Shopping
Chic Robson Street (website: www.robsonstreet.ca) offers fashion boutiques, souvenir and speciality shops and, bizarrely, a fair number of Cuban cigar emporia. Yaletown (website: www.yaletowninfo.com) is the shopping ground of Vancouver’s young and aspirational, with designer fashions, art galleries and trendy home decor shops. Other popular areas include Gastown, Chinatown and Granville Island, with its wonderful public market (see Key Attractions).
Indoor shopping Downtown includes the Pacific Centre, Royal Centre and the Sinclair Centre, while Metrotown is a large suburban mall (with 500 shops and food outlets) connected to the SkyTrain station of the same name. For outdoors enthusiasts, the stretch of Broadway between Ontario Street and Cambie Street is a must – Mountain Equipment Co-op, 130 West Broadway (website: www.mec.ca), is the best known of the clutch of sporting goods stores here.
When it comes to souvenir shopping, vacuum-packed British Columbia smoked salmon is a popular, easy-to-carry choice. The most original gifts, however, are Pacific Northwest and Inuit arts and crafts – soapstone sculptures, carved masks, totem poles, pottery, jewellery and prints. Galleries worth visiting include Circle Craft, an artists’ co-operative (website: www.circlecraft.net) and Eagle Spirit Gallery (website: www.eaglespiritgallery.com), both on Granville Island, Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery, 1024 Mainland Street in Yaletown (website: www.coastalpeoples.com), the well-respected Marion Scott Gallery, 481 Howe Street (website: www.marionscottgallery.com), or one of the many galleries on Water Street in Gastown. Lovers of international contemporary art can try the Buschlen Mowatt Galleries, 1445 West Georgia Street (website: www.buschlenmowatt.com), or, more uniquely, can take longer to decide if they like a piece – works curated by the gallery hang in the rooms of the Listel Vancouver, 1300 Robson Street. South of Downtown, there are more than a dozen galleries on Granville Street between Fifth Avenue and 14th Avenue (website: www.southgranvillerise.com). The Arts and Cultural Guide to British Columbia (website: www.art-bc.com) provides more listings.
Shops are generally open Monday to Saturday 0930/1000-1800 (until 2100 Thursday and Friday) and Sunday 1200-1700. There is a non-refundable provincial sales tax (PST) of 7% in addition to the 7% federal Goods & Services Tax (GST). Foreign visitors may claim a rebate of the GST paid on goods that they take out of Canada within 60 days of purchase as well as on short-term accommodation. The total pre-tax value, however, must exceed C$200, with a C$50 minimum for each individual invoice. The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (tel: (902) 432 5608 or (800) 668 4748; website: www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/visitors) provides further information and forms. A number of private companies will facilitate the process for a hefty fee. Allow extra time at the airport for customs officers to stamp forms and inspect goods.
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Shopping