For many, shopping is their raison d'être -- an uncontrollable urge, almost an addiction. What more perfect place than New York to satisfy that urge? No city in the world has the breadth and variety of stores; it's a shopper's paradise.
In this section, I've done my best to point out the city's shopping highlights; it's certainly enough to get you started. For much, much more on the New York shopping scene, check out Suzy Gershman's Born to Shop New York (Wiley Publishing, Inc.).
Take a Shopping Tour -- If you want some help in your shopping and feel a bit intimidated by all the options Manhattan has to offer, you might want to consider taking a shopping tour. Shop Gotham (tel. 212/209-3370; www.shopgotham.com) offers walking tours of SoHo, Fifth Avenue, the Garment Center, and a Big Store tour where you'll hit stores like Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and Century 21 all in 4 hours. Tours range from 2 to 4 hours and from $25 to $85.
