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Money and Shopping in Manhattan
Money and Shopping in Manhattan
See the Districts articles for more listings.
New York is the fashion capital of the United States, and is a major shopping destination for people around the world. The city boasts an unmatched range of department stores, boutiques, and specialty shops. Some neighborhoods boast more shopping options than most other American cities and have become famous in their own right as consumer destinations. Anything you could possibly want to buy is found in Manhattan.
Of course, Midtown is the hub of shopping; home to Fifth Avenue with its numerous flagship stores (Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Cartier, Tiffany's, Lord and Taylor, Niketown, NBA Store, Versace, Gucci, Armani Exchange, FAO Schwarz, etc.) and perpetually mobbed with shoppers and tourists. Nearby is the massive Bloomingdale's, while over in the Theater District, "The Largest Department Store in the World", the flagship store of Macy's, covers an entire city block.
In the heart of the ultra-wealthy Upper East Side is Madison Avenue, the center of New York's haute couture, full of small shops selling fabulously expensive clothes, accessories, and housewares to people who can afford not to look at the price tag. Even if it's out of your price range, it's worth a visit just to gawk.
Down in Lower Manhattan, Canal Street east of Broadway around Chinatown is the polar opposite of Madison and Fifth Avenues; a paradise for bargain hunters and people looking to buy counterfeit knock-offs of high-end clothes and accessories. If you want to impress people back home with the fake Louis Vuitton bag you got for $30, this is the place to go. Also look at the stores that line Mott Street between Canal and Chatham Square. Nearby is NoLiTa, which has become synonymous with avant-couture boutiques in charmingly dilapidated buildings. Some stores are so idiosyncratic that they appear not to sell anything at all, yet are perpetually crowded and passionately trendy.
West of Broadway, the former artists' colony SoHo is now a prime shopping destination, especially on the weekends, when the sidewalks of West Broadway, Prince Street, and Broadway become almost impassible. Be warned though that the boutique stores have mostly been replaced by high-end chain stores.
New York has hundreds of records stores scattered around the area. Also, though vinyl has disappeared from the shelves of regular record stores, many stores still sell used and new vinyl.
Iconic New York city souvenirs are available in most tourist spots and along pushcart stalls on the street. That said, it's far cheaper (~50% less) to purchase them from shops in Chinatown, near Canal Street.
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Manhattan Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.