This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at FSU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

As someone who has lived in major cities all over Florida, including Miami, Tampa, and Orlando, there are many stores I’ve learned to love and live by. However, here in Tallahassee, I’ve had to learn to live without my staples. When I’m craving a specific mystery box or salmon with cauliflower mashed potatoes from that one particular store, I don’t have the opportunity to get up and get it. So, here are some stores that I believe we need to be the next Tallahassee staples!

Sprouts

If you’ve never heard of Sprouts, get ready, because you’ll soon want one right next to you. Sprouts is a great grocery store for you to get your everyday needs. These are so common, especially in the Tampa Bay area, that when I found out I couldn’t get my pick-me-ups from Sprouts, I started crying.

While I still love shopping at the more common stores around, there are just some things that fill my cup that they can’t give me. The first being my $6 kids meal kit, with chips, water, a sandwich, a cookie, and an apple. It makes a perfect meal to go! When I had to take lunch to work, there would be some days that I didn’t want to or couldn’t cook or prepare a meal for the next day, so Sprouts would have me covered.

That isn’t all that you can get there. There are so many meals ready to go, from sushi to salads and sandwiches. They also have a great skincare aisle, a snack aisle, and a great selection of produce. I feel like this would be a great addition that could be near campus and provide more options for groceries, as you can never have too many options!

IKEA

As someone whose favorite thing is decorating their space, I was shocked to realize that Tallahassee doesn’t have an IKEA. You would think that since it’s a major college town, there would be a place to get good-priced furniture. Living near an IKEA, I’ve gotten so used to knowing that when I needed something, I could just go to an IKEA and get what I needed.

I’ve gotten a lot of my furniture from there, and a lot of it has lasted me a really long time. For example, I’ve had my bed from IKEA for over five years already, and it still feels brand new. During my time here in Tallahassee, I’ve had to learn to either order on Amazon or go around to different shops trying to find the best price on a specific item and hope that it’s in stock, since most stores around here aren’t dedicated solely to furniture.

​I also feel like IKEA has so many essentials that would elevate dorms. They have so many versions of different lights, decor, and affordable storage options that can work in any living space.

Fresh Kitchen & Tacos Las Californias

One of the most important things I’ve had to learn to live without is some Tampa food staples, such as Fresh Kitchen and Tacos Las Californias. Fresh Kitchen has been popping up all over Florida; however, there isn’t one in Tallahassee.  It’s a healthy bowl location where you can get a quick, healthy meal that tastes amazing.

Tacos Las Californias is also a place that I crave often. They have the most amazing California burritos filled with fries and cheese, and I personally get mine with asada, and let me tell you, you’ll actually fall in love and feel like you’re on a cloud. That’s how good it is.

They also have an amazing selection of aguas frescas and really good street corn, and their portions are just amazing. Any time someone is headed to Tampa, I just have to recommend it! I feel like both of these would do so well in Tallahassee, as Fresh Kitchen is already in many of the college and university towns, and who doesn’t love a good Mexican restaurant?

POP MART

As someone who’s an avid collector of miniatures, figurines, and Legos, I love being able to have a store where I can just go ahead and shop my little heart out. Legos are a more common thing, and I can find them at any store like Walmart or Target; there are just some specific blind boxes that I would love to be able to find easily in Tallahassee.

For example, I collect Hirono’s and Nyota’s, but while I’m here in Tallahassee, it’s not as easy to find, or at least, I haven’t been able to discover a shop that has everything I need and I know is approved by the manufacturer, POP MART.

I also feel like during the struggles of school and stressful times, trying to figure out how to manage everything on your plate, it would be great to have a POP MART. Who wouldn’t love to just go to a store and have fun picking out little blind boxes with your friends and choosing for each other?

There’s just nothing that compares to going to a store with friends or family and picking up a box and feeling like this is the chosen one. Even if you don’t get the one you want, you still had that experience of maybe getting coffee, going to a store to pick out blind boxes, and then heading home with a little figurine that you can decorate your dorm with. Again, who doesn’t love having a cute dorm to come back to?

Panaderia (Bakery)

One thing that I truly do miss and haven’t found one that blows me out of the water here in Tallahassee is a panaderia.

I personally have grown up always loving pan dulce. As a Mexican, it’s just a staple in everyday life. It goes well with coffee, and it’s eaten on holidays. While here in Tallahassee, I don’t eat them for basically a full year, and I used to eat them almost every single day.

If you’re not familiar with what a panaderia is, it’s essentially a Mexican bread shop that sells sweet breads. I feel like something like this would do so well in Tallahassee. It’s just so different from the normal sweet shops here, and I genuinely do feel like people would really enjoy this. Not only the university students, but also just the community at large.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Tallahassee, and I love the community that it has, but there are just some stores that I’ve grown up with and have so close to me that I just truly miss, and I wish I could share with everyone.

Some of these stores I genuinely would love to be able to take my friends to and just share how much joy they bring me, and I hope to bring this joy to them as well. I also feel like some of these are truly just staples that Tallahassee needs and can just make life a little bit easier.