One of my favorite places to spend an afternoon is at the Re:START mall. What a creative way to…read morekeep businesses alive in the wake of such devastation to Christchurch. The entire mall is designed out of shipping containers that are easily portable should their temporary locations be purchased for new buildings (though I hope the Re:START mall will never be built out of the CBD!). From athletic stores LuLu Lemon and Kathmandu and designer stores Storm and Ruby, to New Zealand Gift Shops to Scorpio Bookstore and home decor, the Re:START mall has something for everyone (including plenty of food trucks for all of the pickiest eaters). I, myself, prefer Base's woodfired pizza or Liberty Dog's Upper East Side while my husband loves Fritz's Wieners. I'm looking forward to exploring the new dumpling and taco trucks. Whether you've lived here for years or are just passing through, make sure you make time to explore all of the nooks and crannies the Re:START mall has to offer (which also includes FREE WiFi and restrooms).

Re:Start is an incredible example of the creativity and resilience of the people of Christchurch…read more Not wanting to wait the many years it would take to restore city centre shopping centres damaged or destroyed by the devastating 2011 earthquake, Christchurch created a mall made mostly out of shipping containers. You'd think such a construction would be ugly and unpleasant to use. That is not the case. The businesses have painted and customised their containers and the surrounding space to create a colourful, inviting and practical place. In the centre of the mall there's sculptures, seating and plants. In the containers you can find big name fashion brands, indie boutiques, a convenience store, cafes, a post office and even multiple banks. I enjoyed coming here more than I do most normal malls.

New Zealand's first department store founded in 1854. New Zealand's best designers are under one…read moreroof with everything from the latest tends to New Zealand wine & gifts. There are two cafes and a wine bar. The Christchchurch Airport has another store offering tax exempt purchases.

I love the warehouse, it's wear I buy all my clothing and I love to get "kicks" (my daughters slang…read morefor footwear) form the good old warehouse. The food is good and cheap and the service is always great. It's brill to see that they have improved the homewares section because I could browse furniture and ornaments all day! Eastgate is also very convenient to my house however it's not the best warehouse in Christchurch, I recently noticed that the clearance orange chocolates were $1.50 at the warehouse northlands but 2 for $8 at Eastgate! That's so silly. However there's not much more to fault with the good old red shed!

The 2nd Kmart visited during our trip to Australia/New Zealand, this location is situated inside…read morethe Westfield Riccarton Mall in Christchurch, NZ. It is one of the 4 main anchor stores in the mall, is very large, and was a winner in our search for Pokemon playing cards (they have been difficult to find in the States). It was also a NZ dollar cheaper at NZ$8.99. Checkout was self, and noticed that like the other Kmart, store personnel will check your receipt on your way out. Wrote a little on a previous review about the history of Kmart-NZ: summary is that it broke off from the U.S. version of Kmart, is owned by a NZ entity that also owns Target-NZ (which is completely unrelated to the US version).

Located within the suburb of Riccarton near Christchurch, the Westfield Riccarton indoor shopping…read morecenter is one of the largest malls in New Zealand at 54,000 square meters. It is anchored by Hoyts (cinema chain), Kmart (discount department store), Pak'n'Save (warehouse grocery store), and Farmers (department store), and has many periphery stores. Even on a Thursday morning, the indoor mall was busy: a good place to people watch along with picking up any essentials or gifts for back home. We were in the port town of Lytteltown, visiting on the Celebrity Edge on a Thursday. The ten dollar shuttle dropped us off near the bridge of remembrance on cashel street, and it was about a 3 km walk to this mall (we ended up taking a public bus back). Because there is a large East Asian population in Riccarton, most of the retail stores and restaurants surrounding the mall are Asian-themed, with Filipino, Cambodian, and Korean being prevalent. We ended up eating nearby before heading back to the ship. There is free wi-fi available in the mall, and is quite fast. But we had difficulties getting on: sometimes it was easy, but the next time it was more difficult. Thinking the upper limit of users were being reached and they were limiting it somehow. Now some background: The mall was originally established in 1965 as the Riccarton Mall. Three extensions opened in 1970, 74, and 79, bringing store count to 50 stores and 205,300 square feet. Remodeling occurred in 1992 and 2005, and an expansion in 2009, bringing the size up to present size. It is owned by the Westfield Group, a different (but with same origins) company than the Westfield malls in the States. As mentioned, Riccarton is a suburb (aka neighborhood) of Christchurch and is 39.1% Asian. It is located in the region of Canterbury (population of 694,000) and the council seat being in Christchurch. Riccarton Road is the main street that goes to downtown Christchurch, and is lined with predominantly Asian businesses.

This is one of the larger malls in Christchurch and thus can draw quite the crowd depending on the…read moretime of day (luckily they have a lot of parking). With stores for the pre-teens and close to schools and Uni in the afternoons the mall can get quite noisy and crowded (despite its early closing hours at 6pm). The traffic going in and out around that time is also a nightmare. There are several different phone companies located in this mall, so if you're new to the area and deciding on plans, here is a one-stop-shop. They also have an awesome Pak N Sav which is open later than the rest of the mall and they have escalators that are shopping cart friendly. Westfield Riccarton also has stores such as Briscoes, Bed Bath & Beyond and a movie theater as well as several restaurants (Fox n Ferret has quiz night) which are located on the street level. Some other plusses for the mall are the Starbucks, ANZ and second floor food court. I typically stick to the street level shops, but as long as I get there early this mall is manageable.

As far as Christchurch Malls go, this is definitely one of the smaller ones, but as the saying…read moregoes, "good things come in small packages." Two-story Merivale Mall has an assortment of expensive, posh clothing stores (men's and women's), a plethora of high-esteemed hair salons, a homegoods store, a Fresh Choice (with great prices) and a delicious cafe, BB's. This is not the mall for you if you are toting small children around or are looking for a technology store. The mall opens at 9, but BB's opens at 7, for those of you who need a caffeine fix before work. Savoire is also a little cafe inside the mall. There is a free parking lot accessible from Aikmans Road or Office Road as well as street parking which is seldom available. There BNZ atm inside, an ANZ store across the street and a Kiwi Post nearby. Also of note are JDV, The Aikman and Bardellos off the Aikman's Road entrance if you're looking for a bite to eat, a cold drink or some entertainment. All share one giant patio and live music is often playing on the weekend.

My favorite mall in the city. There is something for everyone here and not just clothes stores,…read moreincluding a two story Countdown, a Hoyts movie theater, a Lone Star bar and a Flying Burrito Brothers restaurant. My personal favorite store here is The Warehouse where you can get great deals on homeware, sports, clothes and seasonal items. Northlands also has plenty of hair and nail salons as well as a multitude of food options (including a small foodcourt). There is also a Vodafone and ANZ Bank. The mall is clean, not crowded and there are plenty of parking spaces available at any time of day.

The only thing missing here is a K-Mart. If that comes in, I won't be going anywhere else for my…read moreshopping