5 Best Shopping in Centro, São Paulo

Heaven for music collectors, Baratos Afins opened inside the popular Galeria do Rock in 1978 and is also a record label. The company was the brainchild of Arnaldo Baptista, guitar player in the influential 1960s Brazilian rock band Os Mutantes. The store sells all kinds of music, but if you're looking for rare records, ask for the owner, Luiz Calanca.

The city's first grocery market, this huge 1928 neo-baroque-style building is the quintessential hot spot for gourmets and food lovers. The building, nicknamed Mercadão (Big Market) by locals, houses about 300 stands that sell just about everything edible, including meat, vegetables, cheese, spices, and fish from all over Brazil. It also has restaurants and traditional snack places. The Hocca Bar is justly famous for its pastel de bacalhau (salt-cod pastry) and heaping mortadella sandwich.

A shop you'll find in many malls all over town, Inovathi has leather accessories at good prices.

The Brazilian brand O Boticário was founded by dermatologists and pharmacists from Curitiba in the 1970s. The company creates products for men, women, and children, and through its foundation funds ecological projects throughout Brazil. The shops can be found in most neighborhoods and malls in the city.

Vendors sell jewelry, embroidery, leather goods, toys, clothing, paintings, and musical instruments at the Sunday-morning arts-and-crafts fair in Praça da República. If you look carefully, you can find reasonably priced, out-of-the-ordinary souvenirs.