The Scout — a.k.a. Times staff writer David A. Keeps — brings you the coolest design innovations and shopping scoops:

Known as Retro Row, the stretch of East 4th Street between St. Louis and Junipero avenues in Long Beach has become a destination for budget-conscious shoppers and Hollywood designers alike. New boutiques and restaurants with inspiring design sensibilities are springing up on a strip that's already home to jam-packed thrift shops and 20th century furniture galleries. The newest arrivals and a few old favorites:

Ruum opened this summer with a smart selection of midcentury American furniture, including Warren Platner's 1966 steel-rod, chalice-shaped lounge chair. A refurbished pair costs $3,000, less than half the price of two new ones from manufacturer Knoll.