It amazing looking at old pictures of Nippes from early in the 20th century. On the corner of…read moreNeusser Strasse and Wilhelmstrasse - the location today inhabited by Kaufhof - there once stood the old Kaufhaus der Gebrüder Bluhm. This old school, local department store was once the commercial center piece of Nippes. It's prominent place in the neighborhood was reflected by its beautiful architectural facade. Such neighborhood landmarks, however, have gone the way of the do-do. Today, the site is occupied by the ugly, post-war minimalist building of the Kaufhof. With the cookie-cutter architecture comes consumer uniformity with it. The Kaufhof offers the usual department store shopping with decent selection and ridiculously high prices. Sure, if you live in Nippes, it's nice having the Kaufhof nearby for your immediate shopping needs. But, if there's any way to get something cheaper, you're better off avoiding it.

Galeria Kaufhof is located inside a beautiful historical building right at the beginning of the…read moreworld-famous shopping street Koenigsallee. The shopping center is spread over several floors and even has a very convenient cafeteria at the entry level. There is an immense selection of items for all tastes, prices and purposes and shopping here is always an adventure. The home selection is probably my favorite due to the fact that it displays hard-to find products but I have also been impressed by the Beauty section. I only wish their clothing assortment was better merchandised.

Yes, even in Europe on a River Cruise I had to be subjected to searching for a department store…read morewhile on a shore excursion. The Galeria Kaufhof was a very pleasant find and shopping experience, well, especially for my wife's expected grand baby shopping frenzy. For me, finding a quiet place to sit, rest the worn feet, and do some people watching was the perfect combination of service and fine hospitality. Once rested, I did browse the racks and displays. I enjoyed seeing the variation in fashions and the store attendants were very accommodating to my visual presence saying, "Danika, just browsing." The selections were impressive and prices in my broken sense of Euro to Dollar conversion were nicely comparable. Eventually, my eyes fell on the large selections of chocolates and confections that could travel easily back home! That was my score of the day, oh as well as, my finding Oma (to-be) with arms full of baby to toddler sized clothing. Success, yes, on both levels of shopping priorities. We both brought a bounty of treasures back to our ship.

Great selection of wines and beers. Shoes, jewelry, candy, clothing is there and pricing is very…read morereasonable. Here on a river cruise so it was a good stop.

Cool store. Kind of like what Restoration Hardware used to be back in the day, but more authentic…read moreand geared towards household items and clothing. Lots of great merchandise that you won't find easily elsewhere. Note: They close at 7pm rather than 8 like most surrounding stores - and they're not even remotely shy about chasing you out.

Nothing super special about Karstadt. I surmise it resting on a cusp between mid to a mid-upper…read morescale as department stores go. The reason for my rating is I'd been searching for ages to find a men's zip wallet large enough to hold all my stuff. Karstadt had not just one, by many to choose from - in all the colors. I ended up buying a 100% leather saddle tan one, made in Germany by the well-respected brand, Picard. A couple of my colleagues also found what they'd been after. A really nice pair of men's Ralf Lauren sunglasses and a men's German-made black leather messenger bag. I wouldn't say the prices were great, but if you're looking for that one thing you've been searching for, it's reasonable and they seem well stocked. Staff however were slower than molasses in January, but once purchased with items in hand, we couldn't have been happier.