Shopping in Ecuador
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Barranco
This old hat factory has an interesting museum where you can see how panamas were made over the years and witness them being made in the present. Upstairs there’s a nice café and a cheesy exhibit where you can dress up as a chola cuencana – hat, skirt and all. Plenty of hats are for sale, and you can even custom order a panama (especially important if you have a big head).
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Centro Comercial Quicentro
Centro Comercial Quicentro Centros comerciales (shopping malls) are nearly identical to their North American counterparts and sell international brands. This mall is open every day (from about 10:00 to 20:30) and has fast-food restaurants inside.
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Maqui
If you're interested in a finer 'panama' hat than those you see all over the Mariscal, visit the store of Miriam Kelz, who puts the finishing touches on some of Quito's most stylish straw hats.
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Guitarras Guevara
For more than 50 years, Jacinto Guevara has been hand-making guitars. Pick one up for anywhere from $75 to $300.
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Fundación Chankuap’
This foundation aids the Shuar and Achuar by selling crafts, herbal remedies and beauty products.
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Tatoo
This is Ecuador's top brand of outdoor-wear, and the prices are as high as the quality.
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Riobamba Market
The Saturday market transforms Riobamba into a hive of commercial activity, when thousands of people from surrounding villages come to barter, buy and sell. They flood into town by truck, cart, donkey and foot, unloading impossibly giant loads and spreading out their wares along the streets northeast of Parque de la Concepción.
Every plaza in the city fills with vendors. Needless to say, it's a colorful affair, though it's tourist appeal lies in people watching and gadget-spotting more than in buying. The only place with handicrafts is Parque de la Concepción (Orozco & Colón).
As you're walking around, keep your eyes peeled for locally made shigras. Also look out for…
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Hat Shopping
Cuenca is the center of the panama hat industry and one of the best places to buy straw hats. Cuenca's hat tradition - and its haberdasheries - can be roughly divided into two types: hats for export (panama hats) and hats made for and used by local indigenous people.
Visit one of Cuenca's traditional hatters on Tarqui and you'll see hundreds of refurbished white straw hats, tagged for their owners and hanging everywhere. They usually have a few top-quality hats for sale, too. Other hat shops are tourist oriented.
Check out: Casa del Sombrero Alberto Pulla, Sombreros Don Migui (Tarqui near Calle Larga), Barranco, Homero Ortega P & Hijos, and La Paja Toquilla, This small…
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Shopping
Every imaginable item has been covered with a Galápagos logo and is on sale in Puerto Ayora. Cute and kitschy T-shirts are available everywhere. The profits from gifts and clothes sold at the Charles Darwin Research Station go to support the institution, and the national park boutique is the only place to get things emblazoned with its logo.
Avoid buying objects made from black coral, turtle and tortoise shell. These threatened species are protected, and it is illegal to use these animal products for the manufacture of novelties.
Stock up on sunblock, insect repellent, toiletries, film and medications on the mainland. These are available in Puerto Ayora, but selection is…
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Craft Stores & Stalls
There are several good craft stores along Gran Colombia and on the blocks just north of Parque Calderón. The best place for a serious spree, however, is the Casa de la Mujer , which houses over 100 craft stalls and makes for hours of shopping fun.
The Thursday Plaza Rotary market (Mariscal Lamar & Hermano Miguel) is mainly for locals (which means pigs and polyester, fruit and furniture), but there are a few craft stalls. You're best off heading to the nearby craft market, which has an odd but interesting combination of basketry, ceramics, iron-work, kitchen utensils, bright plastic animals, gaudy religious paraphernalia and guinea pig roasters (great gift for mom, but…
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Animal Market
Visitors who get up before the sun are rewarded with Saturday morning’s animal market. While you might have little use for screaming piglets or a lethargic cow, it’s certainly worth visiting. Observe the subdued bargaining over a fresh empanada de queso (cheese turnover) from a hillside vendor. Cross the bridge at the end of Colón and follow the crowds to get to the market, which is a kilometer out of town, west of the Panamericana in the Viejo Colegio Agrícola.
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Markets
Thursday is the main market day and there's a smaller market on Saturday. The two main market areas are Plaza San Francisco and Plaza Rotary. The San Francisco market is mainly for locals, though there's a row of stalls on the north side with weavings and sweaters from Otavalo. The market at Plaza Rotary is mainly fruits and vegetables. Both markets are lively and interesting, and continue on a smaller scale throughout the week.
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Plaza de San Francisco Market
The Plaza de San Francisco Market has an interesting combination of basketry, ceramics, ironwork, wooden utensils, plastic trinkets, gaudy religious paraphernalia and guinea pig roasters (great gift for mom, but tough to get home). It also has a large contingent of otavaleños (people from Otavalo) selling sweaters and weavings on its north side.
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El Mercado Artesanal Loja
A large artisans’ market taking up an entire block downtown. It has a huge variety of crafts from all over Ecuador, including Otavalo-style sweaters, panama hats, carved chessboards, mass-produced paintings, Barcelona (the hometown soccer team) apparel and just about every knickknack imaginable. Absolutely safe to wander, and bargaining is expected.
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Parque de la Concepción
The only place with handicrafts is Parque de la Concepción. As you’re walking around, keep your eyes peeled for locally made shigras (small string bags), tagua-nut carvings, and totora straw baskets and mats woven by the indigenous Colta from the reeds lining the shores of nearby Laguna de Colta.
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Eduardo Vega
Just below the Mirador de Turi is the home, workshop and studio of Eduardo Vega, Ecuador’s most important ceramic artist. His colorful terracotta and enamel murals grace walls all over Cuenca and the rest of Ecuador. Sculpture, vases and plates are for sale, and the affable artist is often hanging around and ready to chat.
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Parque El Ejido Art Fair
Quito’s gallery scene is pretty limited, with just a handful of places exhibiting and selling local work. The most popular place to purchase paintings is Parque El Ejido Art Fair during the weekend art fair. The work here consists mostly of imitations of established Ecuadorian artists, but it’s cheap and colorful.
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Casa del Sombrero Alberto Pulla
The hats of Cuenca’s most famous hatter, the charming 81-year-old Alberto Pulla, have graced the noggins of presidents, celebrities and hundreds of local indigenous women. In the early days he worked with chemicals that damaged his throat and has since lost his voice, but he still welcomes visitors into his shop with a smile.
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Galería Aymara
Galería Aymara is a high-end artists’ boutique selling uniquely designed handicrafts, jewelry and ceramics. Avoid buying objects made from black coral, turtle and tortoise shell – these threatened species are protected and it is illegal to use these animal products for the manufacture of novelties.
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Market
The daily market is stuffed with everything from exotic highland fruits and baggies of ground spices to mops, weaving tools and bootleg CDs. On Saturdays, this market also explodes with even more raw foods. There’s also an indoor ‘food court,’ a chance to belly up alongside locals and slurp soups.
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Folklore Olga Fisch
The store of legendary designer Olga Fisch (who died in 1991), this is the place to go for the very best and most expensive crafts in town. Fisch was a Hungarian artist who immigrated to Ecuador in 1939 and worked with indigenous artists melding traditional crafts with fine art – her unique designs are stunning.
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Artesa
Artesa is a big Ecuadorian ceramics company that incorporates old Andean ceramic styles into high-quality, hand-painted pieces. If you just can’t live without a dinner service, they will happily ship it home for you. Tours of the factory may be available, especially if you are with a group.
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Pasaje Artesanal
At the Pasaje Artesanal, between Ambato and Rocafuerte, you’ll find endless quantities of locally made baubles and a regional craft called tagua carving – white, golfball-sized nuts that resemble ivory and are dyed and transformed into figurines and jewelry.
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Centro Artístico Don Bosco
Near Calle 10 de Agosto, this is the retail outlet for a cooperative of woodworkers from throughout the highlands, formed to give people an alternative to immigrating to cities, so it’s an excellent cause. It has mostly furniture, but beautiful boxes, frames and wall hangings too.
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Policentro
If you prefer a more sedate shopping atmosphere than Guayaquil's lively markets, try one of the indoor shopping malls along the Malecón or the department stores along 9 de Octubre. Policentro in the Kennedy suburb has many modern stores, restaurants and a movie theater.
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