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Galeries d'Art Contemporain du Belgo
Over a decade ago the Belgo building was a run-down haven for struggling artists. It quickly earned a reputation as one of Montréal's most important exhibition spaces with galleries, dance and photography studios. Designers, art dealers and architects now make up three-quarters of the tenancy. Take the elevator up to the 5th floor and conduct an art-walking tour down to street level.
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General 54
The hats! The bags! The community consciousness! Mile End artists have created almost everything stocked at this great little boutique. Goods here are sold on consignment with creators getting the lion's share of the proceeds from the store. You'll find stuff here you won't find anywhere else including funky T-Shirts and some of the coolest leather handbags ever.
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Harricana
Milan-trained fashion designer Mariouche uses top-grade materials to create fur and woven garments of unparalled style and beauty; soft, comfortable and for the most part affordable. Her creations are regular features in the fashion magazines. This airy corner boutique occupies an old bank and uses its safe as a changing room.
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HMV
This cavernous, multilevel store is like a department store for music with fantastic sections of everything you could ever want from classical, world music, techno and francophone to pop and jazz. You can listen to CDs before buying or lounge on the ground-floor sofas and watch the latest DVD.
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Holt Renfrew
This Montréal institution is a godsend for label-conscious, cashed-up professionals of both genders. Styles of this former furrier are subdued, yet the simplest designs ooze exclusivity. January and August are the big sales months, with treasures for half-price or less.
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Hudson Bay Co
La Baie , as it's called in French, found fame three centuries ago for its striped wool blankets used to measure fur skins - and the stripes still adorn the main entrance. Take the escalators to the clothing boutiques on the 2nd floor, or make a strategic move for the cut-price garments on the 8th floor. It's an excellent stop for crystal, china and all things Canadian including Inuit handicrafts.
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Indigo
This sister store of Chapters is a three-floor emporium with comfy reading chairs that keep you browsing for hours. It has a great selection of Canadian and Montréal literature, a good CD section and Starbucks coffee bar. A wonderful travel and map section is on the 2nd floor at the back.
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Jet-Setter
An orgy of state-of-the-art luggage and every travel gadget known to man, they've got luggage alarms, pocket-sized T-Shirts, 'dry-in-an-instant' underwear and towels, mini-irons and hairdryers. This list goes on and on. There's also an on-line catalogue to browse so you can still order these hard-to-find thing-a-ma-bobs if you're not in Montréal.
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Kamkyl
Kamkyl has a fine Italian-made collection of men's suits with understated lines that beam self-confidence. Son of a German master tailor, designer Douglas Mandel (formerly of Hugo Boss and DKNY) also snagged a design award for this stylish post-industrial atelier of parquet, light and space.
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Kanuk
When people in Québec say 'Kanuk' they mean the winter coats that last a lifetime, and although they're available throughout the province, this store has the best selection. Most jackets stay toasty in temperatures dipping to -30ºC, so in winter they're perfect for roaming downtown Montréal or slipping away to the chalet. It also carries raincoats, swimsuits, backpacks and hiking gear.
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La Capoterie
If you're wondering what to wear for that special occasion, then trot on down to the Capoterie for late-night fashion advice. Its exhaustive array of condoms comes in all giggly shapes, colors and sizes.
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La Casa del Habano
This well-stocked stogie temple has 50 brands of Cuban cigar. Be aware that bringing these across the border to the USA is illegal although some travelers separate the bands when packing. Cigaraphernalia sold here includes cutters, humidors, lighters and books. The lounge and licensed bar attracts young important puffers.
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La Guilde Graphique
This place exhibits works of more than 200 contemporary artists in a variety of media and techniques. Most works are sketches, woodcuts, etchings and lithographs on paper, and you can visit the artists working in the upstairs studio.
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Le Baron
For survival, sporting and leisure gear this is the top address in town in a spanking new warehouse location. Backpack buyers should set aside a few hours just to look.
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Le Château
This trendy concept store is where to go for one-season fashion and cheap designer knockoffs. Very popular for buying cheap, trendy club wear. There's also a shop in the Centre Eaton.
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Le Marché des Saveurs
Everything here is Québécois, from the food to the handmade soaps to one of the best collections of artisanal local beer in the city. The store was established so local producers could get wider exposure for their regional products, and it's a joy just to browse.
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Les Antiquités Grand Central
The most elegant store on Antique Row is a pleasure to visit for its English and Continental furniture, lighting and decorative objects from the 18th and 19th centuries. Get buzzed in to see the Louis IV chairs, full dining-room suites and chandeliers in Dutch cathedral or French Empire style, with price tags in the thousands.
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Librairie Astro
Rollicking wit and helpful service are as ubiquitous as the collectible comics, books, cards and CDs stocked at this little family-run shop. They know their customers by name and will email you if they come across something you might like. A downtown institution - check out the owners' blogs on the website.
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Librairie Michel Fortin
A mecca for every foreign-language student and linguist freak in town, you can find books, cassettes or novels on just about every language in the world from Thai to Basque to Georgian.
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Librissime
They bill themselves as more than just a bookstore, and they are right, there really is no other place like this in the city. Gorgeous books here are imported from all over the world including Italy and India and white gloves are laid on the displays for you to put on before touching the tomes, including giant sized books that cost upwards of around C$1000 .
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Lili-Les-Bains
Montréal's larger-than-life swimsuit maker started out making cruise-ship gear. The philosophy of the founder is: Every woman should have the dress of her dreams and size makes no difference. Cuts reveal or conceal, depending. Lili-Les-Bains uses gorgeous fabrics flown in from Europe and has clients from all over the world. A made-to-order swimsuit costs from around C$200 .
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Local 23
This tart little friperie stocks recycled clothing and heaps of interesting vintage finds. Even if you are not a secondhand clothing freak, this is an interesting place to stop by. There's nothing junky about it and pieces have been carefully chosen and arranged. Watching regulars attack the racks and turn up killer ensembles is part of the fun.
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Lucie Favreau Antiques
This colorful museum-like store on Antique Alley is chock-a-block with giggle-inducing housewares, advertising plaques, toys and sports memorabilia like signed baseballs, among other collectibles.
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Maison de la Presse Internationale
This is a slick international newspaper chain with papers from a couple of dozen countries, row upon row of magazines on every imaginable subject and best-selling paperbacks.
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Metropolitan News Agency
Missing your January 19, 1984 copy of the Winnipeg Free Press ? Well, chances are, you'll be able to find a yellowed copy here amongst over 5000 newspapers and magazines from across the globe. It just gets weirder and weirder the longer you poke around. If you can't find it here it probably doesn't exist.
