PLACE TO SPEND PAYCHECK • 1. Kirkwood

Cheap eats, an eclectic mix of stores and close proximity to campus brands the Kirkwood Avenue shopping district as the best place in Bloomington to blow a paycheck. Boasting three bars, a variety of ethnic and American restaurants and stores ranging from trendy to classic to over-the-top, Kirkwood offers food, shopping and entertainment mere seconds away from campus.\nDanny Cheshire, a sales associate at Urban Outfitters, says most clothing stores on Kirkwood do the bulk of their business during the evening and weekend hours. Though Cheshire admits most people end up spending upwards of $100, a majority of shoppers discover funky finds on Urban's clearance racks. And, he claims, the location can't be beat.\nHaving already discovered this sale rack, junior Margaux Childers agrees.\n"When I shop I come to Kirkwood," says Childers, who lives close to campus. "I don't go to the mall -- it's easier to just walk. I think that's the case for a lot of people."\nKirkwood's prime location, in fact, was one of the key factors motivating locally-based sportswear store Steve and Barry's to move from its former Indiana Avenue building.\nSteve and Barry's sales associate Kris Rollins, a sophomore, says much of their business is generated through the influx of parents and alumni for athletic events and specially-planned weekend events on campus.\nIt's Rollins first year working at Steve and Barry's, but he claims he never even went into the store's previous location.\n"There's a definite advantage from being located so close to Nick's (English Hut)," Rollins says. "And our items are constantly on sale -- the whole year long, it's buy one get three free."\nInexpensive gifts can also be found at Greetings. Though Greetings operates another store at The Shoppes on College Mall Road, the Kirkwood location caters to a distinctly more "hip" crowd, sales associate Lisa Simmons says.\n"All our efforts focus on the exact crowd we know comes down to Kirkwood," Simmons says. "Our T-shirts are huge; those draw people in. But it's also those miscellaneous small things -- those little knickknacks -- that get people to come in"