Florence is a great shopping town—known for its sense of style since the Medici days. Many people spend entire days shopping here. Smaller stores are generally open 9:00-13:00 and 15:30-19:30, usually closed on Sunday, often closed on Monday, and sometimes closed for a couple of weeks around August 15. Many stores have promotional stalls in the market squares.
For shopping ideas, ads, and a list of markets, see The Florentine newspaper or Florence Concierge Information magazine (free from TI and many hotels). For a list of bookstores, see here. For information on VAT refunds and customs regulations, see here.
If you end up going overboard on Florentine finds, you can buy a cheap extra suitcase at the stalls outside the Church of Santa Maria Novella, opposite the train station. A big suitcase with wheels costs about €25 and should last long enough to haul your purchases home.
Busy street scenes and markets abound. Prices are soft in the markets—go ahead and bargain. Perhaps the biggest market is the one that fills the streets around the Church of San Lorenzo (see here), with countless stalls selling lower-end leather, clothing, T-shirts, handbags, and souvenirs (daily 9:00-19:00, closed Mon in winter, between the Duomo and train station). Beware of fake “genuine” leather (good quality shouldn’t smell like “leather”) and “Venetian” glass. The neighboring Mercato Centrale (Central Market) is a giant covered food market (see “Edible Goodies,” later).
Other popular shopping centers are: the Santa Croce area, known for leather (check out the leather school actually inside Santa Croce Church; enter to the right of the altar or use the outside entrance—see description on here); Ponte Vecchio’s gold and silver shops; and the old, covered Mercato Nuovo (three blocks north of Ponte Vecchio, described on here).
Wander the city’s “Left Bank,” the Oltrarno, for antiques and artisan shops (on Via Toscanella and neighboring streets, south of the river; 
see the Oltrarno Walk chapter).
A flea market litters Piazza dei Ciompi with antiques and odds and ends daily; it gets really big on the last Sunday of each month (9:00-19:30, north of Piazza Santa Croce).
The entire area between the river and the cathedral is busy with inviting boutiques that show off ritzy Italian fashions. The street Via de’ Tornabuoni is best for boutique browsing.
The main Ferragamo store fills a classy 800-year-old building with a fine selection of shoes and bags (daily 10:00-19:30, Via de’ Tornabuoni 2). They have an interesting, four-room shoe museum (€5, daily 10:00-18:00, near the Santa Trinità bridge at Piazza Santa Trinità 5, tel. 055-356-2846).
The Gucci Museum, right on Piazza della Signoria, stylishly tells the story of the famous designer, showcasing everything from clothing and bags to a limited-edition Cadillac (visible without going in). With a swanky café and contemporary art exhibits, it’s the better choice for fashionistas with time for only one of these museums (€6, daily 10:00-20:00, tel. 055-7592-3302).
For more boutiques, meander the following streets: Via della Vigna Nuova (runs west from Via de’ Tornabuoni), Via del Parione, and Via Strozzi (runs east from Via de’ Tornabuoni to Piazza della Repubblica).
Typical chain department stores are Coin, the Italian equivalent of Macy’s (Mon-Sat 10:00-19:30, Sun 10:30-19:30, on Via de’ Calzaiuoli, near Orsanmichele Church); the similar, upscale La Rinascente (Mon-Sat 9:00-22:00, Sun 10:00-21:00, on Piazza della Repubblica); and Oviesse, a discount clothing chain, the local JCPenney (Mon-Sat 9:00-19:30, Sun 10:00-19:30, near train station at intersection of Via Panzani and Via del Giglio).
Shoppers in Florence can easily buy art reproductions (posters, calendars, books, prints, and so on—a breeze to find in and near the Uffizi and Accademia museums). With its history as a literary center, Florence offers traditional marbled stationery and leather-bound journals (try the Il Papiro chain stores), plus reproductions of old documents, maps, and manuscripts. Find silk ties, scarves, and Tuscan ceramics at the San Lorenzo street market, where haggling is expected. Goofy knickknacks featuring Renaissance masterpieces are fun gifts: Botticelli mouse pads, Raphael lipstick-holders, and plaster Davids. For soaps, skin creams, herbal remedies, and perfumes, sniff out the antique and palatial perfumery, Farmacia di Santa Maria Novella (Via della Scala 16; see here).
The Mercato Centrale is a prime spot for stocking up on culinary souvenirs (Mon-Fri 7:00-14:00, Sat 7:00-17:00, closed Sun, a block north of the Church of San Lorenzo). Classic purchases include olive oil and balsamic vinegar, unusually shaped and colored pasta, dried porcini mushrooms, spices, and jars of pestos and sauces (such as pesto genovese or tartufo—truffle).
While many bring home a special bottle of Chianti Classico or Brunello di Montalcino, I take home only the names of my favorite wines—and buy them later at my hometown wine shop. Remember that all liquids—wine, olive oil, or otherwise—need to be placed in checked luggage.
