Shopping reviews

Stockmann department store is by far the best shopping experience in Finland. Their main store on Aleksanterinkatu has eight floors full of goodies.

The first floor hosts the large parfumerie, magazines, candies and big readymade meal counters. The second, third and fourth floor are filled with f... More >

Stockmann's Tallinn department store was the first abroad store for Finnish department store giant. Nowadays they have several stores around the Baltics and western Russia, and the Tallinn store has moved at least once.

Stockmann's principle is to be the most desirable place to shop and also the ... More >

Stockmann Jumbo is the latest and the smallest Stockmann department store in Finland -- I'm not counting the outlets at the airport. Despite the size, the store caters for all aspects of living. There is also a miniscule Alko store next to the grocery department.

For the uninitiated: Stockmann is... More >

Suomalainen Kirjakauppa is the bigger of the two bookstores in downtown Lahti. The selection, as one can guess, tilted heavily towards Finnish literature, but there is a selection of English books available, too.

They have a good selection of newspapers and magazines, and maps can be found there,... More >

Suomalainen Kirjakauppa has two bookstores on the same market square. This sounds stupid, but probably there are some historical reasons behind it -- other one used to be Akademic Bookstore, but some of their shops were sold to Suomalainen chain.

Both stores carry the full selection, including bo... More >

If you are located in Pudong, for example in Grand Hyatt or Intercontinental Pudong, you don't have to cross the river to do some serious shopping. Super Brand Mall is the biggest lure on this side of the river, specialising mostly to Chinese and Asian brands.

The ground floor of the mall has the... More >

Tallinn seems to have a lot of midprice shoe stores. There are several Estonian or Baltic chains operating in the town. In Kristiine shopping center we spotted Suurtüki that lured us in with an excellent children shoe selection.

The big store is located on the second floor of the shopping center... More >

Veljekset Keskinen Tavarapuoti is a combination of a huge department and discount store, located in middle of nowhere in Botnia region in Finland. They sell more than most of the other markets and department stores located in big cities, and people flock the place during usually quiet Sunday evening... More >

Thailand is renown for silk, both the fabric and the garments. However, the greedy Thai businesses do their best to make buying silk problematic -- if you are not a professional or seasoned amateur, you never know what you are purchasing for real.

Fortunately, there is an upscalish silk shop at t... More >

Three on the Bund is a newly developed collection of eclectic fashion shops and restaurants just next to the Bund. The ground floor hosts a few high-end stores, such as Giorgio Armani and Emporio Armani, ready to drain your wallet.

The place is designed with an edge, especially Giorgio Armani's s... More >