… this saying about São Paulo is said to have been coined in Rio de Janeiro. What can we say? It’s true! São Paulo does not have Rio’s beaches but it does have something to offer indeed – in terms of atmosphere and, above all, shopping.
Did you know: São Paulo is one of Brazil’s cities with the highest quality of life! The best place for shopping is the Jardins neighbourhood. On “Rua Oscar Freire” you’ll find the best branded products – though “Bom Retiro”, “Brás” and “Rua 25 de Março” are also very popular with their wide range of stores. Power shoppers will get their money’s worth in any corner of the city. We asked Malu Sevieri, who took over as foreign representative for Messe Düsseldorf in Brazil in January 2015, which of São Paulo’s approximately 240,000 stores and over 70 shopping centres are her favourite places to unwind.
What does a perfect shopping day for you look like in Sao Paulo?
São Paulo is a very busy city and you can find store clusters in several areas, for example, we have one street only with bridal dresses stores, another one with just furniture and etc. But talking about general shopping day, I rather go to shopping malls. I think is easier to find diversity and all the services we need (São Paulo is well known to have one of the best services in the world).
I am very organized, I do a list of things I need to buy and go to the mall normally monday or tuesday (not so crowded as the weekends) around 5 pm (malls in Brazil closes at 10 pm – 11 pm), I buy all the things I need and I end the night going to the movies or having a big ice-cream!!!!
What´s your favorite shop in the city at the moment and why?
As a shopping mall, I love Cidade Jardim, because it is a mall, but they keep the roof opened in the central, so you have natural light, the design has natural components (as plants, wood and so on), for me is the feeling of not being in a concrete jungle anymore, seems that I am on vacations, even for some hours.
As for stores, I love the Brazilian ones, for fashion Lelis Blanc is a “must go”, but if I have to focus in something is shoe-addiction, we do have a huge production at our country, hundreds of brands, I recommend (Schutz, Arezzo, Sarah Chofakian, Uza and Melissa), a great experience is to visit Havaianas Concept Store in Alameda Santos, you can buy the world’s famous flipflop and personalize it.
Once shopping in Brazil, don’t miss the opportunity of buying swim suits, my favorite store is called Salinas, where they always have very nice, fun and colorful pieces and you can mix and match the upper and bottom parts.
One store that you only find here and I love the beauty products is L’Ocitane do Brasil, the French company is manufacturing products with Brazilian ingredients, as oil from Amazon plants and fruits, the smells you can find are unique.
What do you prefer to buy online and what to buy in a brick and mortar store?
I love to shop online, but only for products and brands that I already know, as much as easier and fast all these technologies works, I am always afraid of the system or how can get complicated, exchange policy, post office service, security of the credit card and so on.
What is very popular nowadays, you see something you like on instagram, you send a WhatsApp message, do the bank transfer and the store sends the product to your house in 2-3 days (you don’t need to go the store or even the website), this is something I do normally and works very well.
Source: Messe Düsseldorf
