MYKONOS - SHOPPING
Famous for its fashionable crowd, Mykonos is the kind of place where you can go shopping at midnight. The mazelike streets of Chora are filled with both stylish clothing boutiques and little shops run by old ladies clad in black selling chunky wool sweaters and Greek sandals that retail for hundreds of dollars back home.
Every kind of shop can be found in Mykonos, mostly gathered in the narrow whitewashed streets of the capital. Souvenir shops, high label designers clothes and shoes shops, art galleries and many fine jewelry stores offering beautiful creations inspired by the Greek jewels of ancient times. The gold is also very good, and you can get clothes, ceramics, textiles and antiques if you are willing to pay the price. In Mykonos, the 'streets' are winding lanes. The most enjoyable way to check out what's offered is simply to take a stroll. But if you're looking for a specific shop, it's easy to get lost, so keep asking after every couple of turns. And remember that some shops are up a short flight of steps, easy to miss when distracted by the crowds and bright windows street side. The shops are opened all day long until 10pm, 7 days a week.
FolkloreFolklore shops are everywhere in Mykonos, and a great souvenir is a copy of ancient Cycladic art; little white figures in various positions (playing the flute, praying, thinking, families etc.) which are more than 6,000 years old.
Delos Dolphins
Matogianni
Enoplon Dimameon
specializes in copies of museum pieces
Many fashion shops are along Matogianni Street, including up market fashion and design names like Prince Oliver for clothing andcostume jewelry like Folli Follie.
Soho-Soho
81 Matogianni
By far the most well known clothing store on the island; pictures of its famous clientele (Tom Hanks, Sarah Jessica Parker and so forth) carrying the stores bags have been in publications around the world. Maria will help the female clientele find the perfect outfit while just across the street, at the men's store, Bill will recommend the latest men's arrivals.
Scoop NYC
Luxury fashion boutique Scoop NYC opened its first European location in the Belvedere Hotel. Its exquisite jewelry line by native Mykonian designer Ileana Makri sets this store apart from its New York counterpart.
Yiannis Galantis
Sells clothing designed by the owner.
Buying a piece of jewelry while visiting Greece is a must. Jewelry stores in Greece are as common as bakeries and cafes. You'll practically trip over one on every block in Mykonos, where you can buy handmade silver and gold jewelry. While Greece is known as a good place for jewelry shopping, with generally good prices and excellent quality, both quality and value can vary from shop to shop. Most jewelry shops expect some bargaining, so don't be shy, and don't be afraid to back off and come back the next day. Jewelry shops are abundant on Enolpon Dinameon street, just up from the bayside.
LALAoUNIS
14 Polykandrioti
Remains the finest jewelry shop on the island, associated with the famous LALAoUNIS museum and shops in Athens. It has superb reproductions of ancient and Byzantine jewelry as well as original designs.
The Gold Store
Right on the waterfront one of the island's oldest jewelry shops.
Vildiridis
12 Matogianni
Jewelry based on ancient designs.
Karkalis
17 Matogianni
The newest arrival in town, with striking original and contemporary designs.
If you want a memorable souvenir without paying for fine jewelry, the Kombologadiko, a workshop creating strands of 'worry beads' or komboloi, may be an easy way of meeting your gift-giving obligations back home. It's located on Agia Kyriaki square, which also houses a small church and the public library of Mykonos.
If you are interested for something more local and traditional in Zouganeli Street you can buy local sweets and cakes made of almonds, the famous 'Amygdalota', from Efthymiou sweet shop. Another unique shop of beauty products all made from Greek olive oil, The Olive Oil Shop, located also in the same street further towards to the town. Some of the local products of Mykonos like the cheese 'kopanisti' you can find at the traditional grocers shop 'Lykos' (the wolf) in Matogianni Street. In the Grill Tavern Spilia next to the primary school at Enoplon Dynameon Street you can buy local cheese and sausages from the tavern owner's production.
Works of culinary art can be found at Skaropoulos, one mile out of Chora on the road to Ano Mera, featuring the Mykonian specialties of Nikos and Frantzeska Koukas. Nikos's grandfather started making confections here in 1921, winning prizes and earning a personal commendation from Winston Churchill. Try their famed amygdalota (an almond sweet) or the almond cookies (Churchill's favorite). You can also find Skaropoulos sweets at Pantopoleion, 24 Kaloyerou, along with Greek organic foods and natural cosmetics; the shop is in a beautifully restored 300 year old Mykonian house.
Mykonos was once world famous for its vegetable-dyed hand-loomed weavings, especially those of the legendary Kuria Vienoula. Today, Nikoletta is one of the few shops where you can still see the island`s traditional loomed goods. Eleni Kontiza's tiny shop Hand Made, on a lane between Plateia Tria Pigadia and Plateia Laka, has a good selection of hand-woven scarves, rugs and tablecloths from around Greece.
SandalsMykonos is also well known for its house-designed sandals in many colors and styles; perhaps no better selection can be found in the entire island than at Eccentric by Design, 11 Fiorou Zouganelis St. where you can even find sandals encrusted with Swarvoski crystals. For more traditional sandals, check out Kostas Rabias, on Matoyianni Street. Check out Mykonos Sandals in Little Venice and Eccentrics by Design on Zouganeli Street.
Art GalleriesMykonos has lots of art galleries, including some based in Athens that move here for the summer season.
Scala Gallery
48 Matogianni
One of the best galleries in town. All the artists represented are from Greece, many of them quite well known. There is a selection of jewelry, plus an interesting collection of recent works by Yorgos Kypris, an Athenian sculptor and ceramic artist. Nearby on Panahrandou is Scala II Gallery, where the overflow from the Scala Gallery is sold at reduced prices.