FAVORITE Canadian stores?

[SASM]

If you want something truly Canadian and don't mind paying $$, you can get an Hudson's Bay Company blanket. They are a few hundred dollars, but they are the same blankets (though probably MIC, not sure about that) that the fur traders traded to the Indians (First Nations) for pelts. Well, minus the smallpox, of course.

THANK YOU so much for the response!! I'll definitely check that out! The blankets sound interesting and definitley Canadian. I remember going to this store (Hudson's Bay and the Bay are the same, right?) whenever I'd go to Eaton Centre in Toronto. I had my first sample of Lindt truffles on the food level of this store ~ OMG...it was a moment I'll never forgot...although, I wish that I could as they are my HUGE diet downfall!! YUM!!

Hmmm, what else. Maple syrup. Sooooo much better than the crapola syrup you have in the US. You might even be able to actually visit a syrup farm in Quebec, that would be kinda cool.

It seriously tastes different than REAL maple syrup in the US?? I do not think that I'll have a problem getting DH to buy some as he is a great lover of real maple syrup. However, I wonder if we can export a small bottle...hmmm, as DH noticed that we can only export 4 oz (?????) of wine. What is that about??? Years ago, we used to bring multiple bottles back home with us.

There are LOTS of products in mainstream groceries that are now peanut-free that are not in the US (for example, Quaker granola bars in various (not all) flavors, most Dare products).

I remember reading this is a past Lounge thread (probably by Bubbaray) ~ LOVE this as we have peanut and tree nut allergies in our family.

Matt & Nat purses are a Canadian brand. La Canadiene boots. Those coats Molly talks about. Roots is a Canadian brand, kinda like Coach but more emphasis on leather goods.

Ohhh...have to check those out! I never thought of Roots as a Coach-like store, more of a leather product and logo sports apparel/souvenior store. Gonna check that out as Roots is EVERYWHERE.

Holt Renfrew is like Neiman Marcus.

Ohhh...I've NEVER seen that store! Maybe that's a GOOD thing...

THANK YOU!!!!

[SASM]

Well, this feels a bit strange to me as I usually do most of my shopping in the US - sooo much cheaper

I understand...I can go to my local Target and well over half of the cars in the parking lot have ONT and Quebec plates. Keep on coming!!! That guarantees that my store will not close!!

The Bay is a department store...Galaxy I've never heard of, but it may be regional...I'll have to Google

Thanks for the link...I am going to look at that. I am ALL ABOUT the hx of shopping. In my research, I think that I saw that Galaxy is a theatre.

I like to shop at Simon's and Ogilvy's which are both department stores. Simon's is based in Quebec City and does trendy with great sales, some higher end stuff. Ogilvy's is not a chain, has a piper every day playing throughout the store at noon, crystal chandaliers and lots of brass and marble. Makes me feel very special

Def gonna check these out! I like the piper thing.

There are lots of boutique-y places here since Mtl. has quite a fashion design scene...to many to list, but St.-Denis is a great street to shop on. Mont-Royal is good for (extremely overpriced) vintage.

Very good to know!

Alot of Canadian shopping is regional or even city-specific, so if you have a target area I could tell you more. I have been to every province except Sask., but none of the territories and I LOVE to shop.

Very good to know!! Wow...you have been a WEALTH of info for both of my threads...THANK YOU!!!

[MontrealMum]

You can bring back as much maple syrup as you want. The only things that are restricted by volume are cigarettes and alcohol. Also, there are restrictions on meat, fruit, and veggies. But anything in a sealed package or can...that's OK. (You can tell I cross-border shop quite frequently). Quebec is the world's largest producer of maple syrup. It comes in grades like olive oil or beer. Trust me, even though Vermont does some nice syrup, you've really got to try the Quebec stuff. And you should also try tire, I'd only ever had maple sugar candy, but DH lives for that stuff.

The other leather producer is Rudsak I think. http://www.rudsak.com/ They sell them at Simon's but they also have their own boutique in Old Montreal.

As for chocolate, I am not the best to guide you here, but I do know that the great European chocolates are widely available here. You can get Ritter, Lindt, Cadbury, and Droste at the drugstore. Leonidas and Daskalides, which are Belgian, both have several boutiques here as well.

Your boutique shopping experience should include: St-Denis between Sherbrooke and Laurier (this is a huge stretch), Laurier between Cote-Ste.-Catherine and St. Laurent, Monkland Village (Villa Maria metro), Greene Ave. in Westmount, and Sherbrooke between Claremont and Victoria in Westmount. Also Bernard west of av. du Parc. I know nothing about the East end, unfortunately. Also, the Cours Mont-Royal downtown has quite a few high end places (Donna Karan) as well as Club Monaco.

The Bay and the Hudson's Bay Company are the same thing. The Bay has since been bought out by an American company (can't remember which one) It was a sad day for Canadian history. Eaton's went under quite a few years ago. It was another Canadian institution. Have you heard of "The Hockey Sweater"..."Cher Monsieur Eaton"... it's classic Canadiana. They were bought out by Sears in Ontario and several stores were reopened in the Toronto area. I don't know if they're still open or not. The Quebec department store Les Ailes de la Mode bought the downtown building here, faltered in a big way, and the store sells very little; it's not worth your time. They have a few other branches in suburban malls (Bruno, Laval) that are quite nice though.

[MontrealMum]

Oh, I also wanted to add that Ogilvy's has their annual Christmas window with moving bears, or is it bunnies this year? It's very old Europe in style, I think the animals are Steif. They rotate between two different scenes. It might or might not still be up when you come. DH took DS to see it in the Beco and he loved it.

[SASM]

Not sure if there is one in Montreal, but MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop) is rather like REI, but better prices. You really must purchase one of these bags to say you've been to Canada

This sounds like a store that DH will definitely do! Cute diaper-alternative bags! And...very reasonable $!

As for chips, hmmmm, where to start.

Ohhh...unfortunately, I KNOW Canadian chips! The chips and candy are sooooo much better in Canada. I once drove 2 hours (well...1.5 hours adn then waiting at the border) b/c I was craving Ketchup & Loaded potato chips, Smarties, and Aero bars while I was pg...YIKES!! DS discovered Loaded chips this weekend...he's a goner!

There is also Canadian Tire, which isn't just automotive goods. Not sure what I'd compare it to in the US. It has lots of housewares and outdoors stuff (like sleds).

This also sounds like a DH store...YAY!!

FYI, you won't find a better place to shop for women's shoes than Montreal. Seriously, its the best place on the planet.

That is a scary-good thing to know... THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

[SASM]

The store I have to hit when i go home is Roots. I love this store. In fact, i am wearing my new Roots sweatshirt as I type.

Okay...Now I definiltey need to go here!

Food Goods that I must have when home:
-Rolo ice cream. There is nothing like this in the US. This is one thing that I wish could be sent to me
-Diet Coke. Canadian Diet Coke is much better than the American version. I have no idea why, but it just is.
-Smarties, Aero, Coffee Crisp, Wunderbar are my favourite chocolate bars.

Okay...THIS is NOT good!! DH is going think that I am NUTS if I immediately need to go to a grocery store to find food that I WILL no doubt develop cravings for!! I can totally understand the Diet Coke thing as it tastes different in Europe, too.

Ugh, now I'm home sick.

SORRY!!! I know how THAT feels. You are "only" 7-12 hours, depending on how your kids are in the car, from Canada...that's do-able for a craving.

[SASM]

Dh's fam lives for Tim Horton's coffee/doughnuts... but I'm born & bred Dunkin' Donuts so I don't really get it.

There are a lot of Tim Hortons in upstate NY. They probably have other locations in states tht border Canada. Have you checked the website to see if there is one w/i a do-able driving distance? Probably doesn't taste the same but you never know...

[SASM]

Another really popular Coop item is this jacket: http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...=1232329163958 I use mine for XC skiing and cycling, they're also popular for running. There's a Gore-tex version too.

Ohh...I like this! Reasonable $, too! You seriously use this for XC skiing in Quebec?? That says a lot about that jacket!

...Lee Valley. The two big ones are the little metal watch cases with lids and the wood rasp used as a grater. Here's the main link, they have great stuff: http://www.leevalley.com/home.aspx They specialize in woodworking, gardening and cooking stuff. There isn't a store in the province of Quebec, but the one in Ottawa is near the Ikea (as well as Michael's, but you have that at home.

I THINK that I remember reading something about this brand not long ago...Thank you!! Will def. check out..loks like something that I can DH to check out, too (HUGE bonus!)! She always has the most interesting tools...that explains why.

Fairmount http://www.fairmountbagel.com/eng/index.htm and St. Viateur http://www.stviateurbagel.com/main/ Both are open 24 h IIRC, and they also sell lox.

Well...now I DEFINITELY need to check out these places! Gotta compare! LOVE the food reccs...TY!!

Oh, you mentioned Ikea - Montreal has two: St. Laurent---very small and horrific for parking and Boucherville---much larger and newer and in one of those new "planned community" type of malls.

We actually drove by the Ottawa one over theweekend with the intention of going in but didn't get there. I was SHOCKED by the size! I've only been in ones that have been 2-3 levels and practically the size of a mall. I am still going to check it out...LOVE (and greatly miss) IKEA!!

An interesting note about alcohol, because this was a major shocker for me when I moved. In the province of Ontario you must buy your beer at The Beer Store (yes, that's the title) and your liquor and wine at the LCBO. In Quebec you can buy beer and cheapo wine at the grocery store, but you have to get hard liquor and nicer wine at the SAQ. You can also buy beer and wine at the dep (depanneur - no there isn't a translation, it means "convenience store")

Very good to know...TY!

And yes, The Beer Store, SAQ and LCBO all have ridiculously short hours that don't extend into the time of night or weekend when people might actually be drinking. I think there's a bit on The Beer Store in some of the SCTV stuff. In Quebec ,also, there are many restaurants w/o a liquor licence but you are allowed to bring your own wine or beer to drink there and they'll chill it for you.

Very good to know..TY!!

I have to go because I have a non-sleeping baby at the moment wreaking havoc, but I'll try to update this later tonight.

THANK YOU SO MUCH for the loaded informative posts!!! And...I hear ya!! That is why I didn't get a chance to respond individually in my other thread.

[SASM]

How could I forget Lee Valley??? Your DH will love it, BTW. So will your kids, they have super cute gardening tools for kids. Great kitchen/cooking gadgets.

Another store is The Running Room. It is a Canadian chain of running/sports stores.

You really must get (1) one of the MEC bags I posted and (2) something from Roots. We won't let you go back to the US without them. The border guards ask.

HA! I'll have to tell DH that!! Thx for teh running store suggestion. I am always in the market for running apparel, esp for reasonable $.

[mikeys_mom]

Your boutique shopping experience should include: St-Denis between Sherbrooke and Laurier (this is a huge stretch), Laurier between Cote-Ste.-Catherine and St. Laurent, Monkland Village (Villa Maria metro), Greene Ave. in Westmount, and Sherbrooke between Claremont and Victoria in Westmount. Also Bernard west of av. du Parc. I know nothing about the East end, unfortunately. Also, the Cours Mont-Royal downtown has quite a few high end places (Donna Karan) as well as Club Monaco.

These are pretty much all the places I try to get to every time we visit Montreal. I love all the boutiques because the selection is so different from what you can get in Toronto. There are a lot of children's boutiques that carry European style clothing.

My mother is always bringing me clothes for DD from Blu. It is a Quebec designer with really cute and different styles. She goes to the Rockland Shopping Center location, but I think they might have a store on St Denis as well. Every time DD wears one of the outfits people comment how cute and different they are.