I may be bias because I am from the shore but this is hands down the coolest department store I…read morehave ever been to! Home to Stephen Marr, Lucy and the Powder Room, Karen Walker, Black Box, TopShop as well as a myriad of rotating NZ designers, this place is nothing short of brilliant. Expensive, but brilliant nonetheless. On my last visit I was delighted to see they now also have a wonderful range of quirky terraniums and indoor plants. Definitely well worth checking out if you are looking to add some greenery to your office or home!

Quite a special place, for a morning coffee, quick lunch and afternoon relax, with greens and…read moreflowers. You wouldn't notice that you are actually in paradise. Yes, Paradise has the meaning of 'Garden'. Top Quality coffee, good cheese scone, caramel chocolate slice. Menu is not too complicated, ease for mind when you just into the sunny mood and some inner peace. Or you can choose just grab a coffee and have a stroll in the department store, finely selected fashion there waiting for the right person. Choose a beautiful day, and amaze yourself here. There is nothing more beautiful with a nice coffee I the warm sun.

Right on Queen Street beautiful Christmas windows & The only ones we saw in Auckland. They were…read morebeautifully done, music played at the puppets moment. The store was closed. We went inside looking for luggage and passed beautiful clothing and housewares. Santa was keeping Children busy. Luggage was around $1,000 so we moved onward

This was a wonderful find! I was in desperate need of socks, ha ha! My brother was looking for a…read moresweater and they were very helpful in pointing out where they were. There were several reasonably priced ones. Everyone was so kind and helpful.

If you need to buy gifts for anyone, then this is the place to go. You can browse around, and there…read moreis nobody looking over your shoulder. The store is laid out for a quick stock turn around, leaving one item on show and the rest packed in boxes ready to become much loved gifts. I have yet to enter this store and not find a suitable gift for anyone and everyone. They stock vases, bowls and home decor pieces. During the Christmas period, they were selling the most beautiful decorations you could find, and they were cheap as chips. Initially I thought they were just opening up to cash in on the Christmas gift rush, but this outlet store's popularity is making them it the one stop gift shop on the Shore. The lady that served me offered to wrap my gift, a service that adds to the five stars they've already achieved.

A great place to shop and could add a lot more shops including Zara home and H&M to make it more of…read morea shopping destination.

Pretty decenly laid out Westfield mall. You can find the usual ammenities here such as the big…read morescreen cinemas, food court (with the standard food court offerings), indoor playgrounds on both levels, the parking lot 'while you shop' carwash & various cafes littered throughout the complex. Also a few restaurants just past the foodcourt on the outside. Three stars for the very limited under cover car parking. A mall this size needs more covered spaces for the erratic Auckland weather.

Growing up I never really spent much time out west, but over the last few years I've slowly become…read moremore and more familiar with what is out there. But it was only really recently that I discovered the outlet mall at Westgate. Located right behind the Westgate shopping centre, this little strip of stores includes the likes of Bendon, a Nike factory store, an all-things-USA shop, and Jet Couture to name a few. The Nike and Bendon stores were two places I was ecstatic to find. Both had a wide selection of products available and everything was pretty reasonably priced. If it is outlet shopping you're after, I would still definitely recommend trying Dressmart in Onehunga first, but if you're already out west and just need new running shoes, lingerie or boardies then the Westgate Outlet will be able to take care of you without breaking your bank! Tip: There's plenty of free parking available both at Westgate shopping mall and in front of the outlet strip!

If you have time to walk around aimlessly looking then Westgate mall is the place for you. I…read moreactually can't even call it a mall it's more like a disorganised shopping centre with everything scattered all over the place. It can be stressful if you are after a certain something and you have to walk around but if you are looking for nothing in particular and are after some retail therapy then this is the place for you. Of the top of my head the shopping outlet has the warehouse, farmers, bendon and shanton. All the shops you find at a Westfield mall just with cheaper prices.

This is one of my favourite Kookai stores because it's always SO quiet compared to other Kookai…read morestores. Here you can escape the chaos of the mall and be left to find that perfect party dress. This is also very helpful when trying to squeeze into the tight, tight, tight dresses at Kookai. There's nothing worse than popping out of the changing room to get another size to find a whole crowd gawking at your bottom poking out of a super tight dress. Yes. You know what I mean. It can be mighty awful. But at the Albany store it's way down the end of the mall and it's probably so quiet because you have to walk a marathon to get there! But it definitely helps me to feel comfortable when trying on not-so-comfortable, but totally awesome dresses. Kookai Albany, you get a thumbs up from me!

Up until this weekend just gone, I was a pretty big fan of Kookai. So when I went to find something…read morefor the weekend, I popped into the store to see if they could help. Before I'd really even looked around I found myself thinking 'meh'. It is a good place for staple items, although these staples can be pretty expensive. They have A LOT of tight stuff, in pretty much every shade. And it is all in that sort of tog material stuff. There is a good selection of dresses and tops, and is always a number of things on sale. The store is pretty massive so there is a lot of choice. The service is very attractive and friendly, often in that slightly over the top, 'hi hun!!!' way, but hey, they're perky and helpful. As it is an Australian brand, the sizings are Australian, namely sizes 1 and 2. Size 1 is 6-8, and 2 is 10-12, i'm not sure they go any higher actually. I will still definitely pop in every now and then, because they do get some really nice stuff, but it isn't my first choice.

Good value for money as per being the warehouse. Free parking and good range. Recommended.read more

I usually don't mind Farmers, in fact sometimes I even enjoy going shopping there because there are…read moreso many things to choose from. And even more so, the Farmers specialty stores like the Home stores are even greater becouse they have an awesome selection of products to choose from relating specifically to home environments. However, I did not like going to this particular Home store, for a couple for reasons. The staff were not very friendly here, they were actually rather rude when we approached them asking for help, and this was after having to find them as we weren't even greeted upon entering the store (and there was like on one else in the store besides us). And I also really do not like the layout of the store, it makes the space feel claustrophobic when it doesn't need to be, as it is a massive space. The place is set up so that there are these random diagonal rows going across the floor, sort of like awkward supermarket set up, and it makes it that you cannot see where anything is. So, I will not be returning anytime soon.

This is only a little Farmers and it's not really very good. The beauty counters are okay, but…read morethere aren't that many of them and they're kind of squashed up. They do have a decent-sized beauty section here though, where you can get the more mainstream products at reasonable prices - so if you're ever in town an need an emergency hair tie or moisturiser, definitely head to Farmers rather than a pharmacy, as the prices are bound to be better. The men's and women's clothing sections are pitiful at this branch though, so I wouldn't even bother. The best Farmers for clothes are Botany or St Lukes. Don't bother either with the basement section of this Farmers either, it's an un-funky 'industrial' (read: we were too cheap to finish it properly) hell where tweeny clothes go to die.

Farmers had everything I needed and the customer service was lovely. I was desperately searching…read morefor a particular coffee machine and was delighted to find it at Farmers.