Espoo Shopping

Sello is a good place first of all because of its location. It is located at the train station of a place called "Leppävaara", which is one of the main stations by the Helsinki train line. You can walk in from the train to the mall.

Also many buses pass Sello. For drivers there are 2500 free parking places.

A place for returning empty bottles and tin cans is organised, and you get a coupon of which sum then is reduced from your shopping bill either in the alcohol store or in one of the big two food stores.

Sello is a big place, enough air. Never to full even if lots of people. I know this is nothing compared to the American megastores, but in European scale this is big, clean and nice.

What to buy: I have bought my digital camera, computer, scanner/printer/copier from a shop in Sello. Some clothes, all my hair stuff and make up stuff. I never have to go to Helsinki anymore (difficult with parking there, more expensive prices, Sello is just 2 kms away from my home).

There is a good big store selling practically anything (but not food) - I've made many finds from there like my home shredder, batteries for different purposes and an inside heater to my car. They even sell fans, heaters for balconies, car stuff, kids stuff (color pens, pencils etc). Kitchen stuff, electricity stuff like wires, cables, plugs - just anything you can imagine. It is always exciting to walk through all the gateways and corners just to check what new they might have now. The name of this shop is "Claes Ohlson".

What to pay: This is really difficult to say - it depends on what you want. Some people just go there for buying their daily or weekend food, some go shopping trendy clothes, some buy computers or lcd tvs; some just come spending time with a friend by a cup of coffee.

Prices are normal Finnish price level; the big shop chains may have good offers (home electronics and secondly, food stores).

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Large shopping mall in Leppävaara district, at northeastern part of Espoo. There is more than 160 shops, including Prisma and Citymarket, two hypermarkets. There is a restaurants too, chinese, mexican, hamburger, subway etc. From Helsinki you could easily come by local train. Mall is second largest in scandinavia. Larger is only Itäkeskus at Eastern Helsinki.

What to buy: There is almost everything what you might need.

What to pay: Finland is not the cheapest country in the world, but in this mall, there is shops with reasonable prices.

Stockmann are the best department stores in Finland. They have only few stores in Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Turku & Oulu. Oh, but they already expand and have stores also in Tallinn, St. Petersburg & Moscow.
This one picture is from Tapiola in Espoo.

If you own a sauna -- who wouldn't? -- then consider visiting one of the Sauna Kaira shops to accessorise it. The shop sells a lot of small items that may not be crucial for the sauna experience, but they really add some small perks here and there.

The selection includes the basic items, such as water buckets, dippers, flax clothes to protect the benches, and also some advanced stuff, such as dried vasta -- a handful of birch branches with leaves that you can use to whip yourself while sitting on the heat. They sell also not so sauna related items -- candles, lanterns, etc., to get you to the mood of being in an old fashioned Finnish sauna on the countryside.

Orchestra is a biggish children clothing store on the first floor in shoppin mall Sello, located in Leppävaara. They sell nice and fashionable garments for the smaller members of the family. This is not a brand store, so don't expect finding Burberry or Gant clothes there. The prices are reasonable and the garments are of good quality.

The giant teddy bear near the entrance -- see the image -- blows soap bubbles all the time. It's a constant amazement for the children and intriguing for most of engineers, too... There is also a video stand inside the store, so you can park your children there and browse the stuff without too much disturbance. The flipside is that you may not be able to leave the store until the cartoon is over.

Stores catering for the young adults generation are far and between in Espoo. One of the more pleasant suprises is located on the second floor in Sello shopping mall. URB Clothing is a miniscule store, as seen on the picture, that sells trendy garments for him and her.

The men's selection is really limited, a couple of racks and not much more. The rest of the store is devoted to ladies -- as usual. Some accessories can be found among garments. The prices can be considered moderate for the brands. Speaking of which, there are almost ten brands available, including Lacoste and Jackpot to name a couple.

BSB Store is a small clothing boutique selling upperscale brands such as Burberry, Boss and Sand on the second floor on Sello shopping mall in Leppävaara. The store is squeezed in between H&M and Esprit, so there are also a lot of other shopping possibilities around.

As you can see from the picture, the store is miniscule and the amount of garments is limited. Still, you can find a big number of good clothes with heavier pricetag. Fortunately, the price indicates also quality and style. Besides clothes, there is a smallish selection of bags and other accessories.

Annabella, one of the hidden gems of Tapiola, is a small fashion boutique located on the second floor of Heikintori, one of the first shopping malls in Finland. If you don't know to look for the place, you probably will miss it. The only clues of its existence are a window filled with fashionable garments on the street level, and a small signs on the second floor.

The store has a wide selection of French and Italian fashion that they import directly from the manufacturers. Most of the clothes cannot be found anywhere else in Finland, and as the design and the quality are excellent, Annabella is a must for all ladies adoring French or Italian style.

The shop sells also shoes, boots, bags and other accessories. The selection is only for ladies.