Well, that’s me. I admit it; I am a window shopping tart; very male but what a window shopping fairy I am!! Trying to find the centre of Madras is a challenge for anyone as there are so many ’little’ shopping areas around the town, but Spencer Plaza is at the heart of my world of Chennai. Whether I am looking from the auto, or the suicide seat of a taxi, the twin wings of Spencer Plaza mark my pearly gates of heaven. What surprises me is the amount of novelty toys I can buy myself in there AND I do like nice things....
I like clothes, shoes, watches, sunglasses, gadgets and all the other toys on the shelves... and Spencer Plaza suits a guy like me. The only thing that has screwed my shopping trips up in the last couple of years is that City Bank have moved their ATM to the other side of Mount Road.
One of the great shops in Spencer’s is music world. You can still buy original format Boney M stuff in there and countless other oldies that are no longer on the shelves of most record shops in the UK. They have all the latest stuff too! and the prices are a steal compared with back home. So I load up on stuff old and new to take home.
There are a good selection of clothes shops, there’s the ’orthodox/conservative’ West Side (rather like Marks & Spencers), but also some rather funky smaller vendor clothing suppliers too. There’s a darn good shoe shop in Phase II, at the front, but I’ve forgotten it’s name.....
The Police Sun Glasses shop is a great place to go too, with fabulous fakes as well as the real McCoy. Watch World is a good place to get a good Calvin Kline for around Rs 400.
Leather goods shops abound and I’ve loaded up with a good collection of jackets and coats. I’ve even had one made up to my own design.
The latest additions have been antique stores; where I’ve managed to get good Omega’s that I’ve had valued back home and have been surprised at their actual sale value.
The only downsides I know of are some of the persistant shop keepers who try to follow you round and get you to view their shops; but just ignore them and they do give-up after a while. Also there’s no real big eatery in the mall, but as you have probably arrived by some kind of transport, you can find good diners nearby.
So, if you are in Chennai do give Spencer’s a whirl and contrary to official reports you CAN haggle with the shop keepers until you get a price near to what you want to pay.