Stylemakers Darren Gold and Christos Garkinos opened the ultimate men's lifestyle store on Melrose Avenue. Metrosexuals are just as welcome as pork rind-eaters.

Like a lad magazine come to life, Alpha appeals to a broad spectrum of men (and to any woman shopping for her hard-to-please fella). The 1,200-square-foot lifestyle store dedicates a small space to men's clothing, carrying local designers Band of Outsiders and Christi Conaway, plus very worthy others, including leather-goods house Lambertson Truex and British designer Paul Smith. The rest of the concrete-floored, tin-ceilinged boutique addresses all the other elements of a man's life, from grooming products to game gear for poker night. Alpha also offers consulting services for the clueless bachelor who has to throw a dinner party or just needs a wardrobe overhaul; the in-store stylists and specialists may not be The Fab Five (is that a bad thing?), but they are available to bitch-slap—er, advise—hapless chaps in need. Alpha also carries barbecue grills and iPod travel packs for those who couldn't care less about moisturizing. —Mai Dinh