Auckland Shopping Guide
Shopping in Auckland may be more expensive than you are used to in your home country. Due to its low population and island location, New Zealand manufacturers don’t produce massive amounts of a product as they do in more populated countries. This means a higher price to begin with, and with fewer products at the end of a season, there are less sales and closeouts and smaller discounts. However, this seems to be changing, with the Dress Smart mall in Onehunga and the Fox Outlet store on the North Shore dedicated solely to discounted items.
At the same time, common brand-name goods that are imported from overseas cost significantly more than they do in their “home countries,” including cosmetics, clothing and accessories and more.
While price may be an issue, selection is not. There is a wide range of items to buy in New Zealand, along with an equally wide range of places to buy them. There are several malls located throughout the Auckland region, most featuring the same clothing stores, homewares stores, drug stores (called chemists in New Zealand), stationery stores and more. Neighbourhoods like Parnell, Newmarket and Ponsonby, among others, boast several unique boutiques and speciality stores, and almost every neighbourhood has at least a few shops, including a chemist and stationery store.
Stores are generally open from 9 am-5:30 pm Monday through Friday, with some food stores also offering 24 hour service at selected branches. Most stores open at the weekend, however, there are a large number of stores that only open for a half-day on Saturday, and not all stores are open on Sunday. Mall stores tend to be open all day Saturday and Sunday.
