Jaunted

Shopping

Poor Timing, Love: London Greets Recession With Giant Mall

November 3, 2008 at 10:00 AM | 0 Comments

Global recession be damned, Londoners are ready to shop. Er, at least they better be, because the city just opened one of the continent's largest shopping malls.

The 265-store, glass-roofed Westfield London Shopping Centre opened last week. The mall--in the White City neighborhood--is chock full of high-end retailers like Louis Vuitton and Tiffany's, along with 47 restaurants, and even a new tube station just to serve the traffic the mall is anticipated to attract.

Londonist has a neat photo gallery of the opulent interior. And judging from the pics, there appear to be plenty of folks left in London with some money to burn.

Related Stories:
· Westfield London Shopping Centre [Official Site]
· London Mall Opened by Westfield as Recession Looms [Bloomberg]
· Shopping Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Londonist]

Boston

Mini-Mall Madness

October 20, 2006 at 9:39 AM | 1 Comment

Might as well make it mini-mall week. The Garage, in Cambridge, MA, is a curious little place we've been attached to for a while. Its stranglehold on us might have something to do with the fact that the inside feels exactly like a Habitrail.

The Garage is, in fact, a converted garage near Harvard Square. It's perfect for wasting an hour while you're waiting for friends, or, in our case, for getting in touch with your inner hamster. Most importantly it houses a holy trinity of retail outlets: Ben & Jerry's, tattoo place, and a Newbury Comics. There's a sweet stack of free papers outside Newbury here, making it an easy-to-find go-to when you're stuck for something to do at night.

And yeah, there's a Starbucks too. Feel free to shoot us now for loving it.

[Photo: bunge/callmissy]

Related Stories:
· Guide to Cool Tokyo Record Stores [Jaunted]

Jaunted Field Trips

Jaunted in Japan: Sloppy Seconds

October 12, 2006 at 12:14 PM | 0 Comments

Jaunted editor Davie Kaufmann is currently touring Japan. All this week, we'll be running stories from her Jaunted Field Trip to the Land of the Rising Sun. Have something you absolutely need to know about Japan?  Just ask.

Not including human beings--I can now speak from experience--random pieces of crap are the most lost item on the Tokyo Metro. And you can shop for those secondhand gems to your heart's content at this store in the Nakano Broadway mall. It's dedicated exlusively to unclaimed lost-and-found junk from the subway.

There are watches, wallets, beat-up umbrellas, clothing, 8-tracks and, as of 10/12, not one but two VHS copies of some documentary about the making of Titanic the movie.

The store is located on the first floor of Nakano Broadway. To find it, make a right at the first "Information" counter within mall limits (that means AFTER the neighboring Sun Mall that leads right into it), a left at Poco a Poco, and look to your left a few steps down.

Travel Tips

Avoiding the Authentic Experience of Sbarro

August 22, 2006 at 10:05 AM | 0 Comments

It's not paranoia: Your concierge really is secretly working against you. Maybe not against you, per se, but certainly a concierge can be working at cross-purposes to what you want in a vacation, which isn't going to make anyone happy. Monica Hesse describes such an experience in the San Francisco Chronicle when she was in Panama; her concierge wanted her to visit places like the local mall, and she wanted to (understandably) visit more exotic destinations. She puts it this way:

In matters of food, adventure, and discovery, striking out on your own can lead to unexpected delights. In matters of scratchy throats and sinus infections, it's best to listen to the concierge.

Very true. In more expensive cities, concierges can be great, useful sources of information and procurers of reservations and the like. But in rougher spots, better to try it on your own and pick the brain of locals. Otherwise you'll end up eating at the food court.

[Image via Daragh/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Confounding the Concierge [SF Chron]