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Shopping
By Joanna Tweedy
By Jo Tweedy
Shopping is fast becoming Florida’s favourite sport with everyone from the bargain hunter to the designer shopper well catered for. Just be sure your credit card can stand up to the temptation…
Florida’s retail rollercoaster is gathering momentum and however you like to shop: funky thrift shops, high-end malls, designer boutiques…the Sunshine State has more than enough to satisfy the strongest retail cravings.
Baby-pink Dior bags, antique ceramics, the latest iPod… it’s all here, housed in miles of arcades, malls and markets – and, even better, you’ll pay considerably less than you would back home.
Wherever you are in Florida, you won’t be far from the American shopping staple – the mall. These air-conditioned retail temples, bulging with all your favourite stores and a few more besides, are as easy to find as they are to spend money in.
In the Orlando region, there are no less than a dozen high quality malls, all designed to woo the cash-happy theme park crowd into spend, spend, spending. The most impressive landmark on the shopping skyline is Mall at Millenia, a state-of-the-art shopaholic’s paradise where America’s most popular department stores, including Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, sit shoulder-to-shoulder with the fashion world’s most exclusive names, Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton and Jimmy Choo among them.
Other Florida mega-malls guaranteed to send your credit card into meltdown include the International Plaza in Tampa (where major names Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor are among the main retail attractions) and Aventura Mall in North Miami. The latter is the biggest regional mall in South Florida and home to all of the usual shopping suspects: Gap, Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie and Fitch, to mention a few.
At the other end of the shopping spectrum, Miami is also perfect for less mainstream purchases. For bustling outdoor shopping, head to Lincoln Road Mall, a long, leafy pedestrianised street just a stone’s throw from South Beach and the Art Deco district. It’s crammed with specialist stores including jewellers, electrical stores and art and music shops, not oozing with the glamour of Miami’s modern malls, but still pulling crowds. An early evening shopping excursion is the most fun when the surrounding cafes, restaurants and bars come to life as you wander from shop to shop.
Bargain-hunters determined to chase down a good deal should focus their energy on Florida’s increasingly popular outlet centres. Discount shopping is big business here and you can pick up bargains year-round on discontinued ranges or last season’s designer goods, often at up to 70 per cent off the original price.
One of Florida’s largest mall is Sawgrass Mills, a shrine to consumerism that lies 10 miles west of Fort Lauderdale. This gargantuan outlet complex stretches two miles and has more than 300 shops so don your comfiest shoes if you intend on conquering it all.
On a more manageable scale, Premium Outlets offers similar cut-price treats in both St. Augustine and Orlando with some of the biggest savings to be had on sportswear: Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Puma all have stores here.
Unsurprisingly, shoppers looking to really splash their cash are equally well catered to in Florida. Upscale shopping to rival that found on the streets of New York, Chicago and LA can be found in many places in the entire state.
For European-style outdoor shopping, Fifth Avenue South, Third Street and The Avenues in Old Naples on the Gulf Coast is a charming high-street filled with luxury clothes boutiques, gourmet food shops and art galleries.
Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale is busy with well-heeled shoppers whatever time of day or night you visit. Join them browsing around the many jewellers, antique shops and art galleries or take a pew at one of the charming sidewalk cafes.
Orlando’s Winter Park is of a similar ilk. Head to pretty Park Avenue, the main street in this upmarket suburb where swish clothes shops, chocolatiers and beauticians vie for the attentions of the area’s wealthy inhabitants and visiting tourists.
For shopping that could rival LA’s Rodeo Drive, some of the glitziest addresses in Florida are to be found at Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, Bal Harbour in North Miami Beach and St. Armands Circle in Sarasota where millionaires and A-list celebrities are among the clientele. If your bank balance won’t stand up to the out-of-this-world price tags, join the beautiful people for a spot of window-shopping and content yourself with the knowledge that there are bargains aplenty to be had elsewhere.
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