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Shopping in Panama

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(Bachelor's, Master's & PhD)

Let's be honest! Studying abroad comes in handy with a good shopping culture! Everyone wants to get time to explore markets and pick a few goodies to add to the cart list! Shopaholics welcome to Panama, the land of beauty and charming crafts!

This is where your shopping impulse is put to the test. With numerous shopping malls, stalls, shops, and supermarkets Panama will certainly take thy breath away!

Although the “Panama Hat” originates in Ecuador, there are still many of them for sale in Panama, as this became a major exporting area for the items.

These handcrafted woven straw hats take between two and four months to make, and although traditionally worn in Ecuador they became known simply as ‘Panama Hats’ after foreigners began buying them from the ports around the Panama Canal.

The trade has continued, and today you can still get a genuine and high-quality hat from vendors in Panama, without having to make the voyage to Ecuador.

There is also the Kuna Cooperative (Avenida Arnulfo Arias Madrid) which has traditional Panamanian products here such as Molas (panels which can be sewn on to blouses, bags, or pillowcases, for example), Tagua nuts (tiny carved figurines), or traditionally crafted baskets or carved wooden masks.

There is a handicraft boutique called Breebaart (Calle 50 and Calle 39) which has designer products based on traditional Kuna art. The main shopping drag in Panama is called the Via Espana, where you will find a range of products, for a variety of prices.

There are also many modern shopping malls in the country, although prices here will be similar to those found in America. The main malls are Mulitplaze Pacific, Multicentro and Allbrook Mall. All contain a great range of stores for purchasing anything you may have forgotten at home;

Allbrook has some low-cost outlet stores for any fashion buys. It also contains a movie theater that shows movies in English, for those days where you want to escape the heat in an air-conditioned environment in the capital.

Panama City has promoted itself as a “shop ‘til you drop” spot, because of its proximity to a free-trade zone because of the presence of the Panama Canal.

There are many new shopping malls here providing a variety of products, which often can be bought cheaper than at home, because of the low rates. Flamenco Shopping Plaza (Amador Causeway, Panama City) has duty-free shops, and there are other stores at the free trade zone in Colon.

"I enjoy shopping and I found it affordable but some of the clothes are definitely not of the highest quality." - Hassan from Turkey

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