What a cool place this is!…read more I happened upon this place while walking by on holidays in amsterdam. It has everything you'll need and more. From the outside it's a bit a deceptive, looks like a cheap discount store, but oh no, once you walk in, you'll find lots of beautiful products including furniture, kitchen utensils, house appliances, a wide selection of picture frames, storage units, lots of party wear, good selection of food and drinks, all very reasonably priced. It reminded me a bit of small ikea shop! Lots of great accessories for every occasion you could think of. Well worth a visit!

From an American perspective, this place is like a Bed, Bath & Beyond with out the Bed and half the…read moreBeyond. There were plenty of items for interior design, but they weren't really tremendously attractive and mostly for living rooms. There were some unusual food items for sale here, including dried ramen and other random Asian foods. I don't have a ton to say about this place since it was just so "bleh" for me.

I went in here when they first opened and all I could think is, what a bunch of junk. But it's kind…read moreof like dollar or pound shops, you have to know the art to shopping here: - You should be looking for something specific - Limit your list to candles, batteries, some beauty products, candy, bottled water, kitchen utensils - Don't try to buy socks, makeup, jewelry, pillows, etc. here I found bike light batteries 5 for 1 euro. They were 2 for 4 euros at Hema and 2 for 6 euros at Blokker (both of which were sold out when I tried to buy them there first, and then on a whim thought to try the Big Bazar), so this is a significant savings. I also bought a spatula for 99 cents. They are open til 7pm during the week which is nice. Enjoy your savings!

This place is great because it's cheap. My husband and I didn't know it existed till a local…read morementioned it to us by our Airbnb. It's dirt cheap. We were able to get beer for €0.59, CRAZY CHEAP!!! They had the essentials we needed to put together a tasty little tapas meal at home and some great chocolates. PROS: - food was inexpensive - employees were nice and helpful - frozen food - Veggies - have small cart if you can't rent regular basket CONS: - Small, not as much variety - No bakery - limited cold sweets - €3 to rent a grocery cart!! Weird

What a amazing place to find gems love the guy behind the…read morecounter always giving us a great deal

This is a crazy discount store filled with the most random stuff. Some days I find some great Hello…read moreKitty merchandise at super low prices, a Ramones alarm clock, and a giant box of flavored condoms for 2€, other times they are pushing boxes and boxes of South Korean flag fuzzy bedroom slippers, the ugliest bags you ever did see, and tons of ugly useless stuff. Unfortunately it's mostly the latter rather than the former, but no matter what it's always an entertaining 5 minutes to check out what this place holds. One note of caution: they don't take returns and don't give refunds, so be careful when buying anything complicated or expensive. I bought a sweet Hello Kitty electric hot water bottle for 5€, but it only worked 2 weeks before it died, and I was very sad. So be careful what you shell out your money for!

This is a big open warehouse with a combination of new items (probably overstocks) , used items…read more(probably from Estste sales ) and artwork and furniture . Lots of it is junky, but there is enough to make the trip worthwhile. They have an aisle of new souvenirs such as puzzles, delft style ashtrays , coasters etc. . Another aisle is cookware and glassware, another table of collectibles, lots of clothes , tools, odds and ends, and new items - some trendy oversized incandescent light fixtures , original boxed Star Wars collector item spaceships, etc. There is a whole bin of authentic looking neon Ambulance worker jackets , another bin of actually quite beautiful linens with hand embroidery and cutwork. In the middle is a huge table of original signed and numbered canvases of mostly contemporary abstract art. The artist would generate multiple canvases of the same themes with slight variations . But still decent and they are large - some as large as 3 feet by 2.75 feet . And each one is 1 euro !! That's an easy way to add some pop to any apartment . They also sell bikes and many look to be new . The back had a couple of really nice antique wardrobes in beautiful condition , selling for about 150 euros. The inventory Changes all the time . Yesterday they had apparently cleaned out someone's bar and they had nice vintage wines for 3 euros each. We tried a bottle to test before buying more. It was amazing - a 1974 Medoc. When we went back, it was all cleaned out . Such is life when shopping at thrift stores!

Is this a Target or Walmart? It seems like a commercial department store. Were still in search of…read moreextra socks and underwear. This store has a full service coffee and pastry shop near the entrance. Four floors were too many for me at this point - feet are killing me from walking. Very nice organized store with an abundance if tourists, but no sale for me today.

Spoiler alert: I am not a local. I'm in the Netherlands for an event and decided to make a trip of…read moreit, so I am spending a lot of time poking around. Instead of (ahem--in addition to) the usual souvenirs, I wanted to pick up some clothing items, so I have been popping into clothing stores here and there. Depending on which location you go to, Hema might be mostly clothing or more of a department store. Either way, you'll find staples at good prices. If disaster has befallen you and your last few clean shirts? Hema has you covered. The disaster happened to be your shampoo or gel exploding? Hema. I really like the dressing room situation--most locations have an attendant to guide you to an open cubicle when you have found what you want to try on and take any items that didn't work out when you're done.

I am just totally smitten with Flying Tiger. If Target had a baby brother or flighty muse with a…read morepenchant for color and crazy things that you didn't know you needed until you spied them...well. this is the place. Pencils, pens, USB sticks, Ice cream cones, Llamas, butterflies, earbuds, iPhone cases, soap, watercolors, stickers, socks....ok you name it, they probably have it... But they won't have it like stodgy....they have it like bling of happiness, in your face, parade of joyful exuberance look at me, buy me...yes you don't need a solar nodding Buddha, but look at us there...all nodding. Go on!

Love this store! They have all sorts of cute, cheap stuff you didn't know you needed. Also perfect…read moreas inexpensive gifts for friends and coworkers. I bought a lavender hand cream for €2 or €3 that smells wonderful and is also surprisingly good quality.

This place is so freaking cute it hurts my heart!…read more Unlike other Amsterdam knick knack stores like Pylones or Flying Tiger, Kitsch Kitchen seems to have a) less foot traffic, and b) somewhat of a unifying theme - an obsession with all things Mexico (but...why???). From colorful hand painted ceramic bowls to Dia de los Muertos style figurines, this place has got you covered. Its sections range from stationary to kitchenware to kids stuff to party supplies to furniture - really a dizzying array of things both practical and/or pretty. My favorites have got to be the vintage style posters and drawer liners by the meter - not like I purchased any of these, but looking through these colorful rows or patterns is so much fun! The upstairs is a whole outlet area with discounted stuff, some pretty good bargains to be had! If I ever need a piñata or a painted skull or knockoff Barbie doll clothes or a replica Acapulco chair, I know EXACTLY where to go now!

It might be impossible to be sad at Kitsch Kitchen…read more It is so bright, it'll knock the sads right out of you -- and leave you wanting more, more, more Dutch designs to fill your home, your mailbox, Christmas tree, gift list, kitchen, walls and heart. Luckily I was flying Easy Jet back, or I may have loaded up a trailer or a boat and floated myself back to London on a brightly colored ship with all the doo-dads. ALL OF THEM. Instead I bought a red rooster tape dispenser (10 euros) and a really cute mobile (for a baby boy). I even got 15 percent off the mobile because it was the only one left, and a display model. They offered this without any protestation from me! Great customer service. A very fun shop to pop into. Great to buy a few little things for kids back home, or a statement piece to remind you of the fabulous time you had in Amsterdam. Also, bright umbrellas -- you'll need one here, and in Europe.

Great Hema winkle in the Station Amsterdam Centraal. It's not small by any means but smaller than a…read morelot of their other locations. But the selection is close to what you'd find down on Kalverstraat or de Kinkerstraat. Most of the staff appears to be laboring away at that food area near the front window. People do line up to buy that stuff. It does look good! So I guess if and when I'm traveling in a hurry and want something prepared, I'll go there. The Hema person working there smiled at me today when I was shopping, looking at the fresh bread selection. I had my face mask on and even though I smiled back, not sure if she saw it. I think she did. Nice place. One of the flagship stores at Centraal station. I'm so glad it's open again!

I guess the best analogy I can make of Hema to any store in the US would be that it is similar to a…read moreTarget. They are all over the city, super convenient and carry items of utility for low prices (well by European standards). After coming from the other side of the Equator (and clearly not well prepared for the brutal Dutch wind), my fingers were about to fall off from frostbite. I came in here desperately seeking warmth and shelter from the snow and wind. Oh yea, I needed gloves too. I found a nice pair of fleece gloves for 7 Euros. Hey, not too bad. They kept me warm the whole time I was in A'stam and now I have them safely stowed away in my luggage, ready for another use and hopefully in back in the land of Hema :-)