Other shopping in Brazil
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Mercado Municipal
This covered market is a belle époque confection of stained glass and a series of vast domes. Inside is a delightful market specializing in fresh produce and dried goods. It’s also a great place to sample a couple of classic Sampa delights: mortadella sandwiches and pasteis, pockets of dough stuffed with meat, cheese or fish and then fried. Many Sundays there is live music, but note that approximately one Sunday per month, the market closes for maintenance. Unfortunately, there is no regular schedule for these closings.
reviewed
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Mercado Municipal Adolfo Lisboa
This imposing cast-iron city market building opened in 1882, a copy in miniature of Paris’s famed Les Halles market. Although the art-nouveau ironwork was imported from Europe, the place has acquired a distinctly Amazonian character. In and around the market, you can purchase just about anything, from leather hats and índio crafts to bizarre fruits and traditional medicines.
reviewed
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Cerâmica Mbara-yo
This is the modest shop of ceramicist Carlos Amaral, who combines traditional Aruã and Marajoara ceramic traditions with award-winning results. You can have a short tour of the workshop to see how the pieces are made. Numerous small, affordable pieces are for sale, and each has a particular tale or significance behind it. It’s between Ruas 3 and 4.
reviewed
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C
Galeria do Rock
Even if you’re not in the market for a skateboard or a new tattoo, this seven-floor shopping center is an anthropologically fascinating gathering point for São Paulo’s underground communities, from punks to goths to metal heads. Hundreds of shops hawk everything from CDs and concert T-shirts to black capes and extreme piercing.
reviewed
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Mercado Ver-o-Peso
This and the surrounding area is probably the most interesting place to shop, whether for pants or piranha or anything in between. There are no set hours, but there is something interesting to see from 5:30am to 8:30pm every day. However, you should be especially wary of pickpockets and assailants in the early and late hours.
reviewed
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Market Building
Opposite the Museu de Artes Visuais, this 19th-century market building now trades in a fascinating variety of typical Maranhão crafts and foods, from dried prawns and live ducks to big bags of cashews and a bright, artificially colored purple cassava liquor called tiquira.
reviewed
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E
Iodice
One of São Paulo’s top homegrown brands for both men and women, Iodice prides itself on top-quality materials and creative elegance. This shop has both casual wares at relatively accessible prices as well as a high-end line with prices to match.
reviewed
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Galeria Melissa
This temple to high-end footwear is worth checking out for its bold design – but don’t expect bargains. Melissa first made its name for inexpensive but stylish plastic shoes that appealed to all social classes – unusual for Brazil.
reviewed
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Livraria Cultura
Spread out over three stores on the ground floor of the Conjunto Nacional building, this is hands-down the city’s best bookstore. There is a large selection of both English-language books and travel guides, plus a pleasant café.
reviewed
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Galeria Amazônica
Right on Praça São Sebastião, this is Manaus’s top shop for genuine-article Amazonian handiwork, including gorgeous basketwork, pottery and folk art. Prices are on the high side, but so is the quality.
reviewed
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Boulevard Shopping
Belém’s latest, biggest mall is a modern cement, steel and glass structure, brilliantly lit at night, and boasting top-tier clothing, electronics and department stores as well as a cinema complex.
reviewed
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Feira Tom Jobim
This thriving Saturday fair just east of Parque Municipal, between Av Brasil and Rua dos Otoni, features a mix of antique dealers and stalls hawking Brazilian and international street food.
reviewed
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Ceprama
The large Ceprama, 2km southeast of the city center, is housed in a renovated factory and functions as an exhibition hall and interesting sales outlet for handicrafts.
reviewed
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Shopping China Importados
This megastore has…well, everything and is teeming with wide-eyed Brazilians throwing down real after real for massive discounts on everything from Johnny Walker to Canon.
reviewed
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Shopping Pátio Belém
The former ‘Iguatemi Shopping’ has a new name and much more highbrow orientation, with upscale shops, from jewelry to electronics to designer clothing, spread over four floors.
reviewed
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Espaço Brasil
Spread over three stories, this light-filled store is practically a museum of Brazilian arts and crafts, ranging from carvings and paintings to soaps and linens.
reviewed
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Havaianas
You will find flip-flops in every imaginable design and hue – and at quite reasonable prices – at the new flagship store of Brazil’s favorite beach footwear.
reviewed
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Mercado Municipal
The Mercado Municipal is one of the lively attractions in town, with a wide range of goods sold and bartered inside the two-story building.
reviewed
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Galeria Ouro Fino
From hip-high boots to camouflage club gear, this old-fashioned, three-story mall has been turned into ground zero for alternativo shoppers.
reviewed
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Casa do Artesão
Seven themed rooms full of Mato Grosso handicrafts and sweets, including ceramics, woodcarvings, straw baskets and pequi créme liquor.
reviewed
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Shopping Frei Caneca
Relatively modest in size, Shopping Frei Caneca is nevertheless fully equipped with food court, cinema and good midrange shops.
reviewed
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Shopping Light
Across Viaduto de Chá lies Shopping Light, a modern, midrange mall with a decent food court on the 5th floor.
reviewed
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Artesanato São Domingos
Adjoining the Igreja São Domingos, this small shop sells lovely Bahian lacework – dresses, tablecloths, blouses and the like.
reviewed
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Centro de Artesão
Centro de Artesão sells colorful indigenous ceramics, wooden crafts, sacred art and locally brewed liquor.
reviewed
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Supermercado Master
Self-caterers can stock up at Supermercado Master, on the ground floor of the Shopping Frei Caneca mall.
reviewed
