Hi Spatzl!!
I have been living in Geneva for the past 2 years and I have to say I do agree that the shops downtown get boring very fast, since its such a small area and only a few clothing stores...sounds like you like a good bargain and a lot of variety...
I thrive on checking out the sales, getting great deals and finding stuff that other people will comment on that its cool etc... but be so surprised where I found it!
(By the way if you haven't checked out Pimkie on the main shopping street I would suggest it as it is quite big and has tons of stuff upstairs, its worth looking at at least as they tend to have very funky styles and be very different)
Its true what someone said, that there really isn't second hand shopping here in Switzerland like there is in England...in England you can find some really cool stuff and its kind of normal...but over here, second hand clothing is kind of not really done that much.
However, in saying that...if you are really keen and want to hunt out some stuff for interest sake, or just a fun afternoon out you could try:
CSP - (they have second hand furniture, clothes etc)
http://www.csp.ch/page.asp?np=1&id=21
Shows a list of all their stores in Geneva
Or... Caritas
http://www.caritas-geneve.ch/boutiques.php
Shows a list of all their stores in Geneva
Otherwise... A really good place to go shopping over the border in France is a mall called Val Thoiry - its only about 10 minutes from Geneva, out past Meyrin, on the French side of the border and it has a range of stores. I go there for great bargains and have generally found stuff i like...it just really depends on your style and preferences...
I just happened to go there a couple weeks ago and stumbled across a store doing a final clearance sale and was flabbergasted to see a sign up saying "Buy 1 and get 4 free" - which is UNHEARD of in this part of the world as far as I can tell!! (And normally it would be pretty crappy stuff) But it was in a pretty big clothing store in the warehouse style store side of the mall (At the roundabout turn left, rather than right, it was down at the end)
Anyway, they had a pretty good selection of winter season stuff...all on the way out the door...and I managed to find 5 pairs of trousers/jeans etc...that were very cool and amazingly priced since i got them almost all for free!!! hehehe!!
the website for that mall is:
www.valthoiry.com
Plus they have a really really big Migros Supermarket that has all the migros stuff but is priced at French prices, which is a lot cheaper. I get almost all my chicken and meat from there, and i can even get Bio (organic) chicken and meat for less than what I would pay in Switzerland for normal stuff...so its very worth it. You just have to not go over the limits for how much you are allowed to bring into Switzerland each day over the border.
Otherwise I think its the closest you will come to outlet shopping around the Geneva area, although there is a big outlet mall being built just next to Ikea near Aubonne (closer to Lausanne) and it should be done in late 2007 I think.
The other malls or smaller shopping areas to check out around geneva are:
Charmilles Centre (between Jonction and Balexert) (quite small, and not much for clothes)
La Praille
www.la-praille.ch (some clothing stores - pretty good, depending on what you are looking for)
Signy Centre (near Nyon)
www.signycentre.ch (not too many clothing stores, but interesting mall.
Chavannes Centre (just near Coppet exit on the motorway, has a fair amount of clothing stores - again just depends on your budget and taste)
http://www.les-centres.ch/magasins/l...p?c=1&t=1&sm=3
Anyway I hope this feeds you with enough shopping places around Geneva to keep you busy for a while. :-) I have found it really depends on season and timing as well, as to whether you can find cool stuff, cause sometimes the stores just have weird styles in a the moment, but if you go back in a few weeks or a month or so, they have really cool stuff.
Good luck!!!
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