According to their website, they have nine stores in Maine and three in New Hampshire. I didn’t know they had any locations outside of Maine. I most frequently find myself in their Bangor and Waterville locations. Their Scarborough location is the best I’ve been in, though, in terms of size and selection, but that one’s over two hours from home.
Artsy-crafty stores like Michael’s or A. C. Moore. I’m not interested in starting any new projects, but I like looking at the variety of stuff one finds in these stores. Even when I go in one to buy a specific item, I find myself wandering around, just looking. Maybe I’m easily distracted by the sparkly and the shiny…
Definitely Amazon. Find a bar, order a beer, and window shop Amazon from my barstool.
Guitar shops
Book shops
Antique shops
I never know what I might find.
The best is an antique shop that doesn’t specialize in guitars or books but picked something random up they don’t fully understand 
Goodwill or Bethesda. Like going rummage shopping indoors. Also Menards, looking for one or two project ideas.
Wal Mart. Seriously.
A cookshop (I have a bit of a utensil fetish) or a computer store so I can look at the latest gadgets. Better than both, charity shops, if they are available.
Or I might not shop at all - I might prefer to spend the time sitting in a coffee shop, people-watching.
A local indie bookstore is the gravity well that draws me in.
Used to be electronics/computer stores - Best Buy, Circuit CIity, Comp USA, Fry’s. But they’ve either all folded or turned into some sort of uninteresting hybrid of music/DVD/cellphone stores, with tiny selections of bog-standard computer stuff and appliances.
Nowadays, it’s probably a specialty/high-end grocer, or maybe a kitchen equipment/restaurant supply store. Sometimes it’s a hardware type store- Lowe’s, Home Depot, local hardware stores (where I can find them).
Honestly though, when I end up in that situation, I usually end up at one of the all-in-one big box stores like Target or Wal-Mart, as it always seems like there’s a series of shopping lists in various categories accumulating for the house, and I can cover all of them at one place if I go to one of them.
- Bookstore; Indie/2ndHand if available
- Electronics/Photo
- Secondhand/Thrift store
- “Dollar” store
As much as I enjoy home improvement, kitchen, book, office supply and weird stuff stores, my favorites are Tacoma Screw and Fastenal. Hardware junkies dream and puts the big box stores to shame with their selection.
I was aware of the Scarborough store – yeah, that one’s good – and the Brunswick store, but now that I think about it, they opened one in South Portland a few years ago. I used to live right around the corner. It completely slipped my mind.
#1 all-time winner is American Science and Surplus in Milwaukee.
Need a pair of cardboard binoculars? A 500mL filtering flask? Some French military suspenders? Maybe an RF Microwave meter? They’ve got you covered, and then some.
Art supply store
Music store (instruments/accessories/scores, etc.)
Used bookstore
Stationery store, if there are any left.
Guitar Center is a great favorite of mine for this. They let you play all you want.
- Hardware store (includes Tractor Supply, in my book)
- Thrift shop/flea market
I can kill a lot of time in Menards. Especially during gardening season. I like to look at all the plants and wish I had room to plant them.
I used to go to Williams-Sonoma but the one by me closed so now I spend a lot of time at Michael’s.
Guitar stores. If I’m stuck somewhere with a couple of dead hours, especially out on business travel, I’ll see if there’s a place nearby that I can fiddle with the merchandise and rehearse my random assortment of classic rock riffs. Stop me if you’ve heard this one…“She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean…”
Used bookstore is my first choice, and a regular bookstore is my second. If they have to be different kinds of stores, I’ll say Target as my second choice.