstream GLBT publications. This paper is the talk of the town, or at least my circle. Not to mention, the customer service is excellent. I've called for a subscription and the receptionist could not be any more personable.

The book store, I am NOT an avid paper bound book reader, but i appreciate picking one up from time…read moreto time. For my taste they had plenty of titles organized well by genre. I do also like that they have manga section that myself and my god daughter etc can run thru to get her the next chapter she needs in whatever series. If they don't have it they can order it. The B&N on the South shore near me closed down and it sort of sad to see. I like the smell of brand new books in a bookstore. They have bunch of collectibles, legos, funko pops and other figurearts! The Starbucks we ordered 3 drinks, the did forget the simple syrup in two of them so it's more was definitely straight matcha which is fine, healthier without the sugar haha. It definitely took longer than other locations with no line. The cafe also offers more food the your normal Starbucks as well. Staff was alright, didn't seem the most friendly on our visit.

Barnes & Nobles right by Northshore Mall in Peabody served as a decent caffeine stop for us!…read moreHaven't been inside this Barnes & Nobles in YEARS but doesn't look like much has changed. It's definitely a more dated store but seemingly had decent inventory of novels + great kid-friendly selection. They have a Starbucks inside, with only two workers but only one person working the front and also making the drinks. Expect a little bit of a wait because of this. We ordered three drinks: one caramel ribbon crunch Frappuccino & two iced matcha lattes w/ strawberry cold foam. Took about 10 min, so definitely longer than your typical stand alone Starbucks. Matcha lattes had no sweetener, though it normally comes w/ simple syrup but no problem, healthier this way anyways haha. My caramel frappe was very sweet + kept leaking out of the cup. Staff was okay, didn't find them to be that friendly. Overall, I can see this being a great spot to sit + read a book as it's pretty quiet in here & has drinks + food too. Just note if you're ordering food/drinks, just keep in mind it might take some time to be ready.

This was my favorite shop that I stopped into while in Salem this past weekend. I found plenty of…read moreitems for gifting to penpals amid the wide array of stationery and antique postcard reproductions. I also snagged a lovely scented body powder, some earrings as gifts, a mermaid necklace for myself, and a few other odds and ends. Everything was packaged lovely and, as I found out, the jewelry is all handmade by one of the owners mothers. I felt that everything was priced fairly and I will certainly come again when in Salem. I love supporting small, local businesses and this shop was warm, inviting, and lovely.

I happened to stumble across this unique gift shop when I was visiting Salem for the weekend. I'm…read moreso glad I did. They have a large selection of books, teas, jewelry and Victorian items. Everything is reasonably priced and the employees are very friendly. I'm a huge Alice in Wonderland fan and managed to get a necklace and accessories. Thanks for a great experience!

Geoff is my favorite partner I work with at any Company I hire. I work at an investment Company…read morethat owns many companies and Geoff can handle anything we ask of him. Geoff's ability to understand your vision and then execute is second to none. I can explain something to him and he immediately understands vision, and then creates stunning work. He's also super timely, reliable, & is always thinks one step ahead with a suggestion to make my project better. He's an absolute pleasure to work with.

From the owner: Branding & Identity Packaging Design…read moreMarketing Campaigns Product Development Digital/Web Graphics Wedding Packages Large Scale Signage Tradeshow Material Vehicle Wrap Design Food Truck Design Flyers Brochures Catalogs 3D Printing Album Art Book Covers Infographics Print Design Illustration Art Direction Logo Creation Business Cards Menu Design Website Design Email Marketing Event invitations Banner Ads App Design T-Shirt Design Event Posters