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Panama City has more shopping options than you can shake a credit card at. Because of the country's role as an international port, manufactured goods from all over the world are cheaper in Panama than in most countries. Merchants from South and Central America regularly travel here to shop, but Americans will find that the U.S. megastores often beat the local prices for cameras and other electronic goods—plus the stores back home are more convenient in terms of warranties. Busy Vía Veneto, in El Cangrejo, and Casco Viejo have souvenir shops. The city also has several modern malls, where the selection ranges from cheap to chic.
Many of the bags, baskets, necklaces, and other items in this colorful shop are the product of recycling, made from magazine pages, flip tops, and other trash. Others are made from natural fibers, and almost everything is the work of families in the Panamanian countryside, so they're good for the environment, and people.
A good place to shop for molas is the Centro Municipal de Artesanías Panameñas, a small market where most of the stands are owned by Kuna women, who are often sewing molas as they wait for customers. They also sell chaquiras, bags, hammocks, dresses, framed butterflies, T-shirts, and other souvenirs.
Flory Saltzman Molas has the country's biggest mola collection—thousands of those colorful creations divided by theme and quality, and stacked to the ceiling. The quality of their collection varies greatly, and the good ones tend to cost considerably more than the Kuna vendors charge on the streets, or in the markets.
Galería Arte Indígena, just down the street from Plaza Francia, has indigenous handicrafts such as Emberá baskets, animal figures carved from tagua palm seeds, decorated gourds, hammocks, Panama hats (imported from Ecuador), and T-shirts.
The Mercado de Artesanía de Panamá Viejo, next to the Centro de Visitantes (Visitor Center), is packed with small shops and stalls selling everything for indigenous handicrafts—many shop owners are indigenous—to woven hats, Carnaval masks, and other artisans' works from the country's interior. A number of Guna families have shops here, making it a good place to buy molas.
Masks, hammocks, and other handicrafts tend to be relatively inexpensive at the Mercado de Buhonería, a small market behind the old train station, just east of Plaza Cinco de Mayo, that receives few visitors. If you visit the Avenida Central pedestrian mall, you should definitely stop by here.
