Anything & Everything New York (PART 2) - [please search thread before posting]

phatbear

niceday999 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend the location for shopping........

Come on please!!!!!!!!!!!

"For shopping" could that be anymore ambiguous, are you shopping for shoes, lipstick, hockey sticks, i love ny tshirts, cd's, marital aids, baggage, chopsticks, flowers, scuba eqpt, pineapples, badgers, badges, bandages, comics, conifers, corn on the cob. cobbles, cod pieces, pieces of cod, pin stripes suits etc etc etc

niceday999

phatbear wrote: »

Come on please!!!!!!!!!!!

"For shopping" could that be anymore ambiguous, are you shopping for shoes, lipstick, hockey sticks, i love ny tshirts, cd's, marital aids, baggage, chopsticks, flowers, scuba eqpt, pineapples, badgers, badges, bandages, comics, conifers, corn on the cob. cobbles, cod pieces, pieces of cod, pin stripes suits etc etc etc

By shopping....I mean "shopping Area"
though i would say handbags, shoes, sunglasses,girly things.....lol
Macys and Bloomingdales......:D

phatbear

niceday999 wrote: »

By shopping....I mean "shopping Area"
though i would say handbags, shoes, sunglasses,girly things.....lol
Macys and Bloomingdales......:D

There is no "shopping area" as such for instance Macys, which according to Mrs Phatbear is heaven, is on 34th and broadway, bloomies is 59th and Lex, century 21 is right down the bottom of manhattan, so as you can see there is no one place or area, factor in the price issue, for instance if you have cash to burn then some of the shops along 5th avenue, ie l.v, gucci etc will be for you.

Personally what I do for my good lady is start a googlemap and plot the shops she wants to visit, then you have a rough idea where the subways are and what shops are near each other.

niceday999

Would like to vist Macys and Bloomingdales....and hopefully get some things that are cheaper in usa than uk.....eg sunglasses, jeans, hollister for the son......Dont really bother with Gucci and chanel.......
what do you think then of Casablanca Hotel ? Its sort of between there and Mela hotel .Anyone ?

pcg2001

niceday999 wrote: »

Would like to vist Macys and Bloomingdales....and hopefully get some things that are cheaper in usa than uk.....eg sunglasses, jeans, hollister for the son......Dont really bother with Gucci and chanel.......
what do you think then of Casablanca Hotel ? Its sort of between there and Mela hotel .Anyone ?

Now that we have established you are not looking to buy pieces of cod :rotfl: (phatbear rules!)...

I thought I'd paste a part of my tripreport from last August (for some reason I think I posted this only on tripadvisor) about shopping. Bear in mind I had to spend time without OH who was at a conference and for some weird romantic reason I don't like to sightsee things without him, so that gives me a great excuse to hit the stores (and spend hours planning it). You will see from the text that I am really a MSE shopper, so no Chanel or Saks for me.

Here it is (the full report is here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g60763-i5-k3024719-Trip_report_31_July_to_10_August-New_York_City_New_York.html)

SHOPPING: The dollar is cheap relative to the euro (not as cheap as last year), American brands are expensive in Europe and some are really cheap in the US, summer sales. And some of you still wonder, why tourists obsess about shopping?! Granted that US tourists will find the same stores in their home states, but for non Americans it is a temptation. I did my research before leaving, but it was incredibly difficult to find more specific information about shopping. Most tourists won’t have a lot of time to shop, so their thoughts on this will be scarce. Because my Mr was at a conference, I had all the time in the world. So that is why you will find a bigger than usual review of shopping in NYC. Also, since there is not a lot of info around, I think this is more useful for some future visitors than the 1000th report about the ESB!!


Some background: I love bargain hunting, so you won’t find me paying full price for anything which proved a bit of a challenge in non-discount stores. Also, I can’t justify more high end retail, so my shopping preferences could easily be catered by Macy’s except for the full price restriction highlighted above. Also, there is a €430 allowance for bringing stuff into Europe, and for legal and budget constraint reasons, I did not want to spend more than that per person. So here are my impressions:


- we hit Macy’s on our first morning in NYC. Don’t shoot me!! I will explain: this was a Friday and I wanted to avoid shopping on weekends because of the crowds. Also, last year, we found summer sales in the end of July but then the month changed the discounts were gone, so I wanted to prevent this from happening. Lovely store, cinematically beautiful, but where is the sale?! 25% off selected handbag styles??!! Yes, I know about the 10% visitor discount card (you get this at the visitor’s centre on the mezzanine above the ground floor), but this offsets the 8.25% tax on handbags. I was disappointed. Where were the big sales to sell stock I had been reading about?! Perhaps the crisis is over and they failed to let us know!


- JCPenny on the Manhattan Mall. We were there on opening day and they were doing 15% off. I really liked this store. There were sales assistants everywhere tidying things up and Levi’s are cheap there - $30- $35! And it is a regular store where you can find jeans by brand and model, not like the other discount stores I visited. On the receipt there was a survey code which gives you 15% off your next visit, except for some brands such as Levis. The second time we visited they were doing some vouchers for $10 or $15 off certain amounts.


- Discount stores: I had read about Century 21 and been advised to visit some stores such as Loehmanns, TKMaxx, Filene’s but nothing had prepared me for finding these types of stores in Manhattan, where retail space is at a premium. Another myth busted! You have to enjoy these types of stores. My Mr certainly doesn’t. This is similar to TJ Maxx in England, where clothes are organized by type and size. The stores are messy and there is almost no customer service. And, yes, some of the shop assistants are rude. But you save money by shopping there.
We made the mistake of visiting Century 21 on a Saturday afternoon. Talk about tourist invasion!! I was only able to quickly look at the handbag section and sunglasses – these were organized by brand which was great. Most handbags were half price. Sunglasses were more than half price: Calvin Klein and Guess for $20, Armani Exchange for $30, Tommy for $25, Lacoste for $50, etc. No way we visited the clothes section (my Mr was not enjoying the experience at all – he still does not find it funny and it has been more than one week since we went there).
On my own I went to TK Maxx and Filene’s (same building) on Avenue of the Americas and then walked to Loehmanns. Similar types of store. At TK Maxx I got a couple of handbags by Kathy van Zeeland which I had seen with 25% off at Macy’s for more than half price and they had some bargains at 75% off. They had cheap premium skincare, backpacks, shoes, etc. I also went to the Burlington Coat Factory in Manhattan after someone suggested I visit this at Jersey Gardens. Again I walked from Loehmanns, since they were close by. The assortment was similar to Jersey Gardens, and all in the middle of Manhattan. I found BCF a lot more confusing than the other stores, but it could have been that this was my last stop in the day, so the store gets messy.



So, in conclusion, there is surprisingly a lot of discount stores in Manhattan, all within easy reach. And their prices were similar for similar items (could it be that they are owned by the same companies? Just a guess).


- loved the bath and body works stores. I enrolled on their website for the email newlestter and got a coupon for a free travel mini when buying something. This was only valid for the following fortnight. I printed mine in the hotel. They do a $1 body lotion which entitles you to the travel mini. Also, I got a random survey on the till receipt for $10 off a $30 purchase, and stocked up on mini hand sanitizers. These are great, and with the spread of flu virus are particularly relevant. They are 5 for $5.


- Jersey Gardens: after my disappointing experience with the sales at Macy’s, we decided to go to Jersey Gardens immediately afterwards. $10 return by bus from the Port Authority. Bus number 111. We got our tickets from the vending machine. Had lunch at Johnny Rockets with a voucher for a free burger (you can find this on the purseblog forum), so we just paid about $12 for both of us, which was one of the cheaper meals we had in NYC. Like my outlet experience in LA last year, I loved the Tommy store. Their prices are reasonable full price, so with the added discount of it being an outlet store, it is worth the visit. On top of that, some stuff had extra sale discount. As soon as I arrived in the outlet I collected the discount booklet at the visitor centre I had read about and this had a 10% off purchases of $100 at Tommy. I visited the Guess stores and found their merchandise outdated namely the handbags – still expensive for outdated designs. Their sunglasses were a lot more expensive than the $20 I paid at century 21. I visited Perfumania, which had been a hit in my last year’s outlet visit in LA, but their prices were the same as in the Perfumania’s of NYC. Timberland had very limited assortment. The Burlington Coat Factory as mentioned was similar to the Manhattan one. These are the ones that I remember most since I really wanted to check them out. All in all, had it not been for the Tommy store, our Jersey Gardens visit would have been a waste of time and money.



Just one note about the Port Authority bus terminal. It is amazing how this is located right in the middle of Manhattan. But this is one ugly and dark place. Full of people all the time, so it does not get scary, but it is one of those places you wish someone could tear down and replace, but given its location and its importance, you know will never happen. What a shame. Also, on our way back we exited the building towards the back and this was one ugly part of town. It is amazing how on 8th Avenue it is all touristy and cosmopolitan (with the NYTimes building) and even this ugly building is somehow toned down. On the other side, it really looks like a bus terminal and seems to attract the corresponding crowd. I mention this here, because this visit happened on our first day, so the PA was not a nice impression to kick start our trip.


- Woodburry Common outlet: the lower end stores I wanted to visit were in Jersey Gardens and the $40 bus trip plus the time to get there tipped the balance towards visiting JG instead of WCO. However, this is the only destination in the Port Authority building that is clearly marked. We went round in circles trying to find the door for our bus.

niceday999

pcg2001 - Thank you so much....i'll def be heading to century 21.....excellent infor thank you...
just need to get hotel sorted...am leaning towards the casablanca hotel, or the mela hotel. i have read so many reviews today my brain is pickled.....lol

thatsfabulous

niceday999 wrote: »

By shopping....I mean "shopping Area"
though i would say handbags, shoes, sunglasses,girly things.....lol
Macys and Bloomingdales......:D

I think once you go and see this amazing city you will see what phatbear means about no 'shopping area' I find most people think this if they have never been. I had my family and friends txting me saying ' can you go tiffany and get me this' or such a shop in times sqaure. Shops/ avenues are miles long so its not that easy to just nip into tiffany like it just down the road for everyone.

Seaport south street near century 21 is good for shopping, they have an abercrombie,Guess etc and a great shop called ' The american craftman' theres only 3 in the city and its a lovely shop for a gifts to bring back.
I think Lord and taylor is one of the best department stores, I like Macys & bloomingdales for souvenirs but for jeans etc Lord and Taylor seemed to have good offers on when i was there. They have the best UGG selection too.

Sephora is all over the city, great shop for makeup & perfumes etc.

niceday999

thatsfabulous wrote: »

I think once you go and see this amazing city you will see what phatbear means about no 'shopping area' I find most people think this if they have never been. I had my family and friends txting me saying ' can you go tiffany and get me this' or such a shop in times sqaure. Shops/ avenues are miles long so its not that easy to just nip into tiffany like it just down the road for everyone.

Seaport south street near century 21 is good for shopping, they have an abercrombie,Guess etc and a great shop called ' The american craftman' theres only 3 in the city and its a lovely shop for a gifts to bring back.
I think Lord and taylor is one of the best department stores, I like Macys & bloomingdales for souvenirs but for jeans etc Lord and Taylor seemed to have good offers on when i was there. They have the best UGG selection too.

Sephora is all over the city, great shop for makeup & perfumes etc.

[/QUOTE
Oh thanks....getting really excited now.....
Have just ordered Frommers new york 2010 off Amazon.....and will trawl through the threads on here again .....making notes.....
i read on here a while ago about a restaurant in New york that actually rotates....maybe called something view can anyone help me out ?

phatbear

eh voila a rotating restaurant:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/nycmq-new-york-marriott-marquis

the restaurant itself is called "the view"

pcg2001

phatbear wrote: »

eh voila a rotating restaurant:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/nycmq-new-york-marriott-marquis

the restaurant itself is called "the view"

Not sure of the discount and the prices now, but our grayline tickets for the 2 days Hoponhopoff had a discount on the reverse of the yellow ticket for this. I remember it was not huge, but every little counts. And perhaps you can order some of the cod phatbear was talking about (couldn't resist).