Thanks for yout suggestions. I tried Arial on menus and got two disturbing effects:

1) Arial on horizontal nav bars looks too "tight". Maybe thats why some ppl use images, but IMO, one must go for simplicity. I went back to Verdana.

2) Arial on vertical nav looked really nice, however, its impressive how using Verdana makes Yahoo ads "seamless" while using Arial they scream "hey, I am a banner!!!". It's just matter of "font style contrast"

I also added images with triple purpose: Embellish the site as you suggested, add more ads, improve ad CTR. It has yet to be assessed. Images are simple, but overall, IMO the site looks better.

The header image... Well, I must admit I suck at making full headers and dont feel like paying for it. I accept header donations! Please make it purple and "eggplant-y".

Next store and previous store buttons are finally operational.

The ads with images and mini stores are Chitika's http://www.chitika.com, it's a new monetization system and it works like a charm. Yes, this link is a referral, but it's sincere!