If you’re looking for discount, midpriced, and high-end department stores, designer boutiques, a choice of mass-market superstores, and massive and very impressive indoor malls—all within a few miles radius—Nassau County is definitely the place to shop. The Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, for example, is one of the largest malls on the East Coast, and it’s surrounded by mile after mile of smaller strip malls, stand-alone retail stores, and mass-market superstores within shopping complexes. Thus, no matter what you’re looking for, you’ll find it shopping in and around Garden City, which is why people travel from all over the region to shop here.
Some of the more affluent areas of Nassau County are also home to extremely upscale shopping plazas, where you’ll find high-end, designer stores clustered together; for example, Americana at Manhasset. For more budget-conscious shoppers, it’s not difficult at all to find a local Wal-Mart, Target, Sam’s Club, or BJ’s Wholesale Club, for example. Virtually all of the malls in the area are also anchored by affordable department stores, like Sears, JCPenney, and Macy’s.
The majority of shopping opportunities, with a few exceptions, in Nassau County consist of chain stores. While the shopping experiences available are certainly plentiful, they’re not unique, though one thing that sets the Roosevelt Field Mall apart from most other malls across America is that this one attracts chains that open concept stores here, so while the brand names will be familiar, the appearance of the stores and what’s offered will be a bit unique.
The indoor and outdoor shopping centers and malls throughout the region have pretty much replaced “Main Street” in most Nassau County towns and communities. It’s here that franchises and chain store retail shopping dominates, having long ago replaced independent, mom-and-pop boutiques, shops, and stores for the most part.
In terms of shopping, much of Suffolk Country is vastly different than what’s offered in Nassau Country for a number of reasons. First, as you know, Suffolk County contains many waterfront towns, villages, and communities that cater to affluent tourists visiting seasonally. Second, the zoning laws in these communities are extremely strict in terms of what types of stores and shopping complexes are allowed to open, what operating hours they can maintain, and the external appearance of the retail locations. Third, because the visitors to this region have money and demand designer boutiques over discount stores, the economic law of supply and demand definitely plays a role in the types of stores that open in this region and their success.
As a result, what shoppers will discover in many parts of Suffolk County, including the Hamptons, Greenport Village, Port Jefferson, Stony Brook, and Montauk, for example, are very few mass-market superstores and indoor malls. Even outdoor strip malls are few and far between. Instead, you’ll find an abundance of one-of-a-kind, independently owned boutiques, gift shops, and retail stores located on the Main Street of each community.
Along these Main Streets (which go by different names in each town), you’ll also find boutiques from top designers and some upscale chain stores, though their appearance will be vastly different from anything you’d find in even the most upscale indoor shopping malls, or along Fifth Ave. or Madison Ave. in Manhattan. It’s for this reason that people who enjoy unique shopping experiences love to visit the communities in Suffolk Country and spend literally days at a time exploring the unique shops in each community. Of course, your credit card will most likely receive a workout as well, unless you’re able to show restraint or seek out sales.
Because even extremely wealthy people (not to mention middle-income folks) enjoy shopping for bargains occasionally, two of the most popular shopping opportunities in Suffolk County are the Tanger Outlet outdoor shopping complexes in Deer Park and Riverhead. At the Deer Park location, you’ll find 70 brand-name outlet stores, including Neiman Marcus Last Call, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th, Calvin Klein, Juicy Couture, and many more designers offering significant discounts on close-out merchandise, overstocked merchandise, and last season’s fashions and household goods. The more popular Riverhead location is significantly larger, with more than 165 brand-name outlet stores in one location. Both Tanger Outlet locations are open year-round. Keep in mind that while the prices are already low, most of the outlets also have sales throughout the year, during which time even bigger discounts and price cuts are offered. People come from all over Long Island to shop at the two Tanger Outlet locations. More details about Tanger Outlet is offered later in this section.
For shoppers looking for unusual or unique gifts, artwork, home goods, or jewelry, many of the popular museums on Long Island feature lovely, one-of-a-kind gift shops that offer themed merchandise based around the focus of that museum. So, while visiting the area’s museums will provide an enjoyable cultural experience, it’ll also provide for memorable shopping.
When it comes to experiencing culture and the arts on Long Island, there’s a lot more than just the “liquid culture” (in the form of wine tastings at the various wineries and vineyards) offered throughout Long Island’s wine country. While it’s not New York City, within Nassau and Suffolk Counties you’ll find a wide range of theaters, concert halls, and outdoor amphitheaters, not to mention many interesting, thought-provoking, and entertaining museums, as well as several independent galleries showcasing and selling all styles of art. Long Island is also known for hosting numerous prestigious film festivals, and movie theater multiplexes showing the latest Hollywood blockbusters are never more than a few miles from any of the popular tourist destinations and more densely populated residential areas.
In many ways, however, New York City defines culture and sets standards for what people should expect from theaters, museums, and the arts. And, with the city being just a short trip away, it makes perfect sense to experience it while staying on Long Island. Taking a day trip or weekend trip to Manhattan will allow you to go sightseeing, see a Broadway show, or attend a performance at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the New York City Ballet, or the Metropolitan Opera, for example. You can also experience some of New York City’s incredible museums, like the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, or the American Museum of Natural History.
This section focuses on the cultural experiences available on Long Island, plus offers a preview of what you’ll find just one or two hours away in New York City when it comes to theater, art, museums, and cinema.