Although the major retail department stores are here, shopping is generally low-key. There are some upscale examples of Irish craftsmanship to be found, however. Stroll up Shipquay Street to discover small arts-and-crafts stores and an indoor shopping center. Walk through the Craft Village (just off Shipquay Street or via Magazine Street) to see the way the city used to look. The Village, with its glass canopy, re-creates life between the 16th and 19th centuries and sells Derry crystal, handwoven cloth, ceramics, jewelry, and books. The Cottage, a beautiful thatched and whitewashed building in the heart of the Village, serves delectable sweet and savory crepes while the new Soda and Starch pantry and grill specializes in local and seasonal produce all from within a 40-mile radius. More details of the Village can be found at www.derrycraftvillage.com. At the Shipquay Street entrance to the Village look out for two huge comic book-style murals, "Factory Girls", on the walls. These paintings celebrate the legacy of the women who worked in the once-thriving shirt-making factories which developed in the late 19th century. At one time more than 40 factories, almost exclusively employing women, were found all over the city—one of the few remaining ones closed in 2019. Not to be outdone by Belfast, Derry has set up its own Cathedral Quarter. In the heart of the old city, streets leading from the cathedral—Pump Street, Artillery Street, and Bishop Street—are busy with craft workers, goldsmiths, and jewelers; art galleries sit cheek by jowl with nail bars, solariums, and treatment spas. Bedlam, a maze of rooms on Bishop Street, is a humming nest of traders under one roof. Vintage clothes, antiques, retro furnishings, and New Age products are on sale.
To appreciate the beauty and scale of the area’s Georgian architecture, walk slowly along Pump Street, with a copy of City of Derry, an excellent historical gazetteer to the built heritage—it has a wealth of information and color about each individual building. As you wander around the streets, look out for the Golden Teapot—a 19th-century trade sign in the shape of a gilded copper teapot—restored and hanging outside Faller’s jewelers on Strand Road; catch the right moment and a plume of environmentally friendly smoke is discharged from its spout. The only other one in the world is in Boston.
