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The Big Apple is one of the best shopping destinations in the world, rivaled perhaps only by London, Paris, and Tokyo. Its compact size, convenient subway system, and plentiful cabs (or Uber or Lyft rides) make it easy to navigate with plenty of bags in tow. But what it really comes down to is the staggering number and variety of stores. If you can't find it in New York, it probably doesn't exist.
If you like elegant flagships and money is no object, head to Midtown, where you'll find international megabrands like Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, and Gucci, as well as famed department stores Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys. Nearby Madison Avenue has couture from Carolina Herrera and Vera Wang, and 5th Avenue is lined with famous jewelry stores such as Tiffany, Van Cleef & Arpels, and Harry Winston. This is also the neighborhood to indulge in bespoke goods, such as handmade shoes from John Lobb. If you like designer pieces but can't afford them, don't despair—there are plenty of upscale consignment shops around the city where you can find last season's Chanel suit or a vintage YSL jacket.
The small, independent shops that once lined SoHo have largely been displaced by the likes of J.Crew and UNIQLO, but if you want to hit the chains, this is a great place to do it, because the neighborhood also provides high-quality people-watching and superb lunches. Poke around on the side streets and in nearby NoLIta for outposts of smaller local and foreign designers and, if you're craving some of old SoHo's artistic spirit, don't discount the street vendors' stalls, which sell handmade jewelry and simple cotton dresses.
The East Village and Lower East Side are hotbeds of creativity and quirky coolness, with little boutiques selling everything from retro furniture to industrial-inspired jewelry. They're tucked among bars and old tenement buildings. The Meatpacking District is another great shopping destination to find chic designer stores like Diane von Furstenberg and rag & bone along with independently owned boutiques. And if you jaunt over to Brooklyn, you'll discover that some of the city's hippest designers are hanging out at boutiques just across the East River.
Upper East Siders shop at this pricey French children's boutique for the beautiful designs and impeccable workmanship—think pony-hair baby booties, hand-embroidered jumpers, and cashmere onesies. The flagship has a loftlike design with whimsical touches, such as a large indoor tree and a cloud sculpture.
Readers young and old delight in Manhattan's oldest and largest independent children's bookstore. The friendly, knowledgeable staff can help select gifts for all reading levels. Don't miss the extensive Oz section, plus the collection of old, rare, and collectible children's books and original children's book art.
This canopied marketplace offers an array of funky African and African-inspired jewelry, Afrocentric art and wood carvings, and festive clothing, mudcloth fabrics, and colorful textiles peddled by vendors hailing from countries like Senegal, Nigeria, Kenya, Gambia, and Ghana. On weekends with nice weather, more vendors open and some shops can tailor items for you right on the spot. It's a one-stop shopping experience: patrons can get their hair braided, sample traditional African cuisine, or pick up some beautiful (authentic) African garb.
Grade-school kids still love American Girl dolls, whose lines range from historical characters to contemporary characters, each with accompanying clothes and accessories. Bring your doll to this New York flagship in Rockefeller Plaza for a doll hairdressing salon, doll hospital, café, Dress Like Your Doll shop, design-your-own-doll station, and more.
You need a ticket to the museum to physically enter the multiple gift shops at this ginormous museum, most of them themed to the exhibit they adjoin and packed with books, totes, T-shirts, toys, and other memorabilia. For example, the Dino Store features T. rex socks and stuffed animals; the Cosmic Shop features telescopes and NASA memorabilia; the gems and minerals shop offers agate-topped wine stoppers and lapis lazuli jewelry. Not visiting the museum? Shop online!
The perfectly giftable, Brooklyn-made products at this variety store include Apotheke candles and diffusers, Klei Beauty products, Claudia Pearson’s hand-drawn tea towels, and Bocce's Bakery birthday-cake treats for your favorite canine. Brooklyn-themed tchotchkes, funny socks, books, stationery, games and toys round out the selection.
Author Emma Straub opened this spacious and well-stocked bookstore after neighborhood landmark BookCourt closed, and she even used her predecessor's tall wooden bookshelves in creating the new space. Books Are Magic hosts author events—many with celebrated writers who happen to live in Brooklyn—several days a week. Don't miss the excellent kids' area in the back.
If you can't crack a smile in this store—where all proceeds from superhero costumes, gear, and secret identity kits benefit 826NYC's writing and tutoring programs for kids—step immediately into its Cape Tester, or take the cure-all Vow of Heroism oath. Afterward, browse the inventory of superpowers like telekinesis, chutzpah, and gumption, which are sold in plastic jugs and fake paint cans. The clever labels listing “ingredients” and “warnings” are worth the cost for every ounce of the tongue-in-cheek products.
A mecca for those who love role-playing games, this shop stocks board games and classic soldier sets, as well as fantasy games.
Oh, to be a kid in a candy store! Economy Candy has been making life sweeter since 1937, and the floor-to-ceiling shelves and candy-and-nut dispensers here are filled with bulk specialty and brand-name goodies, from every flavor of gummy candy and jelly bean—you can purchase by flavor or just by color—to nuts, halvah, and chocolate-covered everything. There are also everyday chocolate bars like Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, and M&Ms (available in bulk or in five-pound bags). If you’ve never tried Canadian chocolate bars like Coffee Crisp, Aero, and Crispy Crunch, you’re in for a treat.
Famed toy retailer FAO Schwarz lives on in full, fun swing at 30 Rock, occupying 20,000 square feet of prime Midtown real estate. Explore the Build-a-Bear Workshop, play with cars on a racetrack, learn magic tricks, and tickle the oversize keys of the walk-on piano keyboard—featured in the 1988 Tom Hanks movie smash Big. The store's iconic clock tower is here, too, along with its famous life-size toy soldiers, a zillion stuffed animals, and a rocket-ship centerpiece.
Since 1931, and now operated by the third generation of the family, Harry’s is an UWS footwear institution for men, women, and kids, with a knowledgeable and attentive staff to help you get the most comfortable fit. Brands include such fashion labels as Bruno Magli, Thierry Rabotin, and Allen Edmonds, and such comfort ones as Dr. Martens, Ara, and Merrell.
For many, Jacques Torres sets the bar for New York City chocolatiers, and this glass-walled café and shop is the perfect spot to sip richly spiced cocoa and nibble on a chocolate chip cookie or Java Junkie bar. Of course there are delicate chocolates, chocolate bark, and packaged hot chocolate to choose from, too.
This independent shop is piled high with old-fashioned wooden toys, sturdy musical instruments, classic kids' books, and plenty of arts-and-crafts materials.
Designed and made in France, these petites fashions for kids (from newborn up to age 12) are cute and stylish but also practical. Corduroy outfits have details like embroidered flowers and contrasting cuffs, and soft, fleecy jackets are reversible. T-shirts might have pictures of panda bears or Bob Dylan saying "It's alright, Ma."
The showroom of this edgy art-book publisher is a vision in concrete and steel. The bright bookshop sells design and photography books, children's titles, Brooklyn-centric gifts, and the latest new fiction and nonfiction books. The space hosts publishing parties, book launches, readings, and discussion groups. There's also a bar and café.
Shalom Books (shalom means “peace” in Hebrew) is a family-owned business specializing in Catholic books, religious iconography, prayer beads, and more. Expect to find olive wood crucifixes from Rome, pins and medallions, picture candles, holy water, and statues, as well as a huge selection of Spanish titles that serves the neighborhood’s Latino community.
The funky (Elvis-print rompers, CBGB onesies) mixes with the old-school (retro cowboy-print pants, brightly colored clogs, Bruce Lee T-shirts) and the high-end (Lili Gaufrette, Kenzo, Boo Foo Woo from Japan) at this casual, trendsetting store for kids.
In the late 1800s, pickle sellers were a dime a dozen—or to be more exact, a penny a cucumber, which went up to around a nickel by the early 1900s: it was cheap snack, and there were pickle vendors selling their wares from pushcarts and giant barrels all over the Lower East Side. It's said that at one point there were 200 pickle sellers on Essex Street alone, but these days there's only one left: The Pickle Guys.
One typically talks about the Oculus as the sprawling transportation hub housed under a soaring, glassy structure that resembles a prehistoric skeleton. In truth, the interconnecting subway and commuter rail lines lie only at the periphery. What's actually under those ribs is the Westfield World Trade Center luxury shopping mall that houses stores like Apple, Breitling, COS, Sephora, Tumi, and many more. Seasonal exhibits, art installations, and occasional events are hosted on the giant atrium floor. Dining options include Epicerie Boulud and Eataly at the base of 4 WTC (on the site's southeast corner). You'll find Devon & Blakely café and the British sandwich chain Pret a Manger in the West Concourse, which leads to the PATH station and trains to New Jersey. The Oculus is connected by an underground passage to the Fulton Center, which has a mezzanine-level food court with one of Lower Manhattan's two Shake Shacks.
Selling homemade candy apples, marshmallow sticks, popcorn, nuts, and giant lollipops for more than 75 years, this old-school corner candy shop with the yellow awning is a Coney Island mainstay. Owner Peter Agrapides used to visit the store with his mother when he was a kid; he's been the proud owner for over 30 years.
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