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Shopping
Although Montreal's economy has been booming in recent years, the city
remains remarkably affordable compared to other major cities in Canada and
the United States. There's shopping for every taste and budget here.
General
Rue Ste-Catherine, between rue Guy and boulevard St-Laurent, has most of
the big department and chain stores as well as a few major malls. Avenue
Mont-Royal has funky consignment and gothic clothing stores from
boulevard St-Laurent to rue St-Denis, and a mixed bag of neighborhood
stores, used record shops, and gentrified boutiques heading east towards
avenue Papineau. Rue St-Viateur is one of the city's most interesting
streets, with its amazingly varied range of businesses crammed into the
short stretch between St-Laurent and avenue du Parc. Boul. St-Laurent
remains one of the city's prime shopping streets, more or less along its
whole length. Just about anything can be found there, with different blocks
having different clusters of businesses (Asian groceries and house wares near
de La Gauchetière, cheap electronics a little farther up, hip boutiques
between Prince-Arthur and des Pins, anything and everything Italian between
St-Zotique and Jean-Talon, etc.). Rue Sherbrooke, west of the
Autoroute Decarie, boasts an increasingly interesting concentration of
largely food-oriented businesses.
Luxury
Trendier boutiques can be found on rue Saint-Denis, north of rue
Sherbrooke and south of avenue Mont-Royal. Rue Sherbrooke itself has
a number of high-end stores (notably Holt Renfrew) and commercial art
galleries in a tony strip running approximately from McGill University west
to rue Guy. Farther west, Sherbrooke intersects with Greene Ave. in
Westmount, which boasts a short but luxurious retail strip. Rue Laurier,
between St-Laurent and its western end, is one of the city's prime spots for
eating and shopping in high style, though there are still a few affordable
spots here and there.
Furniture and antiques
On boul. St-Laurent, a cluster of high-end home furnishing stores
has grown up in recent years. It starts roughly at the corner of rue
Marie-Anne and is very prominent in the block between Marie-Anne and
avenue Mont-Royal, with sparser but still interesting stores as far north as
rue St-Viateur. Antique buffs will find interesting stores all over the
city, but they'll want to make a special pilgrimage to rue Notre-Dame,
heading east from avenue Atwater. Rue Amherst, in the Gay Village,
also has a significant concentration of antique dealers.
Drink
Quality wine and liquor can only be purchased at SAQ shops, most of which
are open until 6pm Sunday - Wednesday and 8 or 9pm on weekends; the smaller
SAQ Express outlets are open daily from 11am to 10pm, but selection is
restricted to the SAQ's most popular items. Beer, and a small selection of
lower-quality so-called "dep wine" (not what you'd usually bring to a dinner
party, but sometimes drinkable — it's plonk that has been imported in
bulk and bottled and sometimes blended in Quebec) can be purchased at corner
stores and supermarkets. All retail alcohol sales stop at 11pm and bars and
clubs stop serving at 3am.
Montrealers are largely unaware of how blessed they are by the selection
of beer to be found in the humble corner store. Two local breweries
in particular are world-class: McAuslan (brands include St-Ambroise and
Griffon) and Unibroue (Belgian-style ales such as Maudite, La Fin du Monde,
etc.; the U and U2 lagers are rather ordinary). Boréale also makes a good if
unspectacular range of brews. Other micros and imports jostle for shelf
space with the mass-market stuff; visitors with the time and inclination
would do well to sample and to shop around a little, as selection will vary
from store to store. The SAQ does not carry domestic beer, and generally has
few imports that can't be found elsewhere. Again, selection varies by
outlet, so it can pay to shop around, but in general the SAQ is simply not
the place to buy beer.
Note - The SAQ Stores Are Divided Into Categories.
• 1) SAQ Express
• 2) SAQ Selection
• 3) SAQ Classique
• 4) SAQ Depot
• 5) SAQ Signature
• 6) SAQ Art De Vivre
Some types of Alcohol will only be available in certain stores. |
