On the trail of ABBA and Pippi Longstocking (Stockholm 2)

Sabrina Leuenberger, Direct Sales & Services Manager Scandinavia & Finland

Hej och välkommen tillbaka!

It would be very easy to become a shopaholic here in Stockholm, the most stylish city in Scandinavia. The city is a huge playground for enthusiastic shoppers, and not only since H & M was founded here. It’s hard to narrow it down to just a couple of tips as there are many outstanding brands, shops and places to see. Well, let’s head for the “playground” and see.

Stockholm’s inner-city is built on four main islands - Kungsholmen, Norrmalm, Östermalm and Södermalm – each one with loads of shops where you can find all kind of things. This report will focus on the “posh” islands and the “fancy” island.

Östermalm and Norrmalm or “the posh islands”
It’s “dangerous” to live on Norrmalm, at least with regard to one’s wallet. It’s quite easy to set off with the intention of doing a bit of window-shopping around the city only to find yourself heading home with a shopping bag full of new clothes. In any case, all the major brands are found here, from Marc Jacobs to Gucci and many more. Fortunately, there are also plenty of brands that cater to a medium-range budget. The place to go is around Biblioteksgatan. This street is full of nice shops such as Urban Outfitters, Replay, Whyred, Filippa K., Mathilde and Face Stockholm. At Smålandsgatan 20, a side street, is where SOLO is located, where you can find a huge assortment of jeans and nice dresses. Stureplan and Sergelstorg (two squares in the city centre) are home to big malls like NK, Galleria, Sturegallerian and Åhlens. All are worth exploring, especially NK, which is a Swedish institution.

Södermalm or the “fancy” island
Instead of walking the dog, the urban Södermalm crowd walk their handbags, scarves, hats or the latest dress along Götgatan (photo on the right-hand side) and the surrounding area. It’s great fun to sit in a café and decide whether or not you like the way they are dressed.

Cheap Monday jeans, which can be bought at Weekday on Götgatan 21, are a status symbol. So if you own a pair of those skinny, tight jeans you can be sure of fitting in with the Söder hip and urban crowd. Another place worth checking out is Kocksgatan 17 (the store’s name is the street’s name) and Grandpa on Södermannagatan 21.

But of course not only do you need to look good, so does your apartment. Home design accessories have a high priority in every Swede’s life and that’s why there are so many stores where stylish and also sometimes useful accessories can be purchased, one example being Designtorget (picture on the left-hand side) on Götgatan 28. IKEA, of course, is another way of buying furniture, but real treasures can also be found in second-hand stores like at Myrorna on Götgatan 79.

By the way, on the last Thursday of every month there is SoFo-Night (SoFo is an abbreviation for “south of Folkungagatan”). You can shop till 9 or 10 pm and some shops even offer a glass of wine or beer. Very nice!

Sincerely and happy shopping,
Sabrina

And by the way, here are my Do’s and Don’ts for today:
Do – watch-out for the sign “REA” (sale)
Don't – get up too early, the shops don’t open until around 10-11am.