Shopping in the U.S.
By Brooke Comer
New York is famous for glamour and splendour, and that's
exactly what you'll find at elegant uptown department stores
like Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, and
Barney's, all offering a full range of designer clothes and
accessories, with Bergdorf's and Barney's at the pricier end
and "Bloomies" more affordable.
The city is renowned for its Christmas displays, in full
tilt at all of these stores, and especially along the Fifth
Avenue promenade, where crowds come in droves to see the Rockefeller
Centre Christmas tree and all of the storefront windows come
to life with extravagant holiday scenes using mechanical dolls.
Macy's on West 39th Street, famed for the giant floats of
its Thanksgiving Day Parade, commands a full city block and
is a good middle range department store with a whole cellar
devoted to housewares and the best collection of cosmetics
in the city. But you'll find designer fragrances at bigger
discounts downtown at a few perfume shops along East 19th
Street.
You can buy a trinket from Tiffany's, the high-priced jewellery
store on West 57th and Fifth Avenue, famous for its pale blue
gift boxes, but you'll save at least a third of the price
in the "diamond district" of the West 40s between
Fifth and Sixth Avenues, where the prices are as appealing
as the gems, and you can bargain with the merchants, mostly
Hasidic Jews.
Theme stores abound amid the skyscrapers of midtown, with
Nike Town, Warner Brothers and Disney all having made their
mark, though none even approach FAO Schwartz, the expensive
toy store on West 59th Street whose life-size stuffed animals,
Lego robots and elaborate train sets make shopping here like
a trip to Disneyland.
Nearby, the Strand advertises seven acres of new, used and
rare books, many displayed in open-air stalls along Central
Park on Fifth Avenue. On sporadic evenings, boxes of books
are set out on the sidewalk as a free bonus for avid browsers.
Greenwich Village, with its small boutiques interspersed
between lively cafés and restaurants, is the place
to shop for inexpensive jewellery and sunglasses from street
vendors.
 A
historic section of downtown New York, Greenwich Village has
been favoured by bohemians since the 1930s, and is now a haven
for the college crowd, who enjoy its abundant nightlife in
clubs like CBGBs on the Bowery, as well as the bargains (which
do not include rent in this neighbourhood!).
There are many discount shops along Canal Street that offer
great deals on knock-off designer brands and accessories,
as well as electronics, but its safer to buy electronics from
a reputable merchant, such as 47th Street Photo, near Times
Square, whose range and prices lure computer and camera buffs
from all over the country.
New York is among the best places in the world to shop for
electronics, with several excellent outlets, including B&H
Photo, an audio/video supplier that occupies a full city block
on West 34th Street and 9th Avenue, and J&R Music World
and Computer World, an electronics megastore on Park Row near
the Brooklyn Bridge.
Chinatown is a good source for jade, pearls, gold, and ivory;
be sure to window-shop at several stores to compare prices
before you purchase. You can also find colourful toys, incense
and fans in Chinatown, all great inexpensive souvenirs, or
look for a beautifully crafted mahjong set.
 Soho,
home of cutting-edge art galleries, expensive lofts and scene-making
restaurants, offers pricey boutiques like Agnes B and Laundry
Industry, where the prices are still likely to be cheaper
than in Australia.
Nearby on Lower Broadway, trendy thrift store Alice's Underground
sells cool vintage clothes for even cooler prices, and across
the street you'll find Canal Jeans, a vast storehouse of affordable
downtown street chic, with everything from army surplus and
vintage jackets to the full gamut of jeans-wear, from Levis
to Calvin Klein.
But feel free to window shop and wait to spend your money
at one of several Century 21 outlets, where you can get designer
clothes and accessories at bargain prices. A similar store,
Daffy's, has locations on West 18th and East 57th. Both require
the patience to sift through racks and racks of merchandise,
but the deals are well worth it.
If you're willing to drive about an hour out of the city,
Woodbury Commons in Central Valley (001-914-928-4000) is an
outlet mall with many worthwhile bargains. It's outdoors,
which is good to remember if you plan your visit there in
the winter, but even bad weather won't dampen your spirits
when you discover how low the prices are on Adidas, Anne Klein,
Armani, Bally, Barneys, BCBG, Betsey Johnson, Burberry, Calvin
Klein, Coach Leather, Fila, Godiva, Escada, Waterford Wedgewood,
J. Peterman, Kenneth Cole, Gucci, and much, much more.
For Flights and Airfares to the U.S - click
here for the Travel Homepage.
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