Shopping Guide
There is a wide range of shopping choices and places to shop in the city. Like all major western cities, you can find both international and local brands in fashion, electronics, homewares, bookstores and entertainment with prices to suit everybody from bargain to high end. Actually, since Australia enjoys strong manufacturing ties with China and other Asia Pacific region countries, there are real bargains to be had in electronics, homewares, and clothing if you shop around. Australia is home to some internationally acclaimed fashion designers including Sass and Bide, Collette Dinnigan, and Akira Isogawa. Myers and David Jones, the two major department stores, stock these top designer’s fashion and others. You can also find their designs in boutique stores in Paddington as well.
The city has three major shopping hubs, all a quick walk from each other. These are Pitt Street Mall, the Queen Victoria Building, and Chinatown. Pitt Street Mall is a pedestrian-only thoroughfare with many shops and arcades on either side of it, including the department stores Myers and David Jones. A block away from Pitt Street Mall is the Queen Victoria Building. It has more boutique-style shops than Pitt Street Mall, which is predominantly filled with chain stores. Further down from the Queen Victoria Building and past the city cinemas is Chinatown. Here you can find Asian fashion, wares and food.
Other major shopping areas include Chatswood (North Shore) and Bondi Junction (Eastern Suburbs). Westfield is one of the major shopping mall chains in Australia and these are well-positioned in suburban areas.
It is quite easy to spend a whole day in the city browsing the stores. If it all starts to wear you out it’s just a short walk to Hyde Park and the Domain (which is also a park) where you can relax on the grass and watch life go past.
Stores in Sydney are normally open from 9 am to 5 pm Mon to Friday and Sat and Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm. On Thursday night there is late night shopping which means the shops stay open until 9 pm.
- Queen Victoria Building http://www.qvb.com.au
- The city of Sydney, Shopping in the City http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/sydney-shopping/default.html
- Westfield http://www.westfield.com.au/sydney/
