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City Cast Las Vegas

Keep It Local

Keep It Local by City Cast Las Vegas features spotlights on local businesses we love and personal, curated, and neighborly recommendations that will help you live your best Las Vegas life right now. So, if you’re ready to ditch the national chains, e-commerce giants, and big box stores,

sign up now for the new weekly newsletter from City Cast Las Vegas, written by Melinda Sheckells.

Sign up for Keep It Local from City Cast Las Vegas

Melinda Sheckells

In Las Vegas, where wigs and sequins sometimes qualify as a uniform, the bar for Halloween is already high. These four stores make getting ready part of the fun.

 at 3920 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite F, is a useful first stop whether you have a costume planned or just need a wig. The family-owned shop carries ready-made looks and accessories, along with theatrical makeup from Ben Nye, Kryolan, and Mehron for transformations. You can assemble an outfit piece by piece or rent a professionally crafted costume.

, with a refundable credit-card deposit equal to the rental price. Pick up is the day before you need it; return it the morning after.

A ’70s costume is a good excuse to buy actual ’70s clothes. At 

, 211 E. Colorado Ave., owner Stephanie Roshto’s selection offers plenty of color and sparkle for a disco look or old-Vegas glamour. Want to be Dolly? Go full Palm Royale? This is where to snap up the real deal. Start here if you enjoy putting outfits together and want something you can also wear after Halloween.

 Already have your main outfit? Bring it along and browse the store for finishing touches, such as the most dramatic cat-eye sunnies and a 

 began selling their Sinister Mom soaps and candles at local craft fairs. Their shop at 4555 S. Fort Apache Road, Suite 106 now offers spooky décor and horror collectibles. Small gifts make browsing particularly tempting: Pick up those $6 “Friday the 13th” mask magnets and $10 “Beetlejuice” lanyards you’ve always wanted to give to trick-or-treaters.

 For Halloween party host gifts, stock up on the 

 ($13 each). Order online for in-store pickup.

, located at 3950 E. Sunset Road, Suite 106. The oddities-and-comics shop sells taxidermy and preserved specimens alongside comics. Browse its domed insect art for the house, or investigate the unmounted specimens if you’d like to make a display yourself.

 The Night Market Before Halloween, Oct. 10, 5-10 p.m., brings local artists and vendors, snacks, and a charity raffle. Want something hands-on sooner? Check availability for the Oct. 3 

, 6-7 p.m. The $65 fee includes the specimen and materials.

From $75 costume rentals and theatrical makeup to haunted tea and real skulls, these four locally owned Vegas shops have your spooky season covered.

Best Halloween Stores in Las Vegas, Nevada

Your Guide to Halloween Shopping in Las Vegas

From bedazzled spider pasties to 30-inch ostrich plumes, 

 makes going all in on a costume a sure bet. Even better, they also sell the supplies you’ll need to keep your creation together once you leave the house.

Costume designer Natali Germanotta Dolan opened the shop in July 2025 with her husband and creative partner, Alex Dolan, and Emmy-winning designer Perry Meek. Germanotta Dolan has helped create 

performance looks for her sister, Lady Gaga

. The business grew out of the founders’ difficulty finding costume materials locally.

Don’t let those credentials intimidate you. Germanotta Dolan wanted beginners to feel comfortable experimenting, with experienced staff to explain the materials. An idea and a few questions are a perfectly good starting point.

For inspiration, browse OSE’s lookbook. The team recreated Sharon Stone’s glittering halter dress from “Casino,” placing the neckline’s rhinestones by hand. Its replica of Cher’s Oscar headpiece for Arizona Broadway Theatre’s “The Cher Show” uses pampas grass to create that towering silhouette. Locally, OSE made the Green Fairy’s organza boa for “Absinthe” and covered Jennifer Lopez’s microphone stand in jet-black Preciosa crystals.

Billing itself as Las Vegas’ only feather store, OSE carries long ostrich plumes for sweeping headpieces. Shorter ostrich drabs offer a more budget-friendly option. Just admit it: You’ve always wanted a fluffy marabou boa.

Bring a garment you want to transform and a reference photo. Start with feathered cuffs or a sparkling neckline. The website’s 

 estimates how many stones to buy for your design.

With a longer lead time in mind, commission a custom costume or bring in a piece for specific alterations and modifications; plus, their sourcing service helps track down elusive materials.

Find OSE at 3550 E. Post Road, Suite 200, open 12:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Go big this Halloween at On Stage Essentials, where pros behind looks for Lady Gaga and 'Absinthe' help beginners add plumes, sparkle, and drama.

On Stage Essentials, Las Vegas’ Costume Supply Shop

A Halloween Costume With a Backstage Pass

A Strip pastry chef opened a neighborhood bakery. An architect built his home here, then helped provide his neighbors with a place to gather. Behind Water Street’s storefronts are people who have made the neighborhood their business and their life. Here are a few you should get to know.

Danish-born Flemming Pedersen worked at nine major Strip properties before opening 

 almost two decades ago. Today, his neighborhood business transforms his doughy past into bread, pastries, and celebration cakes. But it’s really all about the Danish kringles.

 The bakery closes at 3 p.m. Tuesday - Saturday and is closed Sundays and Mondays, so dessert shopping comes before dinner.

Architect Windom Kimsey put down literal roots: He designed and built his home on Water Street. At 

, his neighborhood ambitions meet the hospitality of husband-and-wife team chef Alessandra Madeira and general manager Walter Ciccone.

 A bottle purchased at sister business Azzurra Wine Bar comes with no corkage fee when enjoyed with dinner here.

Richard’s grandmother taught at Basic High, and he visited Henderson as a child. Years later, Linda nudged him to pursue his dream of starting a brewery. 

, opened in April 2016, making this its 10th anniversary year.

 Take a favorite draft home in a 32-ounce crowler, filled and sealed at the brewery. Leashed dogs are welcome on the patio.

A Cambodian refugee who moved to Henderson in 2003, Chanthy Walsh built her restaurant with her family. She also designed 

, herself, giving its mix of Mexican and Asian influences a personal setting.

 Order across the menu: Birria egg rolls, bulgogi fries, and seafood poke nachos show how the kitchen brings those influences together.

From Strip pastry chefs to local architects, discover the passionate people building their businesses and lives right here on Henderson's Water Street.

Meet the People Behind Henderson’s Water Street District

Meet Water Street’s Movers and Shakers

Why is it called Water Street, you ask? The 

 that supplied water to the Basic Magnesium Inc. Plant. The plant opened in 1942 for wartime production, and the surrounding community grew into Henderson.

Water Street runs south from Lake Mead Parkway, with businesses clustered along the main corridor and adjoining side streets. The district has free public parking lots and two public garages. Check the 

 The bakery-bistro makes its pastries in-house and serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch alongside espresso drinks. Settle in with a croissant and coffee before tackling the block.

If a haircut is overdue, there’s a guy for that. 

, offers cuts and shaves. Owner Jorge Reyes began cutting hair at 13 and, in 2012, bought Kelly’s Barber Shop at 18, carrying forward a business whose history dates back to 1956. Call ahead to arrange your chair time.

 deserves a proper browse. Michael Holland’s shop, established in 1983, deals in vintage and estate jewelry, watches, and custom creations. Bring the piece you’ve been meaning to repair, or ask about redesigning something you love but never wear.

 The volunteer-run nonprofit supports student scholarships and mini-grants; its calendar also includes classes and workshops. Discover local artists before deciding what belongs on your own walls.

By Night: Dinner, Wine, and the Gold Mine

Start with Buffalo wings and New York-style pizza at 

 This outpost of the longtime Henderson restaurant makes an easy dinner for friends who want to split a pie.

, is a newer addition to the neighborhood. Live music runs 6-9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, giving you an early-evening option before moving on.

, which dates back to 1965. Scott Rhiner and The Moanin’ Blacksnakes bring blues and jazz on Friday, Sept. 25; DSJ follows with Southern rock and ’80s funk on Saturday, Sept. 26. Both shows start at 8 p.m.

For a family outing this Friday, catch the free outdoor screening of 

, with the Henderson Symphony Orchestra performing the score live. Activities begin at 6 p.m.; the movie starts at 7.

Discover how Henderson’s Water Street got its name from a 1942 wartime pipeline. Explore the historic district, local businesses, and parking maps today.

Why Is It Called Water Street? Henderson, NV History

Your Water Street Micro-Neighborhood Guide

Las Vegas’ butcher counters run the gamut: whole-animal butchery at Featherblade, beef from Diamond Spur’s ranching operation, and a family meat market dating back to 1954. You can shop for a dry-aged ribeye, find the makings of oxtail stew, or buy enough sausage to give everyone at your next cookout something different to try.

Featherblade Craft Butchery (West, Northwest, and Southwest Valley)

London-born butcher Martin Kirrane brings his English training to 

, where whole-animal butchery and conversations about sourcing are central to the business. Dry-aged steaks, homemade sausages, bacon, and pies are among the specialties.

 Featherblade is an English name for a shoulder cut with a featherlike strip of connective tissue through its center. Removing that tissue yields a flat-iron steak.

Diamond Spur Butcher Shop & Deli (Southwest)

Chef Marc Marrone and Todd Lunger opened 

 in May, taking inspiration from the meat markets of the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue. They operate ranches with Cindy Tolle in Arizona, South Dakota, Kansas, and Missouri, supplying the counter’s grass-fed beef. Ribeyes, New York strips, brisket, and ground beef share space with pork, chicken, and eggs. The deli’s $6.99 cheeseburger uses beef ground in-house.

 Buy tomorrow’s steaks and let the deli handle tonight: Half a chicken with fries is $11.99, and a house-made meatball hero is $12.99. A dozen Cruz Farms pasture-raised eggs is $5.99 at the butcher counter.

The Butcher Block (Centennial Hills, Henderson, and Southwest)

 gives home cooks access to USDA Choice and Prime beef, American and Japanese Wagyu, and steaks cut to their preferred thickness. The family-owned business also ventures well beyond beef: its specialty catalog includes camel ribeye, ostrich filet, elk medallions, and wild boar rack.

 Build your mixed grill around the sausage selection. Options include homemade Philly steak links, maple blueberry sausage, and chicken sausage with sun-dried tomato and basil. That gives you several things to try without committing to another steak.

 opened as a slaughterhouse and meat store in 1954; his grandson, Chuck Frommer, took over in 1981. The Thom Boulevard market’s selection rewards cooks looking beyond the steak case: beef cheeks, oxtail, rabbit, smoked ham hocks, and turkey wings.

 Whole smoked turkeys and smoked turkey breasts require advance orders. For something to eat on the spot, Road Kill Grill serves barbecue and sides, including mac and cheese and potato salad, with picnic tables under a covered outdoor patio.

Explore Las Vegas' best butcher counters, from whole-animal butchery at Featherblade to Diamond Spur's ranch beef. Find dry-aged ribeye, oxtail, and more!

Best Butcher Shops in Las Vegas | Local Meat Markets Guide

Your Guide to Las Vegas Butcher Shops

For help decoding the meat case, Brad Wise says his team at Wise Ox helps customers choose cuts, portions, and cooking methods. The Las Vegas location will have a deli counter serving cheesesteaks, burgers, and smoked turkey sandwiches. For home cooks, he plans to introduce his monthly 

subscription in the first quarter of 2027: more than 10 pounds of beef, chicken, and pork, portioned and vacuum-sealed, with some cuts already seasoned or marinated.

Here are his five tips for approaching the butcher shop experience.

“How many people are you feeding? Are they big eaters or small eaters? Some people prefer an eight-ounce steak. A lot of people would like a smaller filet, on that six-ounce side. We even go so far as to ask, "What are you cooking on?”

“We call it the butcher’s cut in our butcher shops, but it’s the Denver steak out of the shoulder. You season with salt and pepper or whatever your desired flavoring is. You sear it at a high temperature. It’s just one of those very, very succulent pieces of meat that doesn’t break the bank.”

“If you want that rich, unctuous depth and sweeter meat flavor, then yeah, by all means, get Wagyu. The fat is so rich; it’s easy to cook. There’s more room for error, so it’s a little bit more forgiving because of the fat and marbling content.”

“Explain where it’s coming from … why we chose it, and ultimately give you the best ideas and the funnest way to cook those items. Farms and things are going to vary, and it just matters what price point you’re willing to spend at.”

“Personally, porterhouse. You have two cuts of meat: you have a filet and a New York. It’s a larger portion. You will usually have extras.”

Master the meat counter with 5 expert tips from Brad Wise of Wise Ox. Plus, get a sneak peek at their new Las Vegas location and 2027 Ox Box subscription!

5 Expert Butcher Shop Tips from Wise Ox’s Brad Wise

Know Thy Meat: A Buying Guide with Chef Brad Wise

Before Whitney Bansin had licensing deals with major sports leagues, she had a gold sequin jacket that Las Vegas couldn’t get enough of.

She moved to town at 10, met her husband at UNLV, and built a hair and makeup agency whose work included film, television, celebrities, magazines, and Zappos. Fashion was always her passion. Starting with makeup bags, she approached Las Vegas hotels about designing products for their stores. Those buyers became collaborators, bringing her requests — including Golden Knights apparel for women who wanted something beyond a jersey.

Around 2019, Bansin created gold sequin jackets in team colors. Hotels on the Strip sold hundreds, she tells me, and the glittering fans stood out when cameras panned the arena. The jackets had proved there was an audience. Then she wondered: “What if I actually put a logo on this?”

That question sent Bansin into sports licensing, where she learned how the business worked and what securing permission to use team branding would involve. Her first major license came from Major League Baseball. Orders followed.

, team spirit takes the form of cropped cardigans, oversized fleece, satin bombers, and denim jackets embellished with crystals or sequins. There are lace tops and varsity jackets with pearl details. She plays with proportion, texture, and shine, giving fans pieces they can build an outfit around. The line also includes men’s and unisex pieces, from graphic hoodies and oversized denim jackets to textured knit bombers. You can support your team and still look like yourself.

That approach extends from the clothes to where they’re sold. Bansin designs collections around each retailer’s customer: A piece should fit the store’s aesthetic and offer something shoppers won’t find everywhere else. Selling the same design to every retailer, she reasons, leaves them competing for the same sale.

Today, the brand sells through roughly 35 retailers, including Anthropologie, Free People, and many more. Locally, she points shoppers toward Dick’s Sporting Goods for Raiders and Aces apparel, Target for Aces pieces, and City National Arena for Golden Knights merchandise.

Target was an especially natural fit for a mother who shops there at least three times a week. “I’m selling to myself, literally,” she says.

Knitwear is among her strongest categories, and she’s expanding her cardigan offerings while continuing to reinterpret jerseys. The business also includes collections for Las Vegas shows and music projects. Ahead are more fashion collections without sports logos and ambitions in Europe, including the Premier League soccer.

Bansin wants a strategic partner to help build the infrastructure for a larger company, bringing in experienced people who can help her scale while she concentrates on the work she loves. She credits Las Vegas’ hospitality culture and close business community with helping her get this far.

“I feel like you can almost make anything happen here.”

From a Vegas hair agency to major sports licensing deals, discover how Whitney Bansin’s viral gold sequin jackets launched her fashion brand.

How Whitney Bansin Turned a Gold Sequin Jacket Into a Sports Licensing Empire

The Vegas Entrepreneur Giving Fan Gear a Makeover

Dress for it, find it vintage, collect it, and play it. These local businesses take you from a fresh pair of sneakers to a decades-old pinball machine with plenty of opportunities to prove your devotion to your favorite team.

New sneakers and a cap won’t improve your team’s record. But they can improve your outfit. 

 grew from a small Las Vegas sneaker boutique on Spring Mountain into a destination for Jordan, Nike, Adidas, New Balance, and Asics, as well as streetwear and New Era headwear. Find a pair and a lid to finish your look for any Aces or Raiders game.

 release for 7 a.m. on Sept. 12, including adult and children’s sizes. Plus, their new 

 collab comes in delicious colors like candied pecan and walnut.

Some jerseys you sweat in. Others you frame. 

, founded by Las Vegas local Tyler Feldman, now located in the Flamingo right off the lobby, sells signed jerseys, helmets, balls, pucks, and photographs, including Golden Knights memorabilia and apparel. Feldman specializes in exclusive collectibles that are standout one-of-one pieces. Explore the exclusive Tyson Vs. Collection, featuring signed gloves and trunks with Mike Tyson’s personal fight commentary.

 The real hidden gems go beyond sports. Look for rare celebrity and Hollywood memorabilia, ancient fossils, and a full dinosaur skeleton.

Even if your favorite player retired, your wardrobe doesn’t have to move on. At the Downtown Container Park, 

 stocks original-era jerseys and later-licensed throwbacks, along with vintage tees, hats, and collectibles. Look for labels such as Champion, Starter, and Mitchell & Ness across professional and college teams.

 Give the shop a team, player, or year. The staff will search the floor, back room, and dealer network and send photos the same week.

, where local collector Tim Arnold’s obsession became a nonprofit museum for visitors to play the goods. The game list includes NBA Fastbreak, Pro Football, and baseball-themed machines spanning decades. Wear your vintage jersey, but bring that new-school competitive streak.

 includes row locations, so you can map out your sports circuit.

Discover local businesses that have everything you need to dress the part, find vintage gems, and show love for your favorite team. Dive in and play today!

Shop Local: From Fresh Sneakers to Vintage Pinball & Team Gear

Four Ways to Up Your Sports Game

I met Krystal Ramirez more than a decade ago, when she was a photographer at Vegas Seven

 and I was its editor. Since then, I have admired her work both up close and from afar as her practice spans photography, sculpture, text, and large-scale public art. Haide Calle and geo Uranda are former students of Ramirez, while Dan45 Hernandez is part of the same deeply connected local arts community. Together, these four artists are creating a more personal record of Las Vegas — one shaped by identity, family, labor, memory, and the people whose stories have too often remained outside the frame.

’s work examines what she describes as the “consumption of the brown body.” Her work makes hidden labor and construction processes visible while drawing on her family history and experience as a second-generation immigrant from working-class Las Vegas. Her permanent sculpture, "The Night We Met", unveiled at the Las Vegas Civic Center in January, brings those ideas into public space. Curved walls incorporate hand-poured concrete breezeblocks inspired by the Sarno Block at Caesars Palace, while neon lighting gives the structure a familiar Las Vegas glow. The title comes from The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.”

 "The Night We Met" is installed outside the Las Vegas Civic Center at 525 S. Main St. Its breezeblocks create different views of the sculpture and surrounding plaza as visitors move around it.

 combines fabric, ceramics, and found materials to create mixed-media works. The Las Vegas artist, ceramicist, and social activist often uses inviting colors and tactile materials to approach more complicated questions about identity and social expectations. This fall, Calle is turning her attention to other artists as guest curator of "Somos Magia (We Are Magic)" at Las Vegas City Hall. The group exhibition considers fantasy, storytelling, and symbolism as ways to explore belonging and imagine different worlds.

 Meet Calle and participating artists at a free 

 Sept. 24 from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition is open from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday until Nov. 19.

A Pez dispenser, cassette tape, or plastic toy can seem disposable until it becomes the object that reminds you exactly who you were when you acquired it. 

references inexpensive pop-culture artifacts to create sculptures and installations about memory, consumerism, assimilation, and displacement. Raised in a military family that moved frequently, Hernandez found continuity in portable objects rather than places. He also created the SOCIAL COMA zine and is a core member of the street-art collective Cult 33.

 Listen to Hernandez discuss collecting, nostalgia, and distorted memories with Justin Favela in the archive of the locally produced 

 works across muralism, sculpture, design, performance, and curating, often returning to Chicane identity and their upbringing in East Las Vegas. Uranda created "Nuestras Máscaras", a public mural at the East Las Vegas Community Center depicting colorful figures. They also illustrated "The ABCs of Latinidad Coloring Book" for the Las Vegas-born podcast "Latinos Who Lunch." Uranda currently works in Justin Favela’s studio and belongs to the grassroots collective scrambled eggs, which has presented 22 exhibitions while working to build what the group calls “artistic permanence” in Nevada.

" at the East Las Vegas Community Center or explore Uranda’s murals, installations, and performances through their online portfolio.

Explore how Krystal Ramirez, Haide Calle, geo Uranda, and Dan45 Hernandez use art to reshape the identity, labor, and history of Las Vegas.

Four Latine Artists Creating a Personal Portrait of Las Vegas

has re-created lowriders, landscapes, and canonical works of art using materials associated with piñatas. Now the Las Vegas-born artist has translated his exuberant visual language into something considerably more “poppy.”

The city dedicated Favela’s "Las Tres Flores" on Sept. 1 at 2500 Sunrise Ave. The sculpture features three towering metal Las Vegas bear poppies and one bud emerging from blue-green leaves. Rocks at the base evoke the terrain where the rare wildflower grows and the mountains framing the Eastside.

The subject suits an artist who has spent his career reconsidering what belongs in museums, which materials deserve to be called fine art, and whose version of the American West receives monumental treatment.

Favela draws on his queer Guatemalan-Mexican American identity, Las Vegas upbringing, family celebrations, pop culture, and art history. His large-scale installations often use layers of cut paper and cardboard to transform the visual language of piñatas into landscapes and immersive environments.

That combination of exuberance and critique has carried his work far beyond Las Vegas. "

," his chapel-like installation with shimmering gold-fringed walls and monumental piñata corncobs, remains on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., through Sept. 7.

Favela also documents the community around him through the "Art People Podcast," interviewing local artists, including Ramirez, Hernandez, and Uranda, about how their work intersects with family, culture, and life in Las Vegas.

But "Las Tres Flores" belongs specifically to East Las Vegas. It places a monumental work by a nationally recognized artist in a residential neighborhood rather than behind a casino entrance or museum admission desk.

Las Vegas artist Justin Favela debuts "Las Tres Flores" at 2500 Sunrise Ave. Discover his towering metal sculpture celebrating the rare local bear poppy.