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 shopping guru Suzy Gershman's latest edition of 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 such as Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and Century 21 all in 4 hours. Tours range from 2 to 4 hours and from $25 to $85.
