I guess my wife and I are unusual since we both love to shop in Europe. By shopping in small satores ytou get a better feel for the country and interect with many more people than otherwise.

We alos buy. However, only items that we canot get in the US. An antique, a painting, a unique home accessory. My wife also buys clothing that is not availble in the US and there are many in the smaller stores.

I also buy toy metal soldiers thta I cannot get here and have a sizable collection of those that are made in various nations.

David J

Again, the issue isn't ALL kinds of shopping, it's shopping at department stores and boutiques which sell internationally-distributed brands and products.

Sure I go to grocery markets all the time, because you can get good produce and other picnic items for cheaper than buying meals all the time.

Even browse the wine collection. A market like Inno in Montparnasse has a collection of wines which cost several thousand dollars in a locked case.

It's shopping for Ferragamo in Paris or Gucci in London. Is it really going to be that different than looking for those items in LA?

Anyone who believes HEMA gets its products made locally is so gullible they really ought to have their Dutch passport taken away.

They use the same Bangladeshi suppliers everyone else does - and don't claim any different. They don't even always go straight to far eastern factories: they use the same middlemen as everyone else too.

All they claim is that their products are mostly private label. Which differntiates them from people like Carrefour or Primark not one jot or tittle.

Ah, well, then my Dutch friends are ill-informed.

Still, cute stuff that's reasonably priced, and it does reflect the some of the local taste.

I remember reading a French book on wines.

Some of the top choices were Carrefour-branded private label vintages.

Ok, I don't go in department stores here, there or anywhere. But if people do, so what?

I am in love with French pharmacies. I go in one everyday that I am in Paris. I love French over the counter medicines. I also love Italian pharmacies and almost as much, the Para Farmacia(s). Don't know the plural.

I have stopped in many many boutiques and galleries and little shops around the world, while I am out sightseeing. And I am the person that is taking a museum spreadsheet to Paris.

I always end up needing something on vacation, so we shop in various places. In Munich during a heat wave we decided we wanted to spend an afternoon swimming in the river in the Englischer garten, so we went to a department store to buy beach towels and flip flops. Then later during that same trip, we went to a department store in Nuremberg to buy some better warm weather clothing. Now whenever I wear the skirt and top that I bought, I feel like it is vacation :)

While in Rome in 2001 my 16 year old daughter purchased her first and only black leather coat. I wanted her to get it in a larger size so she could grow into it. She didn't and wouldn't you know -- she still wears it. The sales clerk was very nice and explained to her how to care for it. I think it was 300,000 lira -- she got her money's worth.

Tonight, I wore a pair of leather shoes I bought in Venice in 2001 -- I think I paid 244,000 lira but the shoes were well made and have held up well to our salted winter sidewalks. I guess the point is, shop if you enjoy it. If you think you would like to purchase it -- do it, cause chances are you are not going to be coming back. Really, the only bad purchase I have had was the cheap umbrellas in Rhodes (Greece) and knockoff watch -- Samos. Other than that ....

No Regrets.

Rented an apt. in Venice for a week and they had only one bath towel, very small too.

Called and they said extra towels would be 15-20 Euro.

So I figured for that price, I'll just pick one up and take it home after I'm done.

Didn't go out of the way looking for a department store but stopped at the one between the Rialto and Cannaregio (the colorful one).

Couldn't find anything under 30 Euro.

I like to buy useful things while I'm on vacation for the home. I would never buy shoes far from home because I have to wear them around the house for a while before I commit to them.

I live in Ireland but love to buy clothes in other countries as shops differ. I dont go mad unless its good value or say like a few years ago we were in Paris at the gap we bought loads aa we did not have gap in Ireland then (barely do now!)

Shopping in the U.S. I feel is better for men. My husband gets great clothes but he is a big guy and more American in sizes. I find the womens clothes too conservative or dull unless you pay a lot. I am not saying that we dress like mutton dressed as Lambs here but there is a bit more of stylish peices that I do not see in the U.S. and each European country differs slightly. I love wraps, ponchos etc and always buy when I see an unusual one.

I don't shop for shopping's sake, but I have picked up things like a coffee filter holder that can sit on top of a mug (€2 in Monoprix, haven't seen any in London since Muji stopped doing them), a huge bulldog clip (labelled in Dutch) to hold a packet of coffee firmly closed (€1 in Amsterdam), a little kitchen knife that I bought for next to nothing in Spain for picnics that I'm still using 20 years later, and books and records that catch my eye but that I wouldn't see in London without a special effort.

Somebody mentioned Swiss Army knives. I did buy a few of those in Interlaken because they were much less expensive than at home and, more importantly, they engraved your name on it for free! When I think about it more, I do shop, but for small items (like the knives), unique items (hand-made ceramics or housewares I can't get at home). I just don't shop for clothes.