About AliShops.com
Ali shops. All the time.
As shopping columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Ali (better known in print and on the airwaves as Allison Kaplan, but we're all friends here, so let's go with Ali) is a leading authority on Twin Cities retail and fashion - always first to know of a new store, the best sales and where to find the hottest merchandise.
In covering the local shopping scene and fielding countless questions, Ali realized that the Twin Cities was in need of a comprehensive, easy-to-use guide to shopping beyond the Mall of America. A guide that could save shoppers from the same old chain stores and point them to cool spots they've never heard of, or just never thought to visit. AliShops is that resource.
Finally, there's a place to celebrate shopping and style in Minneapolis - not Manhattan or Miami. AliShops is truly a guide - not some advertiser's list - offering unbiased, insightful and entertaining store snapshots...so you'll know whether it's worth your time to hike out to that little boutique you've been hearing about in Excelsior. Retailers cannot buy their way onto AliShops or influence what is said about them.
Ali has personally visited virtually every store listed on this site. She's a Minnesota native who owes her very existence to shopping: her parents met while working at Dayton's.
Ali's shopping expertise has made her a sought-after authority on TV and radio. She hosts Shop Girls on myTalk107.1 Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.. You can also hear her regularly on the Lori & Julia show on myTalk107.1.
AliShops is the natural extension of Ali's expertise. Check back frequently - shopping in the Twin Cities just keeps getting better.
Ali's Shopping Assistants
Megan Hanson is a senior at the University in Minnesota, majoring in journalism. Born and bred in Wayzata, she has layout of Ridgedale Center memorized. Her first job was at a Banana Republic, and she rarely got out of the store without spending most or all of her paycheck. A city girl at heart, Megan loves anything and everything Minneapolis and hopes to remain in town after college. But no matter where she ends up, she'll be fine...as long as there's a J.Crew.
Lesli LeJeune grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa and moved to the Twin Cities to attend Lowthian College of Design where she studied interior design, fashion history and fashion merchandising. She's a receptionist at the corporate office of the Thymes, a Minneapolis-based bath and body company and lives in Hudson, Wis. with her husband, four cats and a naughty Pug. When she isn't working, blogging or caring for pets, Lesli loves to shop: Nordstrom, Von Maur, Anthropologie, Target. Ridgedale is her favorite mall; 50th & France is her favorite neighborhood. But any place with Kate Spade bags or Nanette Lepore dresses is worth the drive.
