Leuven Shopping

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It's always a delight to browse through a kitchen and cooking shop. There are always items that I need and there we were, spoiled for choice.

What to buy: I bought a 'Molenmes' (knife) by Robert Herder (Solingen, Germany). Made by hand, is always sharp because of how it is sharpened. It's not rust free but that makes the steel much harder. The little vegetable knife kost me just under 8 euro.

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I liked the hats in the window of this shop. Obviously, Marleen Gielen is a hat designer. However, it's a pity I can't find more of her on the internet!

Opening hours:
Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 11-18 hrs

A supermarket is what you need. This one is right on the edge of Leuven.
Opening hours:

Monday 09:00 - 20:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 20:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 20:00
Thursday 09:00 - 20:00
Friday 09:00 - 21:00
Saturday 09:00 - 20:00

What to buy: Everything you need for your daily requirements can be bought at Carrefour Hypermarché.

A lot of the products are more French oriented. Certain products that I like I can buy in Belgium instead of France, which is further away.

Whenever I am in Belgium I buy Devos Lemmens Mayonaise which is excellent, typically Belgian mayonaise. '

This time I also stocked up on Fleur de Sel, which is salt harvested by hand. Since I am having guests immediately upon my return, I bought a selection of cheeses, white wine, and some easy ready-made fresh pastry to make a frangipane tart and an onion tart for lunch.

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Out of the many bookstores in Leuven, this one is my personal favorite. Nice and relaxt atmosphere, and the staff is super friendly and helpfull. Not only do they have a great range of literature (in Dutch), they also have English books (art, novels, second-hand). They will start selling (more) books in French/Spanish/Italian very soon, so please stop by if that is what you are looking for.

What to buy: Books, from art to novels to second hand, but also pretty postcards, nice gadgets, and much more.

What to pay: Boekcargo is quite cheap: prices range from as little as 5E (for a real book, that is) up to max. 30E.

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This is a great shop near the citycenter of Leuven. They have the most original and rare retro style items. Most of the products are retro inspired (sixties and seventies) so with cheery colours and a great design.

What to buy: The retro lounge posters are really great and give your room an instant retro effect. But also the lighting is very cool: arc lamps and retro print lamp shades. You'll think you are back in the seventies! :-)
Living Lounge has a wide range of funny retro printed coasters, mugs and glasses, all priced between 2.90 and 9.00 euros.
For the ladies there are a lot of very nice handbags with retro print, but also other accessories like wallets, hip belts, ... !!
Last but not least: the most awesome retro wallpaper with circles and other seventies prints. I want to decorate my whole house like this ;-) (You can see most of the prints on the website)

What to pay: The prices at Living Lounge are very cool. You'll find some great present for less than 10 euros, there is even a 'gifts below 10 euros' category on the webshop! But also furniture and lighting are not that expensive.

Serena is probably the only store in Leuven that reminds me a bit of the more typical "tourist" stores in places like Bruges and Brussels - but that's mainly due to the selection of items - I wouldn't describe the store as cheesy or overly epxensive.

What to buy: The emphasis is on lace products (lace fans, umbrellas, porcelain dolls, antique bobbins, lace equipment, fine linen and batist, blouses, old and new lace) but they do have anything from medieval-looking tapestries to figurines, dolls, and other little nic-nacs - some of which are really very nice.
Worth a look if you want to find a genuinly "Flemish" (decorative) gift for someone.

I don't know the exact opening hours, but business hours here are usually mon-sat 10:00-18:00, closed on sundays.

You probably know this chain since Zara has 762 stores located in the main commercial areas of 55 countries in America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia - so chances are there is one near you. There are a dozen Zara stores in Belgium.

What to buy: hmm... how about ... fashion ? The web site has a good illustrated overview of their selection and catalogue.

What to pay: prices are moderate.

Wibra is a Dutch / Belgian chain of stores that sells inexpensive - if not to say dead cheap - products, which doesn't necessarily mean all their products (most of it is textile) are inferior - although some of them are of questionable quality or look a bit, well, tacky/shabby. But even if you're a discerning customer you can still pick up a few good bargains here.

What to buy: Wibra is good place to go to if you need certain items but don't want to spend too much on them, including :

-spare socks, underwear, t-shirts, pullovers, night gowns, children's clothing, etc ...
-kitchenware, glassware, utensils
-items for home decoration, bed linnens, towels, etc...
-stationary
-a selection of drugstore / bodycare products
-toys, sweets, and little nic nacs to keep the kids happy (like sticker books, funky hairclips, etc...)

What to pay: Practically anything there is a bargain, but be selective and check the quality.
You can usually view their latest promotions -folder on the web site to get an idea of their selection.