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Shopping The city’s flagship department stores are David Jones, 86-108 Castlereagh Street, gentlemen’s emporium Gowing Brothers, on the corner of Market Street and George Street, which dates back to 1868, and the down-to-earth Grace Bros, 436 George Street. Castlereagh Street is considered Sydney’s designer row, although this does not take account of prestige stores in Chifley Plaza, 2 Chifley Square, and the MLC Centre, 19-29 Martin Place. There are shopping malls galore and two splendid Victorian arcades at the Strand, 412-414 George Street, and the palatial Queen Victoria Building, 455 George Street, also known as QVB. Market City, Thomas Street, Haymarket, has factory outlets and traditional markets. An impressive homegrown stable of fashion designers has established Sydney as a regional fashion capital, reaching both the Asian and the US markets. Among the most popular designers are Paris Fashion Week regular Collette Dinnigan, 33 William Street, Paddington, and Lisa Ho, 2a-6a Queen Street. For gifts with a local flavour, the most exquisite gourmet foods can be found at Simon Johnson Quality Foods, 181 Harris Street, Aboriginal artefacts at Coo-ee Aboriginal Art, 98 Oxford Street, and the trendiest of board gear at Surfection, 205 Oxford Street. It is worth exploring the length of Oxford Street, just to experience the variety of shopping genres, from the camp end at Darlinghurst, past the small fashion stores of Paddington, through Edgecliff and on into Woollahra and the top-of-the-range antique shops in and around Queen Street. Darling Harbour, Chinatown and The Rocks historic district are teeming with souvenir and craft shops. The Rocks is also the place to pick up gems from the major Australian opal fields. The Rocks Opal Mine, 13 Clocktower Square, and Flame Opals, 119 George Street, have a good selection, as does the downtown Gemstone Boutique, 388 George Street. For pearls from the northwest coast of Australia, Paspaley Pearls, 142 King Street, has some world-class examples. There are markets at Balmain, Bondi Beach and The Rocks but perhaps the one with the strongest local flavour is the Sydney Fish Market, open daily 0700-1600, in Pyrmont, offering over 100 species of the freshest seafood, sushi bars and fish cafés. Shop opening hours are generally Monday-Saturday 0900-1800, with late-night shopping until 2100 on Thursdays. Increasingly, shops are opening on Sunday. A 10% Goods and Services Tax came into force on 1 July 2000 – price tags usually include the GST. There are several duty-free shops in the city centre, as well as at the airport. Shoppers must show their passport and onward ticket on collection of goods. |
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