Where Do You Buy ... Stuff?

[edgeclinger]

We're here just for a couple of months but are planning to move here mid-2010, so we've been wandering around different neighborhoods and thinking about what it would feel like to live in the areas we like. We also wonder where people buy various things. Some examples:
Laundry bag
Sheets & towels
Major appliances
Furniture
Christmas decorations
I remember that when we moved to Costa Rica, it took us 4 months to find a place that sold mirrors. My friend and I laugh now about the fact that we had no idea what we looked like the first 4 months that we lived there. We see mirrors everywhere now, but I swear they didn't exist back then! I was surprised to find that thread was sold in a totally separate store from the one that sold fabric. Finding out where to buy "stuff" ends up being one of the interesting challenges in a new place.
This week we thought we would pick up some kind of little Christmas decorations for our apartment. But we haven't seen anything like that for sale anywhere. Am I blind? Am I looking in the wrong neighborhoods? Or do people really not decorate for the holiday season here. I'm curious.
It would be great to hear some tips about where people buy their "stuff" of different types!

Laurie

[fanning]

Laundry bag : Sodimac
Sheets & towels : Sodimac
Major appliances :Hiraoka, Sodimac, Ripley, Saga
Furniture : standard stuff, Sodimac, cheap stuff, Plaza Hogar ( Av. Angamos, between Rep. Panama and Tomas Marsano ), here you can have your furniture made by 'pedido'. Takes like 2 weeks to make something you order, they come to your house with samples, and you design it yourself..
Christmas decorations: Sodimac, and cheap stuff in Mesa Redonda. A dedicated Christmas shop you find in Miraflores in Jose Galvez, like the block with Vivanda in Pardo. I think it is called the 'Christmas Shop'

So your easiest bet is Sodimac for most of these items. They are not necesarily the cheapest, but it is in your case your easiest bet.. ( And no, I am not in any way affiliated with them )

[stuart]

We're here just for a couple of months but are planning to move here mid-2010, so we've been wandering around different neighborhoods and thinking about what it would feel like to live in the areas we like. We also wonder where people buy various things. Some examples:
Laundry bag
Sheets & towels
Major appliances
Furniture
Christmas decorations
I remember that when we moved to Costa Rica, it took us 4 months to find a place that sold mirrors. My friend and I laugh now about the fact that we had no idea what we looked like the first 4 months that we lived there. We see mirrors everywhere now, but I swear they didn't exist back then! I was surprised to find that thread was sold in a totally separate store from the one that sold fabric. Finding out where to buy "stuff" ends up being one of the interesting challenges in a new place.
This week we thought we would pick up some kind of little Christmas decorations for our apartment. But we haven't seen anything like that for sale anywhere. Am I blind? Am I looking in the wrong neighborhoods? Or do people really not decorate for the holiday season here. I'm curious.
It would be great to hear some tips about where people buy their "stuff" of different types!

Laurie

You don't say what city you are in.

Assuming Lima:
There's Christmas stuff all over the place, try Wong for example.
My favorite place for appliances is Hiraoka.
Furniture is cheap in either Surquillo or Villa El Salvador
Good quality home stuff can be found in Casa & Ideas or Sodimac
General home stuff can be found in Ripley, Saga or many other places.

So, being so easy to buy all the things you mention in your list in Lima's dozens of large department stores... are you somewhere else in Peru?

[uwwgal]

most of the Christmas stuff is super picked over here. i got most of my stuff at tottus... a few things at ripley and a few at wong. tottus and plaza vea are cheaper than ripley and wong and saga.

furniture - plaza hogar or villa el salvador. i got a full size bed frame with drawers and mattress for about S / 1100 and a nice dining room table with 4 chairs for about S / 350. At Villa el Salvador, I got a 4 piece sectional coach made to my liking for S / 1500 I think... all included delivery... there was no tax.

mirrors....there are mirror stores around... but you can find mirrors at plaza vea, tottus, ace home center, maestro, etc

the sheets here are like cardboard.. i found some that were almost okay at ripley... then i just brought a bunch back from the states when i went home in july jajajaja

appliances...i bought my washing machine and microwave from ripley on a sale. i bought my tv from curacao. all the other appliances either i got from someone or i dont have, lol.

hope this helps a tad bit?

[edgeclinger]

Yes, it was a little dumb of me not to say WHERE we are! We are in Miraflores. Thanks for all the great leads. I will try to find out where some of these places are. I know Ripley and Wong but haven't noticed any of these other places in our long daily "research" walks! We're walking the wrong neighborhoods, I guess. But they're all beautiful places that I would love to live in! We did, by the way, look in Wong for Christmas decorations; they had a few baubles for a tree, but that was about it.
Thanks
Laurie

[Kelly]

Ripley and SagaFalabella both have a lot of Christmas stuff. They are at opposite ends of Parque Kennedy.

Like uwwgal said, sheets here are generally horrible - but I did buy some good, high thread count sheets at Ripley. They were about 90 soles for the set, if I remember correctly, it's been about 4 years ago.

If you are comfortable in markets, head towards the Ovalo Higuereta, and go to Polvos Higuereta or Polvos Rosada - they are on either side of Aviacion, just up from the ovalo. They have shops selling tons of Christmas merchandise.

[Ron]

The best place to buy any bedding that I found was Gamarra. They are very soft and there is a huge variety to choose from.

[edgeclinger]

Thanks everybody. Hit the jackpot today! We had been to Ripley and SagaFalabella and Wong before and found nothing for Christmas decorations. Today we took off on our walk and found that incredible Christmas Shop on Jose Galvez at Grau. Although I'm still in shock and wondering if people really pay those prices (4,500 soles and more for a Christmas tree?), Gene now has an adorable tiny Charlie Brown Christmas tree with little lights and plastic cranberries. The eleven year old boy waiting for Christmas has been satisfied - he is "decorating" it as I write! Tomorrow we will try to find at least one more of the places on your long lists. Someone we talked with today suggested that we take a taxi to Sodimac, but that we could catch a combi on Benevides to get to Ovalo Higuereta. These little excursions are helping us to learn our way around. Thanks for your help.
Laurie

[euroman]

You can buy anythings in Lima.
The nicest and cheapest furniture can be found in Villa El Salvador.
Tottus generally sels artefactos for a better price. Nice cloths can be bought at Gamara but you have to watch the quality and brand.

But I advice you to shop around. Plaza San Miguel is a good place to go. You have all the big chain stores. And they are all competing with each others.
Some like Sagafabella or Ripley and La Curacao might appear expensive. But I bought a box of 4 ollas for only 49 soles. The normal cost was 99 soles. Always watch out for promotions.

Food. Buy it at the market. It´s fresher and cheaper. And you support the traders who need it the most. Traders are poor and have to support a family.

Expensive items like washing machines, TV´s, kitchens can be bought at credit if you don´t have enough money right now but they charge a lot of interest. It´s better to borrow the money from friends. Or for example buy a washing maschine together with the neigboors or friends and share the maschine.

[sanbartoloian]

Living in Peru four months a year, I have become a beast of burden for my wife and friends. My load always includes chocolate, presents, and my wife is gradually adding more quality stuff as we come back an forth. The real challenge is a. not being surprised when I attempt to lift a bag and b. paying the overage in weight. This year we come on Monday but have 6 visitors coming shortly there after. Each of those kids will have a bag that belongs to them and one of ours. I am hoping against hope that some day Trish will tell we have everything now and that I can come with a carry on bag, with my PC and Kendle.

Fat chance

[Oliver S]

Wellt, it might not be the most beautiful place on earth and is heavily crowded, but in the Mercado Central you can get everything you desire for a bargain.

[adrian Thorne]

There are some things that seem impossible to get. Our Dishwasher is running out of washing powder and rinse aid. We had the machine instaled two years ago and have always purchased the washing powder from Wong, but it became unavailable six months ago. We managed to buy a small supply from Santa Rosa Supermercado in Avenue La Molina but now that source has stopped. Friends and family usually bring us supplies of rinse aid, with my stock of Marmite, as we have never been able to track these down. Any ideas would be a tremendous help.

[fanning]

There are some things that seem impossible to get. Our Dishwasher is running out of washing powder and rinse aid. We had the machine instaled two years ago and have always purchased the washing powder from Wong, but it became unavailable six months ago. We managed to buy a small supply from Santa Rosa Supermercado in Avenue La Molina but now that source has stopped. Friends and family usually bring us supplies of rinse aid, with my stock of Marmite, as we have never been able to track these down. Any ideas would be a tremendous help.

I think I have seen that stuff in Vivanda ( in Av.Jacaranda /Av Primavera )

[adrian Thorne]

There are some things that seem impossible to get. Our Dishwasher is running out of washing powder and rinse aid. We had the machine instaled two years ago and have always purchased the washing powder from Wong, but it became unavailable six months ago. We managed to buy a small supply from Santa Rosa Supermercado in Avenue La Molina but now that source has stopped. Friends and family usually bring us supplies of rinse aid, with my stock of Marmite, as we have never been able to track these down. Any ideas would be a tremendous help.

I think I have seen that stuff in Vivanda ( in Av.Jacaranda /Av Primavera )

Fantastic and just down the road. I will pop in today. Thank you

[americorps]

My first year and a half in Lima, I was struggling on about $600 a month, so I could not afford Saga/Ripley and instead I purchased my clothes either at Gamarra or the market at Grau con Avancay that sells imported used clothes from the USA. You have to dig there to find the right size, price and quality but to me, it was worth it.

I would buy my movies in Polvos Azules, my kitchen wares in the center, my food at local markets.

Now that I am earning a living and things are better....I still shop at the same places.

I have been doing it now for 3 years, and I am used to it.

Many, especially Peruvians freak out that I go there, telling me it is unsafe, but for 3 years, I have never had any difficulty and I have never seen anyone else have difficulty either. In fact, most of the people I know who have been robbed have been robbed in La Molina, Miraflores, San Isidro and the like.

I get my holiday decorations in China Town and only go to Saga/Ripley for specialty items.

[mtwilson]

I would buy my movies in Polvos Azules, my kitchen wares in the center, my food at local markets.

Now that I am earning a living and things are better....I still shop at the same places.

I have been doing it now for 3 years, and I am used to it.

Many, especially Peruvians freak out that I go there, telling me it is unsafe, but for 3 years, I have never had any difficulty and I have never seen anyone else have difficulty either. In fact, most of the people I know who have been robbed have been robbed in La Molina, Miraflores, San Isidro and the like.

I get my holiday decorations in China Town and only go to Saga/Ripley for specialty items.

I couldn't agree more. It always amazes me when folks from this forum recommend Saga and Ripley and the big supermarkets for the answer to all shopping questions. Lima, and Peru for that matter, has so much more to offer and for prices that are far more affordable. I rarely enter the big box stores here. They remind me of everything I wanted to get away from when I moved out of my home country. To support the local economy (and most of that is underground) and to get much better and varied products, shop the local markets and Gamara and el Centro. I expect you will be much happier you did.

Cheers,