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Atlanta's department stores, specialty shops, malls, and antiques markets draw shoppers from across the Southeast. Most stores are open Monday through Saturday 10 to 9, Sunday noon to 6. The sales tax is 8% in the city of Atlanta and 6% to 7% in Fulton County and the suburbs.
Originally started more than 25 years ago as a specialty Asian grocery, the Buford Highway Farmers Market has grown into a full-blown international marketplace; a turn down each aisle is like a trip to a different country. Make sure to stop at the Eastern European deli counter.
New and out-of-print titles are sold here; the store hosts regular author appearances.
This bustling food hall and market by the BeltLine draws both residents who live within walking distance and suburbanites driving in from afar. It houses spots like Ticonderoga Club, a venture of barmen Greg Best and Paul Calvert; Tex-Mex from Superica; and worth-the-wait ice cream from Jeni's. Plus, you can walk around with your beer from Hop City while you shop at the small outposts hawking everything from chocolate to handmade soaps.
Branches of Tiffany & Co., Saks Fifth Avenue, and Gucci are here, as are shops like Lilly Pulitzer and Bally. The mall also is home to Legoland Discovery Center.
A mixed-use development and outdoor mall, Atlantic Station covers about 10 square blocks, clustered around a green space known as Central Park. Retailers include IKEA, the Dillard's department store, Banana Republic, and H&M. It's easy to reach by car but is also accessible by free shuttle buses from the Arts Center MARTA station. An on-site concierge is happy to help you find your way around or to make dinner reservations for you at the more than a dozen restaurants here.
Explore Anthropologie, have an authentic Persian meal at Rumi’s Kitchen, then indulge in dessert from Cafe Intermezzo at this outdoor mall. This 86-acre community with apartments and a hotel nearby is in the heart of Alpharetta. It features more than 500,000 square feet of retail for hours of shopping, including a 12-screen movie theater—and it's entirely walkable.
This is the South's oldest independent feminist bookstore.
One of Atlanta's oldest and most popular shopping centers, Lenox Square has branches of Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, and Macy's next to specialty shops such as Cartier and Mori. Valet parking is available at the front of the mall, but free parking is nearby. You'll do better at one of the several good restaurants in the mall—even for a quick meal—than at the food court.
With story time three times a week, a wide selection of children's books from board to chapter and beyond, and a frequent host to kids' book authors, this may be the best children's bookstore in the Atlanta area.
Upscale antiques and decorative-arts shops are the draw here.
Here you'll find 140 stores, including Williams-Sonoma, OshKosh B'gosh, and numerous designer outlet shops like Coach, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, and Polo Ralph Lauren. For the true shopper, it's worth the 45 minutes it takes to get here from Atlanta's northern perimeter.
Head 30 miles northwest of Downtown to get your fill of more than 80 outlet stores, including Coach, Kate Spade, Brooks Brothers, and Nike.
Known for upscale family shopping, Perimeter Mall has Nordstrom, Macy's, Dillard's, Von Maur, and a plentiful food court. Its restaurants include the Cheesecake Factory and Maggiano's Little Italy.
A 350,000-square-foot Latino shopping mall with more than 280 storefronts, Plaza Fiesta's got everything from cowboy boots to handmade tortillas to quinceañera dresses.
Fine cookware, gadgets, and tableware, plus top-of-the-line cheeses, meats, and baked goods are what's on offer at this epicurean destination.
Twenty-five miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta, this outlet mall has stores that include Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Levi's, and Bass Pro Shops.
Most of the high-end restaurants and design shops here are located in and around Westside Provisions District, a complex of former meatpacking warehouses transformed into bustling stores.
