1. Empire Vision Centers

2. Di Napoli

3. Pearle Vision

The near-sighted, the far-sighted, the myopics, the astigmatic, the bookworms and all members of the geek-chic brigade have spoken.

Best Appliance Store

1. Sears

2. Best Buy

3. Green’s Appliance Direct

Those of you who are still going to mom’s to bogart the Tide every Sunday won’t get much out of this entry, but someday this is the kind of thing you’ll take pretty seriously. It’ll be just after you blow out your knee in an overly aggressive weekend soccer game, and just before your doctor prescribes Lipitor.

Best Antiques

1. Madison Art and Antiques

2. River Street, Troy

3. New Scotland Antiques, Mark Lawson (tie)

We like our furniture like we like our love interests; ancient and worth a pile.

Best Book Store

1. Barnes & Noble

2. Borders

3. Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza

In the battle of the book titans, Barnes & Noble takes a narrow victory over its arch nemesis, Borders. Meanwhile, the Book House waits in the wings, plotting, laughing.

Best Newstand

1. Coulson’s News and Variety

2. Borders

3. Westmere News and Variety

Taking in 10 times the votes of its closest rival, Coulson’s News is the place for you if you want to dive into a wall of periodicals without hearing about the latest Harry Potter book.

Best Internet Provider

1. Time Warner/Road Runner

2. AOL

3. Earthlink

Add another notch in the belt of Time Warner’s quest for world domination. Their high-speed Net access takes first place, and their increasingly insidious dial-up service, AOL, takes second.

Best Garden Store/Nursery

1. Hewitt’s

2. Faddegon’s Nursery

3. Troy’s Store

Hewitt’s was a decisive winner in this category, which we were originally thinking of titling All Things Green and Likely to Die From Our Careless Neglect.

Best Florist

1. Danker Florists

2. Frank Gallo & Sons

3. Lark Street Flower Market

Frankly, we were a little surprised at the number of votes in this category that came with notes of abject apology, and pleas to be let back in the house/bedroom. Must have been an envelope mix-up.

Best Home Electronics Store

1. Best Buy

2. Hippo’s

3. Circuit City

Best Buy is the Man, but, seriously, really they are the man. You can throw a microwave and a car stereo into your cart, toss in an iPod for good measure then cover them with some cheap CDs and check out with money still in the bank.

Best Furniture Store

1. Huck Finn’s Warehouse Outlet

2. Taft Furniture Warehouse and Showroom

3. Mooradian’s Furniture

It’s a photo finish for our local furniture juggernauts. Huck Finn pulls it out by five votes.

Best Pet Supply Store

1. PetSmart

2. Petco

3. Benson’s Pet Center

Two goliath pet stores do battle and PetSmart takes a decisive victory.

Best Gift Store

1. Romeo’s Gifts

2. Pearl Grant Richmans

3. Hallmark

This just in: Metroland readers vastly prefer buff naked men to calligraphy or kitties on their greeting cards.

Best Wine/Liquor Store

1. All Star Wine and Spirits

2. Capital Wine and Spirits

3. Delware Plaza Liquor Store, Exit 9 Wine & Liquor (tie)

All Star Wine and Spirits ran away with this one—well, shuffled away, actually, muttering and cradling a bottle of Malibu Spiced Rum like an infant.

Best Vintage Store

1. Salvation Army

2. Goodwill

3. Special FX, Trink (tie)

Maybe if Goodwill, Special FX and Trink get uniforms and tubas this’ll be a closer contest next time round.

Best Women’s Clothing Store

1. Macy’s

2. Circles, the Gap (tie)

We have to buy most of our women’s clothing online, ’cause Macy’s, Circles and the Gap don’t carry PVC catsuits, but we’ll take your word for it.

Best Men’s Clothing Store

1. Macy’s

2. Spectors

3. The Gap

We have to buy most of our men’s clothing online, too—you know, ’cause Macy’s, Spector’s and the Gap don’t carry PVC catsuits—but we’ll take your word for it.

Best Children’s Clothing Store

1. The Gap

2. Old Navy

3. Target

We have to buy most of our kids clothing online, ’cause . . . settle down, we’re kidding. We buy our kids’ stuff at the Gap, too.

Best Women’s Shoe Store

1. DSW, Payless (tie)

3. Saratoga Shoe Depot

This one was a close one. And, just between us, the thought of all the research that must have gone into this hard-fought decision—all the trying on and taking off of those women’s shoes, the patent leather slipping over the painted toes and the graceful arches, the elegant curves of the lovingly moisturized heels . . . um, excuse us for a minute.

Best Men’s Shoe Store

1. DSW

2. Cohoes

3. Macy’s, Saratoga Shoe Depot (tie)

Contrary to popular belief, the guys have strong opinions on where to go when shopping for shoes. DSW got double the amount of votes that Cohoes did to claim the men’s shoes division.

Best Women’s Haircut

1. Jean Paul

2. Super Cuts

3. Kimberley’s

We’d have voted for the Betty Page bangs, but clearly we misunderstood the question.

Best Men’s Haircut

1. Rumors IV Men

2. Gregory’s

3. Supercuts

Rumors IV Men and Gregory’s were hot-lathered and straight-razor-shaved neck-and-neck on this one.

Best Sporting Goods Store

1. Dick’s

2. Sports Authority

3. EMS, Klein’s All Sports (tie)

The chain wins by a landslide. We understand the convenience of having a huge selection, but in terms of price and customer service, we were admittedly a bit taken aback by the popularity of Dick’s. We did appreciate the shout-outs in memory of Klein’s, though.

Best Bike Shop

1. The Down Tube

2. Plaine’s

3. Dick’s

Hands-on customer service, a great atmosphere and knowledgeable staff make it a pleasure to shop at the Down Tube.

Best Toy Store

1. Toys R Us

2. Kay Bee Toys

3. Wal-Mart

Toys R Us smashed Wal-Mart with seven times the votes. While it feels good to see Wal-Mart get smashed, we wonder why you guys don’t get out to some local toy stores. Which ones? Hmm, if only there were a local newsweekly with a recently publiched Best Of issue to guide you.

Best Video Rental

1. Hollywood Video

2. Blockbuster

3. DeJaVu Video

What is it about Hollywood Video that makes it more appealing than Blockbuster? Perhaps it’s the large film reels that decorate the store, the purple-shirted clerks? Or is it just that they don’t have those annoying late-fee commercials?

Best Tattoo

1. Lark Tattoo

2. Spaulding

3. Impulse Tattoo

Lark Tattoo boasts award- winning tattoo artists and a convenient location, so you can get an award-winning tattoo on your most convenient location.

Best Cellular Service

1. Verizon

2. Sprint

3. Cingular

Verizon wins by an enormous margin, and while we are told it’s the best service in the region by all our most trustworthy sources, we still don’t get reception at our house.

Best Jeweler

1. Hannoush

2. Northeastern

3. Finkle

Anything that doesn’t come in a clear plastic bubble is beyond our means, but we’re sure you know what you’re talking about.

Best Day Spa

1. Kimberley’s

2. Crystal Spa

3. Jean Paul Salon

Kimberley’s totally rocked this category—and that’s with no illegal services. They must be really good exfoliators.

Best Musical Instrument Store

1. Parkway

2. Only Guitar Shop

3. Hermies

Some of you have done pretty well burgling rehearsal spaces, but the rest of us really like Parkway.

Best Farmers Market

1. Troy Farmers Market

2. Saratoga Springs Farmers Market

3. Empire State Plaza

Ordinarily the mere mention of “farm” gives us the shivers—do you know that farmers wake up at, like, the crack of all history? And they work, like, 40 hours a day?—but when the work’s already done and you can get cookies, that’s a score.

Best Produce

1. Hannaford

2. Price Chopper

3. W.F. Ryan

The sugar-snap peas are hand washed, the eggplants are gently buffed with the softest chamois to a rich glow, the lettuce is treated humanely and the radishes are sung to sleep at night.

Best Place to Buy a Computer

1. Best Buy

2. Dell

3. CompUSA

Best Buy beats the Dell dude’s ass.

Best Place to Service a Computer

1. CompUSA

2. Apple

3. Castle Computers

Comp USA takes No. 1 while Apple sneaks into second. (To everyone getting their Macs fixed: We low-end PC owners are totally jealous of your titanium Powerbooks—damaged though they may be, those things are hot.)

Best Shopping (Plaza)

1. Stuyvesant Plaza

2. Latham Farms

3. Mohawk Commons

There is not a better plaza in which to shop to Mozart till you drop, and this landslide victory demonstrates this to be true.

Best Shopping (Mall)

1. Crossgates

2. Colonie Center

3. Wilton Mall

Crossgates, oh, Crossgates, I don’t know what it is/You ban peace shirts and curfew the kids/But oh, how we long to shop the Karaoke Store, Torrid, and Lidz. Seriously, Lidz rules.

Best Shopping (City)

1. Saratoga Springs

2. Albany

3. NYC

What? No, Berne?

Best Shopping (Outlet)

1. Lee, Mass.

2. Lake George

3. Manchester (Vt.) Outlets

Given the location of the Prime Outlets in Lee, Mass.—in the Berkshires, up a hill—we’ve even managed to convince ourselves that our regular excursions there make us outdoorsy.

Best Supermarket

1. Hannaford

2. Price Chopper

3. Honest Weight Co-op

Voters turned out in droves to express their partisan feelings on the Hannaford vs. Price Chopper issue, which is a little weird, frankly. It was like the Jets and the Sharks—with the Co-op playing the role, in this category, of the lesser-known gang the Beet Kvass Tribe.

Best Health Food Store

1. Honest Weight Co-op

2. GNC

3. Four Seasons

Something you should know: On their own turf, the Beet Kvass Tribe are not to be fucked wit’.

Best Record Store (Used)

1. Last Vestige

2. Blue Note

3. Coconuts

For music-o-philes, there is nothing like sorting through the racks at Last Vestige, and readers recognize that with an overwhelming victory for the local standby.

Best Record Store (New)

1. FYE

2. Coconuts

3. Music Shack & Best Buy (tie)

Turns out, people still buy music. Huh.