A Guide to the Best of Southern California : SHOPTALK : Artful Gifts

IF A TRIP to New York City isn’t on your agenda, you can still visit one of its famous landmarks--right here. Two new Metropolitan Museum of Art shops, to be opened early in November, will offer items previously available to Southern Californians by mail-order only.

Some are reproductions of the Metropolitan’s original works of art, and often the same techniques and materials used to create the originals are employed with these for-sale reproductions, as illustrated by the Victorian glass candy cane ornaments (pictured). All profits are channeled back to the museum.

South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, (714) 435-2000; Century City Shopping Center, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 277-3898.