Retail therapy in Glasgow

Glasgow is celebrated as a city obsessed with style. And, in addition to the exceptional wealth of cultural attractions and other leisure facilities, the excellence of the shopping offer is routinely cited as a primary reason for the city’s emergence as a leading short-break destination.

Now, the city’s new online shopping guide at seeglasgow.com provides an invaluable insider’s guide to all that’s new and exciting about the retail scene. Regularly updated to ensure it has the very latest information on everything from store openings to fashion shows and other events, it includes sections devoted to the lure of secondary shopping destinations (such the west end and south side) as well as the splendid central area. And there’s a special focus on Glasgow Originals – those unique and wonderful things that are today’s true signatures of Glasgow style.

The reality, of course, is even richer than any website can ever hope to be. For the primary shopping streets of the city centre, lined with some of the world’s most dazzling Victorian architecture, are home to every major retailer - many of whom operate flagship stores in Glasgow. The choice is extraordinarily comprehensive, ranging across the entire alphabet of modern brands from Armani to Zara.

Gracious Buchanan Street is anchored by House of Fraser’s northern flagship - the colossal Frasers store, famed as much for its magnificent 19th century galleried interior as for its truly glorious shoe salons.

On the opposite side of the street, Princes Square houses a wonderful variety of cafes, restaurants, and niche retailers such as Fifi & Ally, a ravishing lifestyle store with its very own pit-stop, The Cupping Salon.

Almost immediately behind this acclaimed speciality mall, Ingram Street is fast becoming the city’s most glamorous new shopping boulevard. Here, recent openings, including Mulberry and Agent Provocateur, have joined Ralph Lauren, Jaeger, and Cruise – Scotland’s leading contemporary fashion store, stocking Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, and Prada within a panoply of international designer labels and cool denim brands for men and women.

Ingram Street bridges the main shopping area with the charming and quixotic delights of the Merchant City, a quarter housing great little delis, cafes and bars plus highly individual shopping finds. These include Brazen, an arresting contemporary jewellery store. . . Brigitte, a truly fabulous vintage specialist . . . . and Che Camille, the place to head for custom-made by Rabii Denim.

Back on Buchanan Street, the massive Buchanan Galleries complex at the north end houses an extraordinary variety of mainstream retailers plus a huge John Lewis store, while the St Enoch centre on Argyle Street has one of the UK’s largest Debenhams stores.

In fact, within one square mile of shopping nirvana, visitors to Glasgow find everything from vintage to value - from Primark to Prada - from the season’s must-have it-bag to that pick-me-up macchiato or seductive French martini. And there’s always something going on to ensure any shopping spree in Glasgow becomes a uniquely memorable experience.

In the run-up to Christmas, the thoroughfares of the Merchant City will come alive with Radiance, Glasgow’s unique festival of light (23-25 November). But, before that, October’s key event will be the Scottish Style Awards 2007. This celebrity-studded gala will be preceded by a week of fabulous runway fashion extravaganzas under the banner By Special Invitation, showcasing major retailers together with luxury brands – culminating in New Glasgow, a special celebration of the city’s current explosion of internationally acclaimed design talent.

For information on what to see and do, and where to stay in Glasgow visit Seeglasgow.com.