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Fashionistas from all over the continent flock to São Paulo for the clothes, shoes, and accessories. In fact, shopping is a tourist attraction in its own right. You can get a sampling of what's on offer six days a week: stores are usually open on weekdays from 9 to 6:30 and Saturdays from 9 to 1; many are closed on Sunday. Mall hours are generally weekdays and Saturday from 10 am to 10 pm; some malls only open on Sunday around 2 pm.
Well-heeled paulistanos famously love shopping malls, and there are plenty of those in the city. Perhaps of more interest for visitors, almost every neighborhood has a weekly outdoor food market, complete with loudmouthed hawkers, exotic scents, and mountains of colorful produce. Nine hundred of them happen every week in São Paulo, so you'll be able to hit at least one; ask around to find out when and where the closest one happens.
Antiques and secondhand furniture are the big draws at the Sunday flea market at the Praça Dom Orione in Bela Vista. You'll also find clothing, CDs, and other (mostly) reasonably priced items here. In Centro, Rua do Arouche is noted for leather goods. Rua Barão de Paranapiacaba is lined with jewelry shops and is nicknamed the "street of gold." The area around Rua João Cachoeira in Itaim has evolved from a neighborhood of small clothing factories into a wholesale- and retail-clothing sales district. Several shops on Rua Tabapuã sell small antiques. Also, Rua Dr. Mário Ferraz is stuffed with elegant clothing, gift, and home-decoration stores.
In Jardins, centering on Rua Oscar Freire, double-parked Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs point the way to the city's fanciest stores, which sell leather items, jewelry, gifts, antiques, and art. Shops that specialize in high-price European antiques are on or around Rua da Consolação. Lower-price antiques stores and thrift shops line Rua Cardeal Arcoverde in Pinheiros. Flea markets with secondhand furniture, clothes, and CDs take place on Saturday at the popular Praça Benedito Calixto in Pinheiros, where you can also eat at food stands and listen to music all day long. Arcades along Praça Benedito Calixto and many streets in neighboring Vila Madalena, like Ruas Aspicuelta and Harmonia, house boutique clothing stores.
This may be the city's oldest mall, but it has the latest in fashion and fast food. The Cinemark movie theaters often show films in English with Portuguese subtitles. The Gero Caffé, built in the middle of the main hall, has a fine menu. If you're in São Paulo at Christmas time, the North Pole–theme displays here are well worth a detour.
Natural light illuminates the atrium and walkways of this luxury mall for the elite, where international brands from Gucci, Dior, Chanel, and others, to Zara mix it up with national brands like Animale and Carlos Miele. If scheduled beforehand, the mall will supply you with a personal shopper. There are plenty of fancy dining spots, too.
Though it's taken a back seat to newer malls Cidade Jardim and JK Iguatemi, MorumbiShopping is still a slice of São Paulo's upper crust, seasoned with swank boutiques, record stores, bookstores, and restaurants. The atrium hosts art exhibits.
The feeling here is almost as though archaeologists have uncovered a lost jungle city's ancient temples—only they're to upscale shopping and gourmet dining, not deities and potentates. Trees outside sprout three stories high, and a bevy of plants inside shrouds boutiques with names like Valentino, Rolex, and Louis Vuitton. For resting, there's a huge open garden with splendid city views. If you get hungry, head to the Argentine steak house Pobre Juan for a hearty meal or, for lighter fare, drop in at Il Barista.
One of the most upscale shopping malls in São Paulo, Shopping Pátio Higienópolis is a mixture of old and new architecture styles. It has plenty of shops and restaurants, as well as six screens in the Cinemark movie theater.
