Non Traditional shopping in St Thomas & St Marteen

[Mike Wolfe]

Hello,
Soon we will be going to St Thomas & St Marteen and I am not much into Jewelry, cigars or clothing.. Can anyone shed light on some other non luxury goods shopping.. Such as Toys, games or local items, etc etc ?????

Also a friend of mine is looking for one of those fake $25 Rolex watches like you find in New York has anyone seen those for sale in those two places??

Thanks

Mike

 

[AnnMorin]

Down on the waterfront in St. Thomas near the old fort there is a "bazaar type area". You will see a bunch of gazeebo type tents, they sell all kinds of knock off merchandise there I would think you can find a "rolex" from that group. I got my MIL a "prada" wallet for $18.00 (looks just like the $200.00 one- although she has no clue who prada is in the first place and just needed a new wallet)
In St. Maarten they have a bunch of shops that you can get nice christmas ornaments in that show the island. My son always buys masks in the various ports, he has a great collection hanging on his wall, there is always something for everyone. Oh and if you drink or have friends back home who do, booze is really cheap in St. Maarten.!!

 

[mrsfuzzmo]

In St. Thomas (definitely go into downtown Charlotte Amalie, don't just shop at Havensite) you'll find everything from diamonds to porcelain, fine linen to boomboxes, authentic arts to native crafts, great local handicrafts to designer wear, hair braiders to stylists, fine liquors to local Breweries!!. You'll find it all, all at terrific prices and great variety! It is the most fun place to shop in the entire caribbean (no hagglling here). You could easily spend a full day or two just cruiseing the shops and restaurants! Enjoy.

 

[hydster]

Also if you drink the Guavaberry Emporium in St. Maarten has really yummy alcohol for great prices! They give out free samples of the Guavaberry and when you purchase a bottle it comes with a few recipes like Guavaberry Colada and Guavaberry Martini and the bottle is really cool. We also bought Rum in St. Thomas for 6 dollars to 12 dollars a bottle and brought home a ton of Bombay Saphire Gin for 12 bucks each and they were the biggest bottles they sell.

St. Thomas has great knock off stuff and I bought a Prada purse for 20 bucks..love it and get a ton of compliments on it.


Heidi

 

[skoi]

How about knock off Louis Vutton (sure I spelled that wrong). I saw a woman with a great LV bag, I don't know if it was real or not-- all different color logos that looked like flowers. I'd love to get something like this.

Thanks,
Julie

 

[Karel]

I bought a fake Rolex in St. Martin at one of the 'jewelry' stores. Remember to haggle over the price. I thought $15 was good, what I would pay for any old watch and it was a price I could live with even if it fell into a million pieces the next day. I wore it for ten months or so until I lost it on a soccer field somewhere.

 

[AnnMorin]

Julie there are SO many knock offs at that bazaar I am talking about, we haad a set price and stuck with it, they might tell you like 25.00 but say 18.00 if they say no, there are ten others in line one will say yes!
on a side note,, heidi I just love your family photo

 

[NJ Cruisers]

Down Island Trader has some really different/islandly things. It's on the waterfront - about 2 blocks from the outdoor shopping area. There's also a store with local crafts (can't remember the name) that's in the alley by Hard Rock Cafe. It's about half way on the right. There's a toy store, but it sells what you can find on the mainland - cheaper maybe. And, there are lots of stores down the different alleys. The main street has mostly the jewelry, souveniers and table cloths - try the alleys for different things.

Diane

 

[TheWog]

On St. Maarten if you go to the right on Front Street after you get off the water taxi, you will walk down about a 1/4 mile or so and you will see an alley. There are the people at the street who will lead you down there. One of the stores on the right (has beach towels and post cards out front) will have great knock offs. All the Coach stuff has C's not G's and the watches are authentic. They actually say Movado and Rolex. I wouldn't swim with them, but they look dead on. I found a subtle difference on the Movado, but nothing the average person would notice, but they are great "knock'offs". They also had kids toys and towels and all sorts of stuff. At the other end of Front Street on the left (ocean side) we found a little alley with all sorts of stuff, the usual t-shirts/towels/hats/etc., but also wood carvings, jewelry, beads, real neat stuff. Very quiet down there and no pressure at all. They also have some regular type stores with toys and little knickknacks type stuff on Front Street.

You will definitely see the bazaare at St. Thomas, just look for all the blue and white tents. As said above, the next person will take your price. Just know what it is going in.

 

[Mike Wolfe]

Many thanks for all the input..

Now if any of you can hurry up time here I am all set to go...

Mike