Shanghai Shopping

[haoshcn]

no i'm not kidding. i spent over three months there and shopping is terrible. you actually saw people buying stuff in plaza 66? i wonder how many people actually even go in there to browse- i have been there multiple times and the whole mall is dead. xin tian di? ok there's an I.T. (probably the only good store in shanghai) - but its not well stocked and the prices are marked way up - even on sale (50-70%) it's kind of a joke. is there anything else? no, not really - granted there are some new stores moving in to that complex. even the low end market is bad- there's much more available in beijing/guangzhou/shenzhen for the mainland. hong kong shopping is miles better than shanghai. sorry. shanghai shopping still sucks unless you really have copious amounts of money to spend carelessly..... but why would you do it in shanghai when you could go to tokyo or even hong kong?

I agree that shopping in Shanghai is not so good as Hongkong and Tokyo. Mostly it's because the high tariff imposed on imported luxury goods in China and also people's average income is still much lower than the other two places. But, we must be honest, the shopping scene in Hongkong and Tokyo is even way better than New York! You could never compare Shanghai's shopping with those two places since the retailing business of luxury goods really just started taking off in Shanghai since less than 10 years ago. Such comparison isn't really fair. At least I don't find the shopping choices in Shanghai is worse than Chicago at all. You can say "Shanghai shopping sucks", whether that makes sense really depends on who you compare Shanghai with. BTW, are you from Hongkong? You sound like someone from there.

Next time you go to Shanghai, I suggest you to try more stores. What about Three on the Bund, AIAIA, do you think they have bad selections? You talk about lower-end shopping, what about Qipu Lu (七浦路)? Although I do agree that price of designer clothes is a big problem in Shanghai. Quite a few stores do actually ridiculouly mark up things. I was at Jean Paul Gaultier store last time, even a men's winter sweater was priced at around $500, and that's a 40% off item.

 

[xcoldricex]

I know there's cool stuff in Beijing/Shenzhen...but Guangzhou is kinda dull, well menswear anyhow.

probably like 95% (if not more) of the clothes that are sold in beijing/shenzhen come from the factories in guangzhou.

 

[xcoldricex]

I agree that shopping in Shanghai is not so good as Hongkong and Tokyo. Mostly it's because the high tariff imposed on imported luxury goods in China and also people's average income is still much lower than the other two places. But, we must be honest, the shopping scene in Hongkong and Tokyo is even way better than New York! You could never compare Shanghai's shopping with those two places since the retailing business of luxury goods really just started taking off in Shanghai since less than 10 years ago. Such comparison isn't really fair. At least I don't find the shopping choices in Shanghai is worse than Chicago at all. You can say "Shanghai shopping sucks", whether that makes sense really depends on who you compare Shanghai with.

Next time you go to Shanghai, I suggest you to try more stores. What about Three on the Bund, AIAIA, do you think they have bad selections? You talk about lower-end shopping, what about Qipu Lu (七浦路)? Although I do agree that price of designer clothes is a big problem in Shanghai. Quite a few stores do actually ridiculouly mark up things. I was at Jean Paul Gaultier store last time, even a men's winter sweater was priced at around $500, and that's a 40% off item.

I've been to all the above mentioned stores. All you can really say about Shanghai is that they have the high-end labels there. That's about it. Comparing it to other cities or not, I think Shanghai shopping still sucks. What's shopping when you can't buy anything?

I'd have to say Hong Kong shopping is just ok, i didn't do much high end shopping there though (I never made it to Joyce or anything - mostly to avoid temptation at the time). For streetwear its pretty bad- not in terms of availability but just the fact that the general mass is crazy about whatever "milk" or "touch" magazines feeds to them- mostly japanese brands - and bape is crazy there (even though it fell off in japan several years ago). so the market is just saturated with japanese streetwear resale shops that charge ridiculous prices... yet you see many many many kids walking around head-to-toe in bape.

BTW, are you from Hongkong? You sound like someone from there.

haha i don't know whether i should be offended or not. no i'm not from hong kong.

You talk about lower-end shopping, what about Qipu Lu (七浦路)?

probably the worst (save chongqing) low-end shopping district i've been to. so much junk, i'm used to having to dig through these places but there was almost nothing to find here. plus i almost got pickpocketed several times while i was there haha. the only shops of note would be on changle lu or maoming nan lu areas- where there are several people trying to do their own designs.

 

[haoshcn]

I've been to all the above mentioned stores. All you can really say about Shanghai is that they have the high-end labels there. That's about it. Comparing it to other cities or not, I think Shanghai shopping still sucks. What's shopping when you can't buy anything?

Right, I agree with your judgement about they having high-end lables while their selctions are generally not good enough yet. Whether it sucks (to be honest, this is an ultra-disgusting American slang, but since you keep using it, I just follow your suit), this is a totally personal opinion. Whether you can buy things in Shanghai, it also depends on your taste, your budget and the size of your purse. In Feb I saw very beautiful Dior Homme runway pieces at their store in Plaza 66, the same things I found later on the website of Luisa Via Roma. As I mentioned in my previous posts, I saw very very beautiful runway pieces of Yohji and Ann Demeulemeester for women at Three on the Bund, I also saw quite a few pretty Chloe dresses from their runway show at their boutique in CITIC Square. At I.T Xin Tian Di, I saw some of the best women's runway pieces of Balenciaga of 05/06 FW. In winter of 2004, I was looking for a pair of Balenciaga mens heavy wool bondage pants I first saw at Atelier New York, my size was sold out in all the stores carrying mens Balenciaga in the US, so I called I.T Xin Tian Di, they actually had it, but it's not on sale yet, and the price was more than $1000, I had to give up in the end.

Does it mean there's nothing to buy in Shanghai? I don't know, depends on what you want to buy and what you can afford. No, there's no Carol Christian Poell, no Carpe Diem, no Marjan Pejoski in Shanghai yet. But if you ask me, just based on shopping choices, would I rather live in Shanghai or any American city other than NYC and LA, I would choose Shanghai myself. Is it because I am a bumpkin who hasn't seen enough good things? I don't know, could be.

 

[rarahls]

No Doubt, Shopping At Plaza 66 Or I.t Would Never Be A Brilliant Choice.

Try An Evening Walking Around Shan Xi Road, Ju Le Road, Xin Le Road Or Chang Le Road, These Are What I Think The Most
Unique And Secret Fashion Shopping Area In Shanghai.

 

[surver]

there is a stretch of CHANG-LE LU, XINGLE LU and JULU LU (they're parallel streets) around (cross-streets) of Xanxi Lu, Maoming Lu that are full of interesting local boutiques, many of which are recently developed local brands that are getting better and better as they grow. also along these streets you can usually find alot of out-of-factory european and japanese brands including comme des garcons, dsquared2, ships, comme ca, hare, wjk, y3, a&f, bape, evisu, etc although many are fake but occasionally you can find authentic ones if you know how to tell the difference. they are also beginning to sell authentic stuff such as mastermind japan, number (n)ine, etc which they go abroad to buy and bring back from japan; i think there's a new shop called 'sugar' or something that sells the authentic stuff. also there're loads of fake dior homme copies that are based 1:1 on the original cuttings...the local brands such as even penniless is gradually finding its own voice after margiela-esque derivative beginnings...

 

[kathe]

Does anyone know if there are some outlet malls or warehouse discount places in Shanghai? I'm specifically looking for some information on shopping for off season discount items in Shanghai. Thank you in advance.

 

[slowretail]

Shopping in Shanghai!?

Hi, I travel to Shanghai by next week from Germany and I'd be thankful for good hints in shopping, culture and everything interesting to see (you won't find in travel guides).
Alexander

 

[moohoop]

Apologies for reviving this dead thread, but I figured I'd give it a shot!

Anyone know of any good high-street priced shops in Shanghai? Or secondhand? It'd be great to know if there's an unknown thrift/vintage scene waiting to be unearthed. Also, does anyone know how the shops underground in People's Square are? I'm under the impression that there's cheap quality, F21-esque stuff down there.

 

[rarahls]

Apologies for reviving this dead thread, but I figured I'd give it a shot!

Anyone know of any good high-street priced shops in Shanghai? Or secondhand? It'd be great to know if there's an unknown thrift/vintage scene waiting to be unearthed. Also, does anyone know how the shops underground in People's Square are? I'm under the impression that there's cheap quality, F21-esque stuff down there.

There aren't really any good vintage shops in Shanghai at the moment, but there are lots of very hidden high-streetish priced small boutiques located beyond the major high streets such as Huai Hai Lu and Nan Jing Lu, u need to explore those places: It could be fun!

Ignore the underground shops cuz they don't hv any gd quality, and usually there r lots of counterfeits.

I recommend u head to Nanchang Lu, Xinle Lu, Changle Lu, and Julu Lu, if you want to find something special and unique.

These streets are located very close to Huaihai Lu.

check out the maps in the following site.
http://www.superfuture.com/supertravel/ search Shanghai, click Huaihai Lu and Nanjing Xi Lu maps.

Hope this helps.

 

[moohoop]

There aren't really any good vintage shops in Shanghai at the moment, but there are lots of very hidden high-streetish priced small boutiques located beyond the major high streets such as Huai Hai Lu and Nan Jing Lu, u need to explore those places: It could be fun!

Ignore the underground shops cuz they don't hv any gd quality, and usually there r lots of counterfeits.

I recommend u head to Nanchang Lu, Xinle Lu, Changle Lu, and Julu Lu, if you want to find something special and unique.

These streets are located very close to Huaihai Lu.

check out the maps in the following site.
http://www.superfuture.com/supertravel/ search Shanghai, click Huaihai Lu and Nanjing Xi Lu maps.

Hope this helps.

Oh, wow, that's a lot. Thanks!

Okay, so I'm gonna sound stupid asking this, but along those streets are there shops that carry stuff with a more Ginza/Fruits style? That style seems to have spread from Japan to the rest of Asia. I guess I'm looking for places that aren't typically western, like H&M, etc.

 

[Cicciolina]

Just bumping this up - does anyone else have any more recent information? I always find Superfuture to have really dated reviews, and Shanghai is changing all the time.... :S

 

[rarahls]

Oh, wow, that's a lot. Thanks!

Okay, so I'm gonna sound stupid asking this, but along those streets are there shops that carry stuff with a more Ginza/Fruits style? That style seems to have spread from Japan to the rest of Asia. I guess I'm looking for places that aren't typically western, like H&M, etc.

Try Changle lu Xinle Lu & Julu Lu, there's quite a few small boutiques with local or japanese influenced styles.

 

[cloudyblue]

Wowwww I just found out about this thread..My friend's studying in Shanghai now, I'm gonna ask her to check out the stuffs...Thanks for the info!

 

[surver]

a couple of new areas -

xingle lu between tonghu lu and shangxi lu

jingxian lu btwn shangxi lu and maoming lu

changle lu btwn ruijin lu and chengdu lu

taikang lu area is seeing a transformation and gradual upgrading with new designers, etc as well