Bischoff’s Shades of the West

Bischoff’s is a great store for tourists and souvenirs. One of Old Town’s best. But my favorite part of shopping at Bischoff’s is their hardware selection — knobs, handles, pulls. Everything I needed to transition my traditional furnishings to having just enough of a southwest vibe. Come for the typical shop offerings but scour and stay for the hardware!

Best place in Old Town Scottsdale for souvenirs and southwestern gifts. Great variety of merchandise. Employees are usually quick and friendly. There are usually free samples of their salsas, too. Prices are reasonable.

Bischoff’s had highly unique and high quality Western clothing from gorgeous men’s button downs to excellent cowboy boots. They also had incredible antler chandeliers. It was as if a Western boutique met a Western furniture store. If I was shopping for a man, some cowboy boots for myself, or a main lighting piece I would come here.

There are two stores right across from each other. The owner has impeccable taste in American Indian arts and it shows in the way he arranges his garden and stores.
If you love one of a kind art work that stands the test of time, try their gallery store. If you are into nicknacks (from American Indian sand paintings, cow boy hat to cactus jam), you want to visit their store across the gallery!

This shop is overflowing with all things of the Southwest. Clothing — from touristy tees to pricey leather and suede western wear — toys, trinkets, home décor … you’ll find a lot of stuff. It’s kinda overwhelming browsing through stuff as high as the ceiling (actually hanging from the ceiling) all the way to the floor. Expect to spend some time in there…

I had a very nice shopping experience here. I was recommended to come here for turquoise jewelry from someone I trust. I had no idea how much stuff they sold at this store. You could spend days here and not see everything. Clothing, shoes, gifts, jewelry, food items etc… just amazing. Anyway, my salesperson, Maria, was lovely. Very helpful with lots of suggestions and I left with items I like very much.

I have shopped at this store for 25 years — jewelry, hats, children’s gifts, Dia de Los Muertos items, glass wear, serapes and baskets for parties, and putting together Southwest food baskets for Holiday gifts every year. I have brought visiting family members here for everything from t-​shirts to expensive jewelry items. The staff is helpful and friendly. The owner, «Hong», however — is not. She has a major attitude and has been rude and insulting on more than one occasion. I have had her follow me around like a suspected shoplifter when needing to try on a «Double D Ranchwear» t-​shirt. It isn’t my fault the only dressing room is in another area of the store, and «Lucita» already knew who I was/​what I was trying on. Further, if a store owner is following a customer — the proper approach is to offer service: «How are you doing? Can I get you a different style or size?» Hong does not offer service if her subordinates are present.
Hong has also insulted the jewelry I was wearing at the time — a $ 500 item. Her insult was in response to the fact I asked the source of the turquoise on an item in her case. My grandfather was Native American and I have an extensive collection and have worked with turquoise, so I do know the characteristics between the turquoise produced by the domestic mines and how it differs from Mexican and Chinese turquoise. I have truly made an effort to practice more graciousness than she clearly possesses by NOT observing that I could easily identify types of turquoise decades before she married into the Bischoff family.
Further, I have heard her misrepresent some of her products to tourists. (Native Americans will usually identify their jewelry by the terms «Native American», «Zuni», «Navajo,» etc — not «Indian Made.») Further, a majority of her earrings — particularly the Repousse– can be found on eBay… identical product — 60% less. If one purchases here, I would definitely ask for proof of authenticity. (and they do have some real works of art, but their inventory is a mix).
There’s another issue: pricing. She clearly counts on the naïve «one-​purchase tourists» as her priority clients, because she has clothing hanging in her (unbelievably disorganized) clothing area that is nearly 3 years old (2012 Double D Ranchwear t-​shirt, «The Wild Ones» for example).
So, from a local who shopped often at this store: I’ve decided that I can find any of these items elsewhere at any number of businesses that value my patronage. And my sincere apologies to the friendly and helpful staff that have to work under her. It’s taken me a long time to write this review, and I kept going back and just avoiding her. In that time, I’ve discovered her attitude is already widely known around town.

This is the type of place where you take someone that is visiting from out of town, where you go for all things Wild West, southwest, flavors of AZ, souvenirs, and even jerseys from your fave sports team.
You can get anything from prickly pear syrup to «hot as hell» hot sauce, moccasins and cowboy boots, Mexican and Native American art, pottery and jewelry, a really unique and chic selection of boutique clothing, cactus kits, rustic door knobs and hinges for your home, local children’s books, stuff for bikers, paraphernalia for sports fan, snacks for foodies, threads for fashionistas, and the list goes on. You can get lost in here for hours, and I highly recommend a visit for newcomers, tourists, and gift shoppers.

I went into this store in hopes of getting this cute bag I saw in the window the night before. So I’m excited about getting my bag. I walked into the store, NOBODY greeted me at all. Everybody looked, but nobody said anything to me.
I’m like wtf is this about? I proceeded to go look at the bags and another lady walked in and she was greeted so I knew the workers could talk. Anyway I still looked at the bags and planned on getting one, but I refuse to buy anything from a business that acts like this.
They just lost 150 bucks…

Bischoff’s is THE go-​to place if we ever need an Arizona-​type gift for someone. It’s also where I bring all of my out of town visitors if they want to buy gifts or get something to remember their trip. This place pretty much has everything you want: clothing, jewelry, food, household stuff, kids stuff, books, etc. There are always people shopping in there and if you don’t find something here, you probably won’t find it elsewhere!
Of course, tourist shops tend to be a little pricey, and this one is too, but they do have some affordable things.

The only thing that made SHADES special was ANDREA!.. Oh and those mexican blankets are cool!

everytime i need a tourist gift, i stop here first. it has everything an out of towner would need from arizona… including cactus in a box!
i will say this… i would love to have some of the goodies they offer… i love the iron work they sell, the dia de los muertos figures… the masks and the crosses…
but it’s just so darn expensive. if i didn’t live here and wasn’t el cheapo, i could find lots of cool stuff in here, but as it is, i want a better price and old town scottsdale is not the place to find a cheap price.
but it’s always fun to take out of town visitors here to let them browse the numerous rooms and «alleyways» within the store.

This is a nice shop for touristy folks but they’re pretty uptight if you try to take pictures. They came across with a huge attitude when we wanted to take some, it’s not like it’s an art gallery for gosh sakes. It’s high dollar, over priced trinkets.

This place rocks. Huge store with just about anything you can think of that screams Az, Az tacky, Az local, or how to impress my back east friends or out of town guests. (ie– Kick Ass/​Az hot sauce, Tombstone hot mustard, cricket lollipops-​lol) I like shopping in here. The staff was very nice as well.

On a mission to find some University of Michigan apparel that fit my pregnant body, I started my search with a phone call to Sports Authority. I struck out there within minutes as I was told that they only carry AZ team apparel. Shucks!
Luckily for me, Lindsey F overheard my conversation and suggested I call Bischoff’s Shades of the West. She remembered seeing a ton of college apparel during her last visit to this touristy store with all kinds of inventory including Western wear, food products, jewelry, etc… I skeptically called and sure enough, Bischoff’s carries UofM apparel as well as all kinds of sports paraphernalia including hats, t-​shirts, shorts, keychains, and more from the NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL, and more!
I headed over that afternoon and found what I was looking for… and now I know where to go when on the hunt for all kinds of random items from AZ novelty gifts to college football attire. Thanks Bischoff’s, and «go blue!»

Shades of the West has been around for a long time, since 1971 and has a bunch of southwest crazy crap that you can take back to your relatives. What? You actually thought I was going to write a review that was serious?
From hats to kitchenware, gourmet spices to moccasins Shades has it all.
They also sell the popular Painted Ponies collection at their store and on their web store. They have chips and salsas, hot sauce, Ass Kickin’ food products, prickly pear, glass, gift jewelry, hand-​weaved baskets, cook books, live cactus and all sorts of southwestern knick knacks. Don’t leave without your scorpion encased in a dome gift.

I was hunting for outlaw/​western knick nacks for my event. I knew that the Old Town shops were the place to go, but I had one in particular in mind. After walking by Bischoff’s several times over the years, I finally had an excuse to walk in with reason so I jumped at the chance. The verdict is that this shop was everything I was hoping for and more.
This place is packed wall-​to-​wall with stuff. Legit stuff. They have everything from cowboy boots and cowboy attire, to novelty foods perfect for gifts from the southwest and event sports attire from particularly every team you can imagine: and when I say every team, I mean it. They even had KU stuff.
To the left of the store, the walls are lined with cowboy boots, leather, moccasins, belt bucklers and western purses. In the back, you’ll find every type of «gift» such as outlaw bbq sauce, tombstone chili, scorpion suckers and prickly pear gummy bears. In the back right of the shop, they have rows and rows of cowboy hats that vary in price. Throughout the rest of the stores, you’ll find sports attire (Giants, A’s, Bears, U of A, ASU, KU, Cubs, etc, etc, etc). Then in the front right of the store, they have plenty of Native American gear as well.
This is a one-​stop-​shop for anything you need that’s themed around Arizona; whether it be cheesy or authentic. You’ll find it here.

I was in Old Town for an appointment and walked by Bischoff’s. I remembered that I wanted to check them out to see if they had a particular hot sauce. I had only been in one other time several years ago, and had forgotten what a unique store it was. Because I had some time to kill, I not only looked at the hot sauces, but also all their other «stuff». And what stuff it is — everything from southwestern foods, baskets, pottery, clothes, t-​shirts, travel books, cookbooks, hats, tourist souvenirs — you name it, they have it.
It kind of reminds me of the old general stores that still exist in small towns — a little of everything, but with a southwest flavor. Crowded, narrow aisles, no rhyme or reason where they stock things — but still fun to look through.
I never did find the particular hot sauce I was looking for, but I did manage to find three others that I took home to try. And I’ll be back, if for nothing else just to look through their assorted merchandise for that elusive touristy gift.

Excellent source for south-​western gifts for locals and tourists. Huge inventory, everything from soup to nuts. Good prices.
I’ve been here many times over the years and one thing that has worsened is the availability of Arizona and Scottsdale themed t-​shirts. Most are now totally gone and replaced by professional sports t-​shirts and caps. If you shop around that mall area you can find t-​shirt stores that still sell quality tee’s.

If you are a QB Shades of the West is your go to receiver. If you are a WR then this place is the «hot route.»
I was recently in town with my brother watching some spring training games and we honestly visited Shades of the West at least twice a day for about 4 days.
This place is so packed full of goodies it may take hours if not days to fully discover the gems that are buried underneath other shirts/​hoodies and hats. Shades of the West almost has 5 parts to the store. There is the home-​ware section (glasses, plates, salad servers), the clothing/​shoes section (tons of Minnetonka shoes), the food section (features tons of hot sauces, prickly pear cactus goods, spices), the jewelry section and my favorite the random sports clothing section (I unearthed a rocking pair of D-​Back Nike shorts).
When you make a purchase be patient, they still write up an old school receipt almost like you are at a Western gold mining plant. Actually the inside of the store somewhat resembles what I feel a gold mining plant may look like.
Everything in the store is for sale, the things hanging from the ceiling, the chips you taste, the crazy looking NBA All Star 2009 Hat (One of the craziest/​best hats I have ever seen) and most importantly the funky looking howling coyote sitting outside.
If you are in Scottsdale take an hour to visit Shades of the West. I guarantee you will find something there you need or desire.
The prickly pear syrup rocks give it a whirl if you like making your drinks a lil funky.