NYC Shopping: SoHo
There’s so much shopping action in SoHo that I had to divide the info into two sections!
ON THIS PAGE: an overview of SoHo shopping, including subway directions and general advice.
ON THE NEXT PAGE: SoHo Shopping Guide, with stores listed by category and street.
(Click here to go back to NYC Shopping Overview.)
(Click here to go to NYC Shopping: For More Info: Guidebooks and Websites.)
ABOUT SOHO SHOPPING
The funky, artsy SoHo of the 1960’s and ‘70’s is now a densely concentrated high-rent destination for fashionable shops, restaurants, galleries, loft apartments, and chic residents and visitors.
While SoHo may have lost some of its charm, the historic cast-iron architecture has been preserved, and it remains a favorite Lipstick Getaways neighborhood for a day of shopping, window-shopping, eating, drinking, and people-watching.
The name SoHo describes the area SOuth of HOuston (pronounced How-ston), north of Canal St, east of Lafayette, and west of Sixth Avenue. It’s a small, densely concentrated, neighborhood with over 250 shops, including designer names, uber-chic boutiques, mass merchandisers, one-of-a-kind jewelry designers, stylish home furnishings and design shops, art galleries, and street vendors.
- BEST TIME TO SHOP in SoHo is on a weekday afternoon. Many shops don’t open until 11:00AM or noon. Some are closed on Mondays.
TIP: The bigger shops on Broadway tend to open earlier, so hit them if you’re in SoHo before 11am.
- On nice-weather weekends SoHo can be crazy-busy and exhausting! But if that’s the only time you can go, just summon up a fun relaxed attitude, don’t try to cover too much ground, carry water, and enjoy the circus!
- Bring a good map and allow yourself plenty of time for exploring … and for getting turned around. I’ve explored SoHo many times, yet still frequently march off in the wrong direction, and need to consult my map every few blocks!
- If your time is limited, focus on Greene and Wooster Streets where the chic boutiques and home furnishings shops are most densely clustered.
GETTING THERE: Subway: Take the C,E, or 6 to Spring St; the N or R to Prince.
