The first entry today in The 2025 PopCult Gift Guide is for two great local businesses that…aren’t local to us. I know I tend to make PopCult a little WV-centric, but the truth is, probably 90% of our hundreds of thousands of readers are from outside of the state.

Heck, a big chunk are from outside the country.

So today I’m going to tell you about a couple of great, quirky local-to-other-cities businesses, both of whom have had products featured in the Gift Guide before, The Ky 4 Ky Fun Mall in Lexington, and Transit Tees in Chicago.

The Kentucky 4 Kentucky Fun Mall has a brick-and-mortar location at 1315 WINCHESTER ROAD #341 in Lexington, and while that may sound a little complicated, it isn’t. In fact, it’s in the Eastland Shopping Center, which is right on US 60.

Yes, that’s the same US 60 that runs through West Virginia. You could, if you wanted to take the scenic route, hop on 60 (MacCorkle Avenue) around the Mound in South Charleston, stay on US 60 and go West until you find yourself in Lexington a few hours later. The Eastland Shopping Center is on the right, just after you cross the Route 4/New Circle Road beltway.

Once you get there, you’ll find the Kentucky 4 Kentucky Fun Mall. It’s part tourist trap, part oddities museum, part gift store, but most famously it is the final resting place for the real life Cocaine Bear, of recent Hollywood movie fame. Is it the real Cocaine Bear?

Why not?

As KY 4 KY says…

OUR MISSION IS TO ENGAGE AND INFORM THE WORLD BY PROMOTING KENTUCKY PEOPLE, PLACES, AND PRODUCTS. AND TO KICK ASS FOR THE COMMONWEALTH!

Of course, they have a sizable assortment of T-shirts, soaps, stickers and even plush devoted to the creature that made cocaine funny again. They also have all kinds of other cool things, like shirts that list Kentucky cities with lewd-sounding names, and merchandise that tips its trucker hat to Colonel Sanders, Bourbon and popular racing horses.

KY 4 KY Fun Mall is filled with all kinds of cool stuff, not all of it Cocaine Bear-related, and it’s a fun diversion if you find yourself in Lexington. And if you don’t find yourself there, go to their website and at least buy yourself a Ho Bag.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, to which I cannot provide easy, if implausible, driving directions, we have Transit Tees. With locations in Wicker Park and Andersonville, and a very accessible website, this store celebrates the city of the wind with a variety of cool T Shirts, Hats. home decor items and several fun and exciting board games and card games.

They’ve also added some really cool LED home decor items lately.

You can find games devoted to the El, The Loop, Rat Hunting and some of the peculiar Chicago culinary creations. They also have jigsaw puzzles, Christmas ornaments, enamel pins, and, just as KY 4 KY has Cocaine Bear, Transit Tees has the Freakin’ Pope!

Best of all, until December 1, all website orders can get 24 % off by using the code, “24-OFF.”

Because it’s their 24th anniversary.

As for who they are, it’s all in their history…

Founded in 2001 by Tim Gillengerten, Transit Tees takes visuals from Chicago’s metropolitan landscapes and transforms them into fashionable artwork, accessories, home goods and more. An official manufacturer of Chicago Transit Authority products, Transit Tees locally designs, fabricates and retails their signature brand online and at two storefronts in Wicker Park and Andersonville. Items in stores are created in their design studio and produced on-site by local artists and craftsmen.

You can find all sort of cool gift ideas for anybody on your holiday shopping list who loves the city of Chicago (like your humble blogger and his wife, who got married there).