Canteen: can•teen
a. A respite from the camp cafeteria; a candy and snack lover’s extravaganza.
b. Portable drinking flask, a.k.a water bottle.
c. The tween and teen scene in Bergen; a must-visit shop for trendy school gear, gifts, and camp stuff galore.
These days, it’s not enough that your kid has the right messenger bag and hair. Being teen also requires the right locker décor, the right notepad, the right shade of nail polish… and who are we, us “women of a certain age” (ahem) to figure all this out? Luckily, The Canteen is here to quench your frustration. Owners Lori Stern and Rayna Pine opened the Westwood boutique last winter—first as a place to showcase their camp gear from the popular web-based shop campstuff4less.com—and then added super-cool, totally mom approved gifts (think monogrammed tins and trays), games, accessories and clothing.
So we decided to send our fashion forward teen secret shoppers in for a peek. They returned, bags overflowing and wrists cramping, with a haul of unbelievably awesome finds: brightly patterned BSkinz shorts (for soccer season, natch), mustache rings and other crazy-fun bling, two-tone zipper bracelets, fleece pajama bottoms from Love and Kisses, hilarious games, lovable stuffies, and locker trim sure to make even the mean girls swoon. (See The Canteen’s Facebook album here and feast your eyes on this loot!)
Well, water you waiting for? It’s time to fill up those back to school coffers and camp out at The Canteen.
The Canteen
277 Westwood Ave Westwood, NJ
201-383-0144
thecanteenonline.com
