Sydney's flagship department
stores are David Jones, (address: 86-108 Castlereagh Street)
gentlemen’s emporium Gowings, (address: corner of Market Street
and George Street) which dates back to 1868, and the down-to-earth
Myer (address: 436 George Street).
Castlereagh Street is considered Sydney’s designer
row, although this does not take account of stature stores in Chifley
Plaza, 2 Chifley Square, and the MLC Centre, 19-29 Martin Place.
There are shopping malls galore and 2 splendid Victorian
arcades, the Strand (address: 412-414 George Street) and
the palatial Queen Victoria Building (address: 455 George Street)
also known as QVB. Market City, Thomas Street, Haymarket, has traditional
markets and factory outlets.
An impressive native stable of fashion designers
has established Sydney as a regional fashion capital, reaching both
the Asian and the United States markets. Among the most popular
designers are Paris Fashion Week regular Collette Dinnigan
(address: 33 William Street, Paddington) and Lisa Ho (address: 2a-6a
Queen Street).
For gifts with a local flavor, the most beautiful
gourmet foods can be found at Simon Johnson Quality
Foods (address: 55 Queen Street, Woolahra) Aboriginal artifacts
at Coo-ee Aboriginal Art (address: 31 Lamrock Avenue, Bondi Beach)
and the trendiest of board gear at Surfection (address: shop 2021,
500 Oxford Street).
It is worth discovering the length of Oxford Street,
just to experience the variety of shopping genres, from the camp
end at Darlinghurst, past the small fashion stores of Paddington
and on into Woollahra and the top of the range antique shops in
and around Queen Street.
Further into Bondi Junction leads to Westfield
Bondi Junction, a superiority shopping complex featuring international
designer fashion stores, department stores and specialist stores
for every conceivable need.
Darling Harbour, Chinatown and The Rocks historic district are swarming
with souvenir and craft shops.
The Rocks is also the place for shoppers to pick up gems from the
main Australian opal fields.
The Rocks Opal Mine (address: 13 Clocktower Square), and Flame Opals
(address: 119 George Street) both have a good selection
of stones, as does the downtown Gemstone Boutique (address:
388 George Street).
For pearls from the northwest coast of Australia,
Paspaley Pearls (address: 142 King Street) has some world class
examples.
There are markets at Balmain, Bondi Beach and The
Rocks but perhaps the 1 with the strongest local flavor is the Sydney
Fish Market, open daily from 7.00 am to 4.00 pm, in Pyrmont, offering
over 100 species of the freshest seafood, sushi bars and fish cafés.
Shop opening hours are generally from Monday to
Saturday 9.00 am to 6.00 pm, with late night shopping until 9.00
pm on Thursday. Progressively more shops are opening on Sunday.
There is a 10 % Goods and Services Tax (GST), which
is included on all price tags. There are many duty free shops in
the city centre, as well as at the airport. Shoppers should show
their passport and onward ticket on collection of goods. |
