Shopper's Paradise - Mumbai

I had little though of shopping while flying to Mumbai from Bangalore as carrying a 9 month old baby, shopping was definitely not on my mind. Well I had equipped myself with a baby carrier just in case if I had will and energy to go around shopping carrying her. My initial attempt to fight boredom was to do window shopping and to an extent I was successful. I was not keen on doing any mall kind of shopping rather was eager to explore the less visited and above all value for money shopping.

Malad
Inordbit Mall: The biggest mall of mumbai, located in Malad has numerous branded shops.

Natraj Market or New Muncipal Market: This market is at a walk able distance from the station. This is about 488 shops selling party wear sarees and salwars. I was enchanted seeing those glittering sarees which are draped at the entrance of the shops.
• Hastmelaf Collection, Shop No. 32/33: Has kids wear mainly for girls below 10 years.
• Rajesh Saree Centre, Shop No. 30: This shop has lot of nice party wear sarees and is very reasonable in his pricing. No scope to bargain.
• Sree Mahalaxmi Jewellery, Shop No. 20, Vasant Plaza Shopping Centre, and Opp Natraj Market: This shop has good combination of antique and fancy jewelry, they are nominally priced. No bargaining will work!
• Anjali Collection: Has exclusive party wear salwar kameez, good anarkali ones too. I purchased two anarkali chudidaars (grand ones) for Rs 700 each. I did some research before buying here and many shops just quoted double for the similar ones. You need to bargain hard.

Bandra
Linking Road: A very famous shopping place in Mumbai where one can find local and international brands, inexpensive Chinese makes and fakes too. There are plenty of shops selling salwars, footwear and bags.
• Primona Art Gallery, Shop No. 533: I had been to a boutique way back in 2006 and had picked up a nice skirt for 150 bucks. Incidentally this time the auto guy stopped me at the same place and I remembered having visited this shop earlier. The lady owner of the shop was very friendly and offered to look after my baby while I tried out few tunics. The shop has wide range of tunics, skirts, shirts and is of export quality. Most of them were available for 325/- bucks. The lady also suggested me to pick some baby clothes at Tan-Zeb.
• Tan-zeb, Shop No. 504: It is one stop shop for all the baby products and accessories. I was looking for baby tights and I got two of them for just 300 bucks.

Andheri (W) Station
A small lane opposite to McDonalds is a busy area most of the time. There are number of shops lined next to one another selling bags, tops, footwear and jewelry. Interestingly everyone quotes a same price for same item and there is no scope to bargaining. A footwear shop at the dead end has few unique pieces of footwear and you should bargain.

Powai (W)
Galleria, Hiranandani Gardens: I did no research on any of the shopping places in Mumbai. I was told by someone saying Hiranandani Mall has lot of small shops and is a must visit place, so I set off to visit this place one day. Auto guy was confused with the ‘Mall’ and he dropped me off at City Park near Hiranandani Gardens. I was impressed with the buildings as they seemed to be unique with domes and regal arches. Few yards away from the City Park is the Central Avenue. Westside store on the first floor of Central Avenue is cramped and small; it was a sheer waste of time. Galleria Shopping Centre is just across the Central Avenue.
• Leather Galleria, First Floor F-195: Has good collection of trendy leather bags. He also has few branded ones like Levi’s which he sells out for a lesser price. Bargain hard!

Vile Parle (W)
Alfa Market: Five sets of shops form Alfa and the area is called Irla. Alfa 1 has imported baby accessories, imported toiletries, imported electronic products and dryfruits. They sell most of the products at a reasonably lesser price. Alfa 2 has few shops that sells clothe and bags, Kurtis are must buy as they are cheap and trendy. Alfa 3 has a gifting items, household accessories and electronic stuff and bags. Alfa 4 sells electronic gadgets.
SOGO Collection, Alfa 2: Sogo has few nice collections of tunics, leggings and skirts.

Lokhandwala
Kamdhenu Shopping Centre: This shopping complex located in Lokhandwala area has many shops mainly selling clothes and jewelry.
• C K Collection, Shop No 74: The owner ‘Tiwari’ is very friendly and is really good at marketing skills. He has few export quality tops and tunics like Papaya and George. I liked the fabric and the colors. He has few good party wear halter neck gowns and frocks. I am damn sure one won’t go empty handed the moment they land at this shop. Typically sells the tops for 150 bucks. Good thing is that he has clothes for plus size.
B K Garment, 14/B, Bon-Bon Lane: This shop too has good tops and tunics. The shop is cramped so you don’t get to see all the varieties displayed. Need to bargain.
Soft Tot, Bon-Bon Lane: Great party wear frocks for girls below 10 years. He has amazingly good quality party wear frocks in the range of 600-700 bucks. I quite did not like the attitude of the owner, so on my first visit did not pick the frock that I fell in love with. Next time when I went the same frock was out of stock but the staff helped me deliver the same frock in a span of a week’s time. That was something very commendable. No scope to bargain.
Aby Baby, Bon-Bon Lane: This shop has good options for picking the B’day frocks for girls. I wanted a real good one for my daughter’s first b’day party and I found one which is too good for 700 bucks. The similar ones on Westside or Shoppers Stop cost about 1200 bucks. No scope to bargain.

Colaba
Fashion Street: I had a glimpse of the fashion street from a zooming cab during my first visit. The thought of not having visited kept lingering on my mind, so I gave a visit during my second visit to Mumbai. FS is about a kilometer wide and has around 150 shops and is more popular among the younger crowd and tourist. All kinds of trendy tops and kurties (mainly petite size) are available for a cheaper price. Plus size kurties or tops are rare thing to find. Apart from clothing, there are shops selling shoe, jewelry and bags.

Victoria Terminus
Manish Market: It has around 50 shops which are not more than 4*4 feet in dimension and they mainly sells cell phones, watches and toys (mainly Chinese fake brands). For a person like me who is not into gadgets it was waste of time. It was hard for me to make my way out as it was jam packed with males all around.
Mangaldas Market: This market is indoor and is exclusively for clothes and jewelry. It has around 100 shops selling chaniya cholies, sarees, salwar kameez materials, suitings and shirtings. I quite did not like the attitude of the shop vendors as many did not show any interest in selling. They were more interested in making an export deal.
Luggage Plaza, Baria Building, Opp Crawford Market: This shop has imported (from Dubai) leather bags and trolleys. Need to bargain.

Goregoan(E)
The Hub: This mall has departmental store, few restaurants, and a multiplex. There is a shop for the little ones called ‘Little Planet’. Not a must see mall.
The Oberoi Mall: Probably a well designed mall according to me as it is very spacious. Caters to your shopping and entertainment needs. I had the best shopping experience.