The essential guide to shops in Boston

The Essential Guide to Shops in Boston
The Cambridgeside Galleria
This is a relatively small shopping mall that contains a variety of department stores and clothing shops including Filenes, Sears, American Eagle, J Crew, Gap, Banana Republic and Essentials. It also has shoe stores, sports shops and a selection of shops selling kitchen bits and storage pots.
To reach the Galleria there is a free shuttle bus that leaves from outside the Kendall Square MIT COOP every 20 minutes during opening hours.
Downtown Crossing
This is Boston’s main high street shopping area and is also the home to Filenes Basement. Downtown crossing contains most of the large American department stores and other high street shops such as H&M, Bath & Body and various shoe shops.
Filenes basement is the discount floor of Filenes department store and if you do not mind rummaging through buckets you can find some great bargains including designer sunglasses for $20!
Newbury Street, the Prudential Center and Copley Plaza
Newbury Street is a shopper’s heaven and the tree-lined road is home to some delightful, but slightly pricey, boutiques. Interspersed between the shops are lovely cafes and bars, including J.P.Lick’s ice cream shop!
Within the Prudential Center you can find the Levi shop which sells a selection of Levi’s that are cheaper than Britain but not by much. It is also the home of some good restaurants such as Legal Seafood, Marche and The Top of the Hub.
Walking through the Prudential Center you can reach on of Boston’s most exclusive malls, the Copley Plaza (linked to the hotel where the terrorists stayed). Here you can find Tiffany’s, Armani Exchange and Bebe.
Star Supermarket
Within Boston there are 2 Star supermarkets – one situated in the Prudential Center and the other off Mass. Ave. just before the MIT Museum (on the left as you walk from MIT to Harvard).
Star is not the most exciting of supermarkets but it is the best place to buy your weekly groceries. The Mass. Ave. store also has an international aisle that sells some British items (baked beans, orange squash and chocolate) at extortionate prices.
Signing up to a Star Reward Card is a good idea as it gives discounts on selected items. Ask at customer services for details.
The COOP
On the MIT campus there are 2 COOP stores, one in the Student Center and the other on the east of the campus, next to the Kendall T stop.
The COOP is great for all your stationery needs, birthday cards and MIT clothing (you can even get MIT underwear)! It also sells textbooks at a rip off price and some great dorm supplies that you did not know you needed.
It is advisable to sign up for a COOP card which acts as a rewards card and at the end of the year you should receive some money back, they estimate about 5% of what you spent during the year. I brought most of my Christmas presents there for pure comedy value.
LaVerdes
This is a small convenience store in the Student Center where you can grab lunch, sushi, international phone cards and magazines.