Department Stores
Walmart – http://www.walmart.com
A typical department store in the U.S. is Walmart. Walmart carries everything from clothes to household goods. All stores also carry a small selection of packaged foods. Walmart Supercenters offer all groceries, including fresh goods. Most are 24/7 but a few close at night. It depends on how busy the surrounding area is. There are locations all throughout Houston.
Target – http://www.target.com
Target is comparable in price to Walmart but it does not have a supercenter offering fresh goods. The selection is not quite as plentiful as Walmart’s. It is a bit more exclusive with a more attractive look and feel such as trendier furniture and house décor items.
Neiman Marcus – http://www.neimanmarcus.com
Premier department store with designer luxury goods, exclusive gifts and high-end, top name designer clothes. Designers such as Jil Sander, Prada, Oscare de la Renta, Dior and many more are stocked.
Location inside the Galleria mall: 2600 Post Oak Boulevard, Houston, TX 77056, 713-621-7100
Sax Fifth Avenue – http://www.saksfifthavenue.com
Premier department store with designer luxury goods, exclusive gifts and high-end top name designer clothes and competing with Neiman Marcus. You will find designers such as Gucci, Fendi, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Prada, Versace and many more.
Location inside Galleria mall: 5115 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77056 713-627-0500
Nordstrom – http://shop.nordstrom.com
Premier department store with same selection as competing with Neiman Marcus and Sax Fifth Avenue. Look for designers such as Gucci, Chanel, Armani and many more.
Location inside Galleria mall: 5192 Hidalgo St, Houston, TX 77056, 832-201-2750
Malls and Shopping Centers
When a department store is not sufficient enough, Houstonians like to shop at one of the many shopping centers and malls in Houston:
Houston Galleria – http://www.galleriahouston.com
The Galleria mall is known to be the flagship indoor shopping center of Houston with four floors of shopping including boutiques, jewelers, specialty stores, and restaurants. An ice skating rink on the ground level gives the mall a distinct flair. The Galleria mall is characterized by being home to many exclusive luxury stores such as Neiman Marcus, Sax Fifth Avenue, and Cartier, to name a few. Prices are in the higher to highest range, even in the many average designer brand stores. The mall is located off Westheimer Rd just outside Loop 610.
Uptown Park – http://www.uptownparkhouston.com
Uptown Park markets itself as an European Shopping Experience and is the newest outdoor shopping center in Houston. It is home to fashion boutiques and specialty stores with prices in the middle to upper range. It is home to some of the most premier retail locations and restaurants just south of the Galleria mall off Post Oak Blvd just outside Loop 610.
River Oaks – http://www.riveroaksshoppingcenter.com
The River Oaks Shopping Center is a small and nice shopping area off West Gray and Shepard Dr with a nice looking façade of palm trees alongside the street. There are restaurants, bars and boutiques as well as specialty stores. The River Oaks area in general is just east of the Galleria area and located between Loop 610 and midtown around Memorial Drive with more stores on Westheimer just inside the Loop.
Rice Village – http://www.ricevillageonline.com
Rice Village is distinguished by very eclectic stores and is home to several hundred stores specialty stores, designer boutiques, restaurants and bars. This area is very popular with expatriates as shopping is so diverse. Rice Village is located in Midtown, southwest of downtown Houston by Kirby Dr, just east of West University Place.
Houston also has malls in practically every part of town. All malls have department stores, many boutiques, shoe stores, specialty stores, and restaurants and often also a movie theatre associated with them or in the vicinity. Malls are open every day but have limited hours on Sundays where they open as late as 10 am and close as early as 4 pm. Some of these malls in Houston are:
- Memorial City Mall in west Houston – http://www.memorialcitymall.com
- West Oaks Mall in west Houston – http://www.westoaksmall.com
- The Woodlands Mall – http://www.thewoodlandsmall.com
- Sugar Land First Colony Mall – http://www.firstcolonymall.com
- Katy Mills Mall – http://www.simon.com
- Pasadena Mall – http://www.pasadenatownsquare.com
- Willowbrook Mall
Outlet Center
Houstonians love to shop at outlet centers and parking lots are full on the weekends. This is the most popular and closest one to the Houston area:
Houston Premium Outlet Center – http://www.premiumoutlets.com
This outlet center has 120 outlet stores with designer fashion boutiques, food, furniture and gift stores from adidas to Guess, Calvin Klein, Gap and many more. Prices in these outlet stores are a bit cheaper than in the brand name stores in town or the designer clothes they sell at city stores. Located in Cypress, Texas about 45 min from Downtown Houston off Hwy 290.
