As in most large cities, shopping is one of the highly popular activities in Kyiv and with the recent economic growth in Ukraine the capital city has seen an emergence of shopping malls, specialty stores and unique shopping centers. Most shops in the city are open daily from 10 in the morning till 8 in the evening. Wear your most comfortable pair of shoes, make sure you have enough cash on hand and prepare your shopping list as well as your sense of adventure as you wander through Kyiv’s various shopping sites.
Start in Khreschatyk, the main street in the capital city of Kyiv where there are a number of malls. Here, you can find anything and everything from cheap clothes to designer labels, expensive watches to knockoffs and even souvenir vendors lining the streets. Another traditional marketplace is in Andriyivskyy Descent with souvenir stalls and a weekend market. In Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square, you can find more indigenous arts and handicrafts. Here are some of the best shopping malls and centers around the city:
Globus Shopping Complex, located near the Maidan Nezalezhnosti is a massive underground retail centre with over 190 shops on three building levels. Big name brands like Esprit, Adidas, Cacharel and Tommy Hilfiger can be found in the mall. There are also perfumeries, accessories, watch and jewelry shops. It is open from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m.
The City Center on Kreschatyk Street covers about 1,500 square meters of shopping area with over 40 different stores.
Alta Centre in Moskovs’kyi Prospect was one of the first shopping centres to open in Kyiv. Aside from retail shops there is a large supermarket, two department stores, a number of restaurants and a gallery of Ukrainian fashion boutiques that feature local designers. On Saturdays, the centre hosts a fashion show to feature these local designs.
The underground shopping complex of Metrograd over at Tolstogo Square has three levels of shops with everything for shoppers – from clothes, shoes, sporting goods, bags, books, furniture to electronics and more.
Over in Basseynaya Street is the Mandarin Plaza Shopping Mall, a 7-storey upmarket shopping centre with high fashion shops such as Dior, Armani and other world-class designers. The mall also boasts of a good selection of restaurants and a massive food court where a wide array of wines, meats, cheeses and breads can be bought. The Children Daniel Club is a place where children can be left to play while supervised by attendants, making the mall a good place for family shopping. Another high-end mall is the Comod over at Lunachars’koho Street with brand names such as Naf Naf, Mexx, Marks&Spencer and Alessandro. Prices of goods in these malls are mostly on the high side but you can be sure of the quality and reputation of the items.
If you just want to stay on the smaller department stores, visit the TSUM Shopping Mall on Bogdana Khmel’nyts’kogo Street, the Ukraine over at Peremogi Square which is one of the oldest department stores in Kyiv. There are of course shopping places that feature less expensive and more local goods. If you’re in the market for good antique finds, you can check out the Centralnia Market located at the corner of Chakalova and Kotsiubynskoho. This flea market has all sorts of goods from camera equipment, clothing and other unique finds. Other notable flea markets are the Saksaganskoho Antique Shop, a rather pricey antique furniture store but with amazing variety of goods and the Club New York, New York near the Bratislava hotel is open on Saturdays and stalls showcase medals, coins, banknotes and other odds and ends.
There are also places where you can get buy books of all kinds from antiques to reference and trade. Worth mentioning are the Baboon Book and Coffee Shop on Khmelnytskogo Street where there is even live usic playing on the weekends; the Litera on Tolstogo Street with its wide choice of Russian, Ukrainian and other European books, as well as English books and the Globe where English-speaking visitors can gets Russian classics and world classics in English.
For fresh local produce and food items, Kyiv certainly offers a wide array of selection from farmer’s markets to grocery stores and big supermarkets. Worth visiting are the Besarabska Market on Kreschatyk Street, popular with the locals for offering the best and freshest fruits and vegetables in the city; the Volodymyrsky Rinok is always crowded during the weekends but they offer great odds and ends such as baskets and handicrafts. The more popular supermarket chains are Megamarket in Gorkogo, the Furshet chain with over 200 stores all throughout the city and Billa over in Mayakovskogo Avenue.