What is it?
Kardstadt is one of the main department store chains throughout Germany and you will find branches in most of the major German cities. There are 14 branches dotted throughout Berlin!
Kardstadt tends to be bigger than most of the department stores we have in the UK and stocks ... Read review
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Advantages: Great range of all items Disadvantages: Sadly only in Germnay, not UK!!!
What is it?
Kardstadt is one of the main department store chains throughout Germany and you will find branches in most of the major German cities. There are 14 branches dotted throughout Berlin!
Kardstadt tends to be bigger than most of the department stores we have in the UK and stocks a massive variety if items from clothing to sports goods, books, household good and many branches even offer a travel agency.
... ...Berlin Kardstadt stores open at 9.30 am and close at 8pm at night. Because of the size of most of the stores they tend never to feel very crowded but they are always pretty quiet first thing in the morning and after 7pm. German cities are still very much active well into the evening and shopping is great weekday family past time here. When walking past the Kardstadt shops, it's always worthwhile checking out their lovely window displays as they always ... more
What is it?
Kardstadt is one of the main department store chains throughout Germany and you will find branches in most of the major German cities. There are 14 branches dotted throughout Berlin!
Kardstadt tends to be bigger than most of the department stores we have in the UK and stocks a massive variety if items from clothing to sports goods, books, household good and many branches even offer a travel agency.
When can we go?
The Berlin Kardstadt stores open at 9.30 am and close at 8pm at night. Because of the size of most of the stores they tend never to feel very crowded but they are always pretty quiet first thing in the morning and after 7pm. German cities are still very much active well into the evening and shopping is great weekday family past time here. When walking past the Kardstadt shops, it's always worthwhile checking out their lovely window displays as they always display the newest merchandise and good deals in the windows!
Bargains?
Most branches have a schnappen markt which is a discount floor. To be honest, this tend to be where most of the previous season's items are left to sell but there are some real bargains if you ware willing to hunt around. In clothing the biggest bargains tend to be for people who are either very small or very tall and big!
They also always have lots of special offers on throughout the store and also have big January and summer sales where the merchandise seem to be updated all the time.
Where to eat?
All the stores offer large dining halls which stock a variety of self service options. The great treats here are the coffee and cake bar which are excellent value for just over 3 Euros for coffee and cake. They also stock a real variety of hot and cold buffet meals many of which you choose what you want and pay for by weight (approx. 1.25 per 100g).
Food shopping?
The food halls in Kardstadt shops are spectacular and always remind me of expensive deli style stores that we don't have any more in England. They offer a very wide range of food items including much fish and meat counters, freshly baked bread and a good range of frozen food. The food in Germany is remarkably cheap and the food hall offers an excellent range of food at very reasonable process.
The wine and alcohol cellar is excellent and they have an extremely wide selection of speciality wines and liquors and many bargain wines which are always fun to try!
Household?
They stock everything you could ever need for a home from crockery and culturally to furniture, bedding and kitchen accessories! Because the shops are so large the range of items available is massive! Some of the best deals that I have found here have been crockery and cutlery sets (just beware when taking cutlery through customs!!) My parents also bought a number of light fittings on special offer that were really unusual and less than half the price they would have been had they bought them in the UK.
Clothes
They have a very wide range of clothing for men and women stocking many of the makes you will find at home. For women this includes makes such as as Burberry, Gerry Weber, Betty Barclay, Mexx and Esprit.
For men you will find Levis, and a really goo range of workwear including suits and shirts and ties. I was a bit disappointed with the shoe collection but there are plenty of other shoe shops in Berlin!
Gifts? They have an excellent perfumery counter in all the Kardstadt stores that I have visited and the staff are always very helpful and polite, especially when it comes to purchasing gifts. The last time that I was there I purchased a number of gifts including aftershave and perfume for friends and they were all beautifully wrapped by the sales staff which made them even more special gifts.
The chocolate departments are always AMAZING! They have such a wide range of chocolate which ranges hugely in price from tiny gifts costing less than 50p up to chocolate gifts of more than £100. They always stock wide range of speciality chocolate which is appropriate for the city or region in which you are shopping. They also offer an excellent range of diabetic chocolate (beware as the German for this is DIAT!).
Kardstadt Happy Digits:
Kardstadt offers a loyalty programme whereby you accrue points for each Euro you spend in the store and you then get money off subsequent purchases: this also applies to their online shop.
Advantages: Milka...Lindt...chocolate in general Disadvantages: cable car shut in winter
German haunts, the Dinea restaurant in Galleria Kaufhof, and the Karstadt buffet. Imagine a BHS restaurant or Debenhams café with two dozen more choices, all freshly prepared, and at a fraction of the price, and you have these two. Plus, you can sit for ages without people hassling you, and though you have to tip when you go to the loo, if you're lucky there might be someone in there wiping the seat for you between customers. A lovely touch until you realise they're using the same wiping cloth on every seat, and probably have been all day? We also went to Café Eigel one day which is just off the main street and has a gorgeous window display with a gigantic gingerbread house at the moment. Their cake selection has to be seen to be believed, and the prices take some getting used to too - two beautiful home made cakes and two drinks cost us less ...
Advantages: Great lively city; great sights!! Disadvantages: None really!
to eat:
Movenpick (Hansaviertel arcade);
Lovely, well presented food
Blockhouse
(all over the city)
Wonderful value steaks, salads and salmon. Friendly staff and a great night out!
Alsterhaus cafe:
Great for a unique lunch!
Try an ice cream on the edge of the river Alster
Marriott hotel bar:
Free entertainment and speciality drinks
Where to shop??
Hamburg offers some great shops with many department stores including the famous chains Karstadt and Kauhfof (Monchebergstrasse) and Alsterhaus which is currently undergoing major renovations. If you go to Alster (Jungfernstieg) make sure you try the new cafe on the 5th level and try and great a table over looking the Alster.
Hamburg also offers many famous high street names that you will know and love:
H&M, Zara, Benneton, Sisley, C&A, etc.
As well as few ...
Advantages: Somewhere to practice my Deutsch Disadvantages: Attitude; Attractions (or lack thereof)
. Here we found everything from H&M to Douglas, C&A (still going strong on the continent), Karstadt, Thalia, Orsay and more. I once wrote about a trip to Rome during which we spent a half day lingerie shopping, and someone commented that they would have better things to do in a city like that than try on underwear. But the black lace numbers we picked up on that trip have garnered so many compliments since then that I couldn't imagine a foreign trip complete without some new undies. In America it was Victoria's Secret, and here it was New Yorker and, interestingly, C&A. That's just me. We popped into the Lego shop to pick up some new Christmas themed bricks and kits, but the service here was typical of the city as a whole: lousy. I've tended to find German shop staff polite and friendly, but the ones in Hamburg were anything but ...
zoe_page 01.01.2005 (08.04.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Hamburg (Germany)
