The Top-Secret Gift Shop You Need Clearance to Enter

Federal buildings house a network of stores most people will never see; CIA pillows

- SADIE GURMAN

Looking for the holiday gift that screams Beltway insider? Skip the chintzy T-shirt vendors on the National Mall and head straight to the CIA.

Just be ready to provide your Social Security number and leave enough time to clear multiple layers of security.

And bring cash. The agency advises against using traceable forms of payment like credit cards, particularly for customers who do undercover work.

Inside the gift shop at the George Bush Center for Intelligence, customers can pick from an assortment of intelligence-themed merchandise, like "Top Secret" barbecue sauce, "Don't Spill The Beans" coffee, CIA pillows and a $200 etched with the humidor agency's iconic seal.

"There's something for every taste," said the shop's executive director Mark Wiggins as he strolled through the store, where a set of shot glasses emblazoned with "Admit Nothing. Deny Everything" sells for $33.99. It isn't impossible to visit, but it is difficult: You either need to be a CIA employee or know one.

Wiggins calls his operation "the best museum store you've never seen, because you can't get in here."

Federal buildings hide what may be the world's most exclusive gift shops. Looking for a personalized "Most Wanted" placard? The FBI store has that.

Lose your pen? Replace it with one shaped like rifle rounds sold at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. You can buy china at the Transportation Department, bathrobes at the State Department and playing cards at the Justice Department.