New York Shopping (and shopping and more shopping!)
5th Avenue
Tiffany & Co, 5th Avenue
Tiffany & Co must be one of the most iconic shops on this stretch of retail therapy but you’ll have to be dragged away from the Saks 5th Avenue shoe department first. The higher end stores like Saks , Tiffany’s and Bergdorf Goodman are interspersed with the big American stores like Abercrombie & Fitch or Sephora. There’s also a shopping complex at the Rockefeller Center Plaza, just off 5th Avenue, which houses Anthropologie, J Crew and Banana Republic amongst others.
At the Central Park end you’ll find FAO Schwarz with the ‘big piano’ made famous in the film er…‘Big’, (although in my opinion the toy shops around Times Square are more entertaining for the kids) and the flagship Apple Store with it’s unusual glass box entrance.
The stretch between Rockefeller Center and Central Park offers the best shopping. South of Rockefeller, the boutiques give way to more souvenir shops and cheap and cheerful clothing and jewellery stores.
Bloomingdales, 59th and Lexington
Madison Avenue
If 5th Avenue hasn’t satisfied your urge for the latest in designer fashion then head to Madison. Here you’ll find the ultra luxurious brands, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Vera Wang as well as Barney’s Department Store for the last word in high fashion. It’s a great place to window shop or celebrity spot. Madison Avenue Spy is a lovely blog devoted to all things Madison including news of the sales! http://madisonavespy.blogspot.co.uk/
SoHo & NoLIta
With plenty more down to earth price tags than 5th Avenue, this area is great for shopping and is my personal favourite area to indulge in some retail therapy. It still has that bohemian vibe that SoHo is renowned for, even though a lot of the stores are now chains or designer boutiques. Whilst you can indulge in all the big American Brands, there’s plenty of independent stores here, nestled between the big names, as well as pop up shops, sample sales and some great street stalls. If you’re after some original art, you can find artists selling their wares along many of the streets or if you’re after a more refined environment for browsing there are also some higher end galleries scattered throughout the area.