Consumers will find the best selection of retailers in these nine cities.
Those with the stomach for spending on their fall wardrobes might head to London.
In the U.K., the High Street–the main road in a neighborhood–is shopping mecca. In London, there are more High Streets than one can count, so it’s no surprise the city hosts more than half the world’s top retailers–chosen for their market share both in their home countries and abroad–including the young and trendy Topshop as well as high-end department stores like Liberty of London and Harvey Nichols.
What’s more, London’s leasing regulations for real estate occupied by foreign-operated businesses are much more lenient than they are in, say, Mumbai, India, where foreign retailers are forbidden to directly open single-brand stores, according to Peter Gold, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa cross-border retail research at Los Angeles-headquartered CB Richard Ellis Group ( CBG – news – people ), a multinational real estate corporation. That means retailers like the Gap ( GPS – news – people ), Abercrombie & Fitch ( ANF – news – people ), Uniqlo and Urban Outfitters ( URBN – news – people ) have often used London as a launch pad for foreign expansion.
In Depth: Europe’s Shopping Capitals
In Case You Missed It
It also means that shoppers in London have the most options when it comes to browsing the world’s top retailers. Indeed, 59.26% of the world’s biggest and best stores are open for business in the city.
But other European cities, including Milan, Italy, Hamburg, Germany, and, of course, Paris, offer consumers options worthy of a few euros.
subscribers.