ESPAÑOL

I had not written about this city for a while, but since my brother and sister-in-law have decided to go as part of their honeymoon, from here I congratulate you once again by the way, at least dedicate some lines, and I have decided to take up with a topic that will be useful for them. Because there is no place in the world where to purchase American products as, logically, those of the country of origin. Many of the stores that are commented here can also be found throughout the country, so the recommendations would be applicable. I am not at all fond of shopping, but every time I have been in the Big Apple I have gone with a half empty suitcase and I have brought it full, and 3 and a half years after my last visit, rare is the day that I am not wearing something bought there. If it also coincides with a time when the dollar is not very high, the deal is even better.

CENTURY 21

The Mecca for tourists in New York. These department stores are characterized by having the best deals in the city, and they truly have everything. The problem is knowing how to find it, since a large part of the clothes are disorganized, often only spare sizes remain and shop assistants are the worst, they simply do not have any interest in doing their job well. The accessories and underwear are usually very well placed.

Therefore, we could say that to Century you should go with plenty of time and patience, but it is truly worth it. Examples of purchases we have made and their comparison to European price:

• Adidas sports underwear (which is not an American brand …): $ 4 each. They usually cost around € 10-12. The top brand sports socks come at the price of Decathlon.
• Levis 501: 25 $. They usually cost € 100. Of course, I found them the fourth time I went, after looking for them each time and that there were hardly any sizes.
• Clothing brands Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein or Nautica: approximately 25% of the European price. Probably there will be only spare sizes and colors.
• Top brand sunglasses: between $ 15 and $ 25.

The largest and best-known building is in Downtown, next to the WTC; The nearest metro stations are Cortland St (lines R and W) and Fulton St (lines 4 and 5). There is another smaller and much less crowded on Broadway with 66St; the nearest station is 66th-Lincoln Center (line 1).

DSW

With the catchy cantine of “next shoe lover …” from their shop assistants as a musical thread, DSW shoe stores are the best in price quality. It has top brand products at half price or less. Although the Century 21 may have lower prices, I have never bought shoes there, since its section is very disorganized, crammed with boxes and most products are not so interesting. Examples:

• Mizuno Wave Creation: $ 75. They are hardly found in Europe for less than € 120.
• Guess shoes: $ 30. The ugliest in Europe does not fall below € 60.

The largest store is in Union Square, on the second floor of the building on the south side, which incidentally provides an excellent view of the square with the Empire State Building in the background; Union Square subway station (lines 4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R and W). There is another in 34th with 7Av, very close to Macy’s, and another in Broadway with 79th (line 1).

UNION SQUARE GREEN MARKET

Precisely in this square there is a daily market of fruit, vegetables and other food products, often organic, reputed to be the best in the city.

MACY’S

The department stores par excellence. Clean, tidy, luxurious but not in excess, they have everything, with all colors and sizes, and that means is going to be some more expensive. Founded in 1829, the main building is famous for being the largest physical store in the world from 1924 to 2010, keeping some of the original escalators. It occupies the entire block between Broadway, 7th Avenue and 34th and 35th Streets; The nearest subway metro station is the 34st-Herald Square (lines B, D, F, V, N, Q, R and W). It is easy to lose sense of direction inside due to the size and that the successive reforms mean that the old parts do not have the same distribution of the new ones, as a result of incorporating adjacent buildings until they become the only one in the block.

Macy’s is not a cheap mall itself, but usually has sales on American brand clothing, and there is also the famous discount for foreigners, we do not have to pay taxes on the items. Formerly we had to go to Customer Service, show our passport and get a ticket with our name that allowed the discount. Today it is enough to show our passport to shop assistants in any cashier.

Between discounts, offers and that American products are cheaper in the United States because they are national brand, the approximate price is half of what we would pay in other countries. So a smart attitude would be to go to Century 21 or DSW first, and what we do not find, go find it at Macy’s. It is better place for sports items North Face type than official stores.

VICTORIA’S SECRET

That non-american women can get this brand underwear paying Inditex price is a blessing (for them and for us). The main store is on the block immediately east of Macy’s, but there are at least 5 more in SoHo, Midtown, UES and UWS.

M&M’s WORLD

You probably do not end up buying more than a purse and a half pound of goodies, but in any case this store radiates joy and sympathy and deserves one visit, or one each time we pass through Times Square. And the purses are very, very good quality, ours is intact after 4 and a half years. Nearest metro is 49 St (lines N, R and W).

APPLE STORE

Call it Apple or call it other American brand that we like. For most products, conversion abroad is unfairly simple: if it costs $ 100 here, in Europe it will cost € 100 or in the UK 100 pounds. Since both are usually above $, it is worth buying our products here if we do not mind that the keyboard of our McBook does not have Ñ. The most famous store is on 5th Avenue on the corner of Central Park, and it is usually crowded. It is more advisable to go to another; there is one in the SoHo, another in the UES and another in the UWS.

CHELSEA MARKET

This place has been charmingly reconstructed, but it ends up being much smaller than it might seem. It is a good place to buy whims, since here if it is beautiful is more important than if it is useful or necessary. They are mainly food products and decorative objects.

It is one of the attractions in Chelsea. The nearest metro station is about 10 minutes walk, the 14St / 8Av (lines A, C, E and L).

THE FAMOUS OUTLETS

Only for those who have days to spare in the city, or prefer to go shopping than to see Central Park, because they have one drawback: they are far away. To get to them, the least complicated is to take one of the many buses from Port Authority. They cost approximately $ 30 round trip, usually leave every half hour, and it takes almost an hour to arrive:

• Woodbury Common Premium Outlets. North of New York State.
• Jersey Gardens. This is the one that people usually refer to when they talk about “New Jersey outlets”. It is certainly considered among the best in the country. Among other things, you can find the famous Timberland boots for $ 75, one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.

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