Shopping in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv shopping is interesting because of the extremely wide spectrum of goods on offer, ranging from old-fashioned traditional craft goods to the height of designer fashion. Popular purchases include fashions, leather goods, souvenirs, artworks and paintings, fine silverware and jewellery, Judaica and antiques, especially on Ben Yehuda, Allenby, Dizengoff and Hayarkon Streets. As there is no distinction between tourist and residential areas, shopping venues are generally aimed at locals and are therefore reasonably priced. These range from outdoor markets selling food and clothes to chic European and Israeli designer boutiques.

There is something of a struggle going on at present in Tel Aviv between shopping streets and purpose-built malls. An effort is being made to revitalise Dizengoff Street, once the epitome of Israeli style but now sadly neglected in parts. The Dizengoff Centre at Dizengoff Square and the Azrieli Center on the Shalom junction are both styled on the traditional American mall, providing indoor shopping, dining and a cinema complex.

The layout of the Dizengoff Centre - which crosses the street in overhead walkways - is confusing. Designer names - such as Gucci, Prada and Versace - are concentrated on the huge circle of Hamedina Square, while Sheinkin Street (between Allenby and Rothschild) is the ‘trendiest’ street, where many fashionable Tel Avivians buy their clothes and just hang out. For more upmarket shopping, the Diamond Exchange, 1 Jabotinsky, Ramat Gan, is one of the largest Israeli exporters of diamonds, precious stones and jewellery worldwide.

Visitors seeking a more unusual shopping experience should venture to one of Tel Aviv’s daily markets. Carmel Market (see Further Distractions) is located a few minutes’ walk from the southern part of the beach. It is an ideal place to soak up the smells and sounds of the city’s cultural diversity. Alongside it is the colourful craft market of Nahalat Binyamin. Shuk Hapishpeshim, Jaffa’s flea market, sells a fantastic assortment of second-hand items - odd shoes, electrical equipment, furniture and jewellery. Among this arbitrary collection, visitors may be lucky enough to spot some genuine antiques. Local gifts include hand-blown glass, ceramics, wood carvings and watercolour paintings.

Most shops are open Sunday-Thursday 0900-1900, although some close for a midday break between 1300 and 1600. Markets are open Sunday-Thursday 0800-1900. Both shops and markets close early on Friday afternoons (1400) for the Shabbat (the Sabbath), opening again on Sunday.

Value Added Tax (VAT), at a current rate of 17%, is quoted in the price of all goods and services. Tourists buying goods at shops listed by the Ministry of Tourism may be entitled to claim the tax back, provided the purchase cost USUSD 50 or more and payment was made in foreign currency. Shoppers must obtain a special invoice at the time of purchase. The form must be filled out and submitted at the airport and the refund is generally issued by post.

Street Shopping

Part of any cultural experience in any city is shopping. And it is not the goal of necessarily buying something, as it is just the sheer enjoyment of walking in the streets and passing by various shops, each offering you something unique. Tel-Aviv in this sense is an interesting place to be, as it unveils its multicultural unique shopping experience.

If you are a lover of bustling streets stuffed with various shops, then Alenby Street will be your first choice. Placed at the center of Tel-Aviv, Alenby is famous for its lower price clothing shops, furniture shops, bakeries with fresh baked pastries, bookstores with a great variety of second hand books in English, Hebrew and Russian, and multiple newspaper kiosks. If the New Central Bus Station is behind you, then you are headed towards Tel Aviv’s sea shore, as Alenby meets Tel-Aviv’s Promenade, where you can relax in one of the beach side cafes.

But if you are apt to more shopping, then turn right to the famous Bohemian Shenkin Street, which is inhabited by Bohemian youth: artists, designers, art and theatre students. Here you will also find unique stores, such as “Haozen Hashlishit” (Third Ear), a video and audio store, where you can buy or rent unique films, concerts and shows of any genre and kind you can think of. Another shopping street that is adjacent to Shenkin is King George Street, where you will find yet more lower price clothing shops, with what-not offered at half and even a quarter of its market price.

Speaking of market, if you wish to be a part of genuine Israeli market experience, then, just across King George is Hakarmel Street, which is famous for its Shook Hakarmel (Hakarmel Market). This is a typical Israeli market with its regular hustle and bustle. Here you will hear the traders shouting in Hebrew: “Hamesh shekel kilo” (five shekels kilo), “Shnei kilo be eser shekel” (two kilos in ten shekels) and the like. Shook Hakarmel offers you anything from fruit and vegetables, meat and pastries to lower price clothes, accessories and souvenirs.

Tel-Aviv’s Shopping Malls

Dizengoff Center Shopping Mall
If you wish to do shopping in an air conditioned environment, then you should try Tel-Aviv’s malls. If you turn right to King George Street and pass the clothing shops, you will arrive at a Dizengoff Center Shopping Mall, located on the lower floors of an office complex. The Dizengoff Shopping Mall is packed with various stores of any kind: clothes, houseware, boutiques and souvenirs shops, as well as multiple cafes and a couple of cinemas; in short, everything you need to pass a relaxing day doing shopping in one of the Tel-Aviv’s malls.

Opera Tower Shopping Mall
Another, smaller and less bustling and newer mall is the Opera Tower Mall right on the Tel-Aviv’s Promenade. This shopping mall is located right where Alenby Street meets the sea. Opera Tower is named so after British Opera house that was located nearby during the British Mandate until 1947. The mall is packed with cafes, shops and even painting gallery of Israeli brush, which is put for sale at reasonable prices.

Azriely Shopping Mall
Another interesting mall is the Azriely Shopping Center, which is located in the lower floors of two dazzling skyscrapers. This shopping mall is huge, and contains all a person could ask for: all possible kinds of shops and cafes in which you will definitely find what you are looking for. In addition, you can rise into the 58th floor to the Azriely Observatory and observe the city of Tel-Aviv, with its various buildings, neighborhoods, suburbs, highways and the Mediterranean Sea.