DOWNTOWN AUCKLAND
Downtown has a wide array of shopping options. High-end NZ fashions, accessories, rare bookshops and more can be found in the various alleys that branch off of High Street. The Downtown Complex is home to several duty free stores, including DFS Galleria, which features many international designer stores and the Westfield Downtown Shopping Mall which contains a wide variety of food, clothing, accessories and homewares stores along with a food court. Sky City, located next to the Sky Tower, is a small but traditional mall featuring a Border’s bookstore and a few mid-priced retail shops. Queen’s Arcade specializes in high-end local designers – and medium to high prices. The Atrium on Elliot Street is a mall featuring popular mid-priced brands mixed in exclusive labels, so a wide range of prices is represented. Smith & Caughey’s department store on Queen Street carries top New Zealand and international brands of clothing and accessories, with mid and high priced items.
THE INNER SUBURBS
Auckland’s inner suburbs are meccas for sophisticated shopping. Parnell Road, Parnell’s main street, is where Aucklanders go to find the best in high end designer clothing, artwork, homewares and accessories. The street is lined with shops featuring high-priced clothing, jewelry and art from local designers interspersed with high quality bars, cafes and restaurants. Across town, Ponsonby is Parnell’s younger, edgier cousin, featuring more cutting edge designers and a few more affordable options mixed in with the shops, galleries, cafes and restaurants.
Newmarket’s Nuffield Street is home to many exciting stores filled with mid-priced to expensive, one-of-a-kind fashion and some of New Zealand’s iconic local brands. Broadway, also in Newmarket, is home to a range of traditional mall stores and includes two indoor malls and a Farmer’s department store.
K Road (Karangahape Road) on the border of Auckland City, Grafton and Newton, is geared toward a more alternative, younger or less moneyed crowd, with plenty of edgy fashion and lifestyle shops mixed in with more traditional chain stores.
Aucklanders looking for a lower-priced retail fix head to Dress Smart in Onehunga, a mall packed with outlets for most of New Zealand’s most popular retail stores. The Fox Outlets, located in Northcote on the North Shore, offer a similar, if slightly smaller, version.
THE OUTER SUBURBS
While each town has its own boutiques and specialty stores, by and large, suburban shopping means mall shopping. There are several large malls across Auckland — most include a supermarket, a Farmer’s department store and movie theatres along with a range of shops featuring gifts, souvenirs, jewelery, handicrafts, books, music, clothing and accessories at a wide range of price points. The most popular malls are:
- Westfield St Lukes near Mt. Albert on St. Lukes Road – http://westfield.co.nz/stlukes/
- West City Mall on Great North Road in Henderson – http://westfield.co.nz/
- Lynn Mall on Great North Road in New Lynn – http://www.lynnmall.co.nz/
- Westfield Manukau City, in South Auckland on Great South Road – http://westfield.co.nz/manukau/
- Westfield Pakuranga, in East Auckland on Pakuranga Road – http://westfield.co.nz/
- Botany Town Centre on Ti Rakau Drive in Botany Downs, East Auckland – http://www.botanytowncentre.co.nz
- Sylvia Park, in Mt Wellington on South Eastern Highway. Also has its own railway station.
