Well, we are getting very close to our exciting trip to New York . I know my friend and her daughter are very excited about Canal Street, so we'll be going there to shop. but what is it really like? Is it mostly junk? and mostly for teenagers? Or is it really possible to get anything good there? Is it all street stands? or real stores? And do we bargain?
I've oly been to New York a few times and have never gone there. I kind of think of Oxford Street in London and I'm not really interested in that kind of stuff. NO rock band t shirts for this old granny!!
Will I be able to get anything?
If not, where?
I liked Macy's last time and got some good bargains there. The other department stores were too rich for my budget!!

Any suggestions for shoes? NOt the 5 inch spikes that I saw everywhere on my Christmas trip. ( HOw do you women walk? And more importantly, how do you walk on REAL winter days in those heels? I didn't see any 'real' winter boots). And not bling shes either. ....just normal shoes.

Thanks for any help

I am sure others will be more knowledgeable, but I am in my (ahem) late 40's and I don't find there's much to buy on Canal. Some knockoffs, but that's about it. Once you've seen/done Canal, walk north on Broadway, where you will find better merchandise: some chain stores, some New York only stores, Pearl River, at which you can find some funky cheap gifts to bring home, Kate's Paperie and...well, others will chime in. As for shoes, if you will be in Tribeca or the Financial district, pop into Anbar (on Reade Street) for discounted shoes of all styles. Also, there are a couple of branches of DSW in Manhattan, again, lots of styles at good prices.

You will have a great time I am sure while you are here.

Canal St. is fun, and go have something to eat in Chinatown, and desert in Little Italy while you are there. If you have not had Dim Sum or the girls have not tried it. (It's lots of little plates and you get to try lots of things you don't usually see in Chinese Restaurants), the 2 best I think are:
HSF a block south of Canal on The Bowery
Mandarin Court on Mott St a block south of Canal.

Canal St is CROWDED and there are lots of little stalls offering bags, scarfs, costume jewelry, all knock-offs. You can find some cute things and I'm sure the girls will enjoy it. YES bargin for everything. After you have had your fill of Canal St., walk west to Broadway and head north. YOu will find lots of stores the girls will like and a DAffy's which is 2 or 3 blocks north of Canal. The girls will go crazy with the clothing there.

Further up Broadway are lots of stores and a few outlets and a Bloomingdales, Old Navy, Ann Taylor, and tons more local stores.

For shoes try DSW, on 14th St and Union Square. There's also a Filene's. From there, walk up Broadway (to the left facing Union Square) to 18th St and turn left to 6th Ave. There's another DAffy's on 6th and 18th and a more stores in that area as well, GAP, Express, Victoria's Secret.....

One more block west is Bed Bath and Beyond, Filene's and TJMaxx up 6th AVe is Burlington Coat FActory.

In the 34th St and 6th AVe is Macy's H&M and I know I'll get yelled at for this but Conway. Conway is a good place for cheap jeans and tshirts, and the summer clothes have just been put out. I get alot of summer pants and tops there. Jeans are $10 or less and tshirts are $3-$6.

Have fun while you are here.

The best stretch of Canal Street is between Mulberry and Broadway. You'll see a very crowded commercial community -- locals & tourists alike.
"Real" stores, "legal" street vendors, "illegal" street vendors. Bargaining is expected, so don't be shy.

And just to answer your question about junk - everything I have ever seen on Canal Street I would definitely classify as "junk". Not rock t-shirt junk, but cheap fake bags/watches/clothes with fake designer labels stuck on. Teens tend to like it because the stuff is very cheap, but you're not getting a bargain - you're getting cheap merchandise for cheap prices.

My friend was looking for Coach and Kate Spade knockoffs. The stuff in the front of the booths did not have labels. When she asked about labels she was taken into a back room, where everything was labeled and prices were slightly higher. Bargaining was definitely the way to go. Very very crowded.

Depending on you taste in shoes- 8th Street above Washington Square still has a few hangers on (or did last time I was there)I have gotten lots of fun shoes along there. Appeals to funy college set. Used to be THE street for shoe shopping.Get off at the 6 at Astor Place, walk over. I always take folks to eat at B-B-Q at 8th and University. Cheap and good.

Good info already given. Figure for 'shopping' at Canal St., an hour is more than enough. Another great palce to shop and find bargains (not junk) is Century 21, a designer discount department store, which is opposite the World Trade center site.

BTW, the Daffy mentioned on 6th and 18th was actually on 5th not 6th av & 18th st, has since closed. The Gap, Express, VS are still open and on 5th Av also. 6th av has old navy, tj maxx and another filene's. There's a Loehman's on 7th avenue and 17th st.

Teenages also like the store on 8th st between Broadway and 6th Av. There are lots of shoes stores a mix of other on the street. H&M in various locations is also a good store for teens.

Canal Street is not like Oxford Street. There are no chain stores. It used to be a street of jewelers in the area of today's Chinatown and there are many jewelry stores along the north side of the street. Lots of jade and gold. The stalls everyone here talks about, mostly on the south side of the wide street, offer what many consider to be junk..knock-offs of designer stuff, along with cheap scarves, kid's toys, sunglasses, t-shirts, etc etc. I doubt if many local people consider it to be a shopping area of interest. You can find many (not all) of the same products sold by the West African vendors in the area of Bloomingdale's. Things like "pashmina" for $5.00 and lots of purses, watches, and sunglasses. I recommend Century 21 for low prices on "real" merchandise. Get there early (I believe they open at 7:30 most days) to avoid the biggest crowds.

Also in the Fifth Ave area, a fantastic Anthropologie, Kenneth Cole, Zara, Coach, J Crew, Banana. I know they have some of these stores all over the country, but the NYC stores tend to stock merchandise that might not be found elsewhere. It's bit less crowded in this stretch than along Broadway in SOHO. If you are shopping in SOHO, definitely pop into the Bloomingdales. You'd be surprised at some of the heavily discounted treasures on the clearance rack! I'm not sure if you have Urban Outfitters in your town, but that's a GREAT teen store. Lot's of cheap but cute t-shirts, clothing, and accessories. If you are shopping SOHO, you'll find and Urban just north of Houston on the east side of Broadway.

Please don't come to NY to buy at the Gap, Old Navy, JCrew, Banana Republic or any other chain store you can find back home.

Hit NoLiTa for some fab shopping by independent store owners. SoHo has gotten a bit more commercial. Definitely Urban Outfitters for teens - way cool stuff in a very cool store.

Canal street is less like "shopping" and more like a military manuever to me. YOu want to get in and out. Especially if you go on a weekend, it will be so crowded you can't walk. Hold your purse TIGHT. Have a meeting place designated if you get separated. (the lobby of the SoHo grand hotel is a good one)

Things to buy: Faux Tag Heuer, Rolex, Cartier, whatever your watch desires are. The copies of stainless watches look amazingly real. The gold and leather...not so much. I wore fake Canal Street Tags for YEARS before I finally got sick of the look. A $10 watch is not a disaster if you loose it, go swimming in it, let the dog bite the cyrstal, whatever. Buy several if you see one you like. When the battery runs out, toss it. Really it seems perfect for a teenager. If they ask more than $10-15, keep walking.

The purses are generally crappy, unless you particularly wanted a cloth or plastic bag in a wild color. The faux Mont Blanc pens make nice stocking stuffers.

I personally can't stand to shop on Canal Street where all the vendors are. If you can get off Canal and into some of the authentic Chinese shops, that is shopping worthwhile. I hate that Pearl River moved out of Chinatown.

Try Daffy's, Syms, Century 21, H&M and next door to H&M, Mexx. It is a Dutch originated really cool place a step up from H&M and not as crowded.

I don't think urban outfitter is 'cheap' at all. I cute t-shirt is $25+. On the other hand, H&M is cheap. There's also this asian clothes store on Green St in Soho (the name is something like U-Glo), that is alike an asian version of Old Navy.

Canal street is prinarily fun for teens - lots of very trendy inexpensive stuff that gets thrown away next season. It is almost all stores (stands aren;t really allowed in NYC - exept newsstands, coffee stand etc).

There are a lot of knock-offs but they are generally very poor quality - and easily identifiable as such. As an adult - I would be embarassed to use/wear them for real. It's sort of like having $25/$30 toy watches for holidays (I have a Santa watch with beard) or for when you're doing stuff you don;t want to take the chance of damaging a real one.

Some of the shops do have better copies of some items - but these are usually hidden in the back because they're illegal (copyright infringement) never mind the issue about where the profits go to (criminals, Mafia, terrorists?) and the police have been getting serious about this recently - with a series of raids shutting down offending stores etc.

For discount shopping on real stuff for adults you may want to consider going to Secaucus for modest/moderate stuff or Woodbury common for moderate/upscale stuff. Or - there's always Filene's Basement, Loehman's, Century 21, etc.

And Macy's is the only real department store that carries a fair amount of stuff in the modest category - Lord & Taylor or Bloomies are usually moderate or above - unless you hit great sales.

Oh - sorry - for shoes - I just wear nice flats a lot with pantsuits for work - I'm racing around too muchh for the 4" heels - save those for evening. Any department store should have nice flats - but I stick mostly to Nordstrom or Talbots because they're the two that are reliable about carrying narrows.

fodors has deleted posts with people exchanging ideas on where to get drugs (even perscription drugs that are legal in europe but not the US)...so much for an international site. anyway, they also don't look kindly on people looking for "professional women"...even if said practice is legal in the country being discussed.

but i guess it's ok to exchange ideas on where to get illegal, bootleg goods. personally, i have no problem with this, just pointing out the strange enforcement of the rules.

There are many shoe stores up and down Broadway in Soho. There is a Puma store which is a lot of fun, as well as the Adidas flagship store on the corner of Houston on Broadway. For dressier shoes, there are tons of no-name places along the same stretch, Shoe Mania, etc. that carry all kinds. If you have a chance to go to Union Square, I recommend the Shoe Mania on 14th St. or the DSW. Both have an excellent selection of athletic - dressy shoes.
Re: Urban Outfitter's, cheap is a relative term, I'm sorry if I was misleading. They have website, www.urbanoutfitters.com where you can view some of the merch and decide if it's worth a visit. Have a blast!

It's really shady (i.e. creepy). I love NYC and don't fear the big city. However, I, like many people, went to Canal to get a knockoff bag. Since it's illegal for them to be sold, I was led up rickety stairs over a Chinese restaurant to a dark room with racks to fake bags only to find the worst quality bags I've ever seen.

Fake handbags aside, you will be approached by many many street vendors to buy jewelry, leather, etc. Not worth it, in my opinion and way too crowded (shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalk).

As for shoes, I have some suede Pumas that I wear when I'm there that are fashionable and comfortable.

Many people have mentioned the crowds ... definitely visit Chinatown (Canal Street) on a weekday, if possible.