From young designers to elegant stores
A shopping precinct more than a kilometre in length, a shopping mall with the biggest sales area in South Germany, an outlet city with over 380 leading brands, and lots of elegant shops and boutiques: in the Stuttgart Region shopaholics can indulge themselves to their heart's content.
Königstrasse is a busy shopping boulevard 1.2 kilometres long with specialist shops, department stores, cafés, restaurants and relaxation areas. Europe's longest cohesive pedestrian shopping thoroughfare, it begins opposite the main railway station and runs right through the heart of the city. Other streets to the right and left of it, such as Eberhardstrasse, Stiftstrasse and stylish Calwer Strasse are equally inviting, with fashionable shops and boutiques. The Calwer Passage, which reopened in the autumn of 2022, is the epitome of elegance. Under the glass dome you'll find exclusive shopping and gastronomy concepts with unique flair. If you're looking for way-out fashions and up-and-coming designers, the Gerberviertel (Tanners' Quarter) is the place to go. A variety of arts and crafts, wonderful antique and collectors' shops, cosy wine taverns and lively pavement cafés are to be found in the picturesque Bohnenviertel (Bean Quarter).
The name of Breuninger has for many decades stood for top quality, a superior and varied selection of goods, and competent staff to advise shoppers. Since it opened more than 140 years ago, Breuninger has evolved into one of Germany's most successful fashion and lifestyle department stores. Located directly on Stuttgart's Marketplace, Breuninger, along with the cafés and champagne bar in the Karlspassage, is the place to go if you're looking for the latest fashion trends. In September 2012 Breuninger opened Germany's most exclusive ladies' shoe department for the high-fashion sector in its Stuttgart flagship store. Different stylistic zones and elegant light installations set off the more than 250 brands of shoes to perfection, including top labels such as Jimmy Choo, Gucci and Prada, to name but a few.
May 2017 saw the opening of the Dorotheen-Quartier between Karlsplatz and the Marketplace. The new building complex of the Breuninger Company as contractors and investors offers a combination of items for the home, up-market shopping and enjoyment. With its mix of luxury stores, gastronomy, offices and living quarters, the Dorotheen-Quartier is the new gathering place for epicures, visionaries and flâneurs.
Fans of big shopping centres and malls will also find what they're looking for in Stuttgart. Stuttgart has not just one, but two shopping plazas, Milaneo and Gerber, with a combined shopping area of nearly 70,000 square metres. With 200 stores, the Milaneo on the corner of Heilbronner and Wolframstrasse is the region's biggest shopping mall, while the Gerber centre between Tübinger Strasse and Paulinenbrücke appeals in particular to shoppers from the middle of town. Gerber places great importance on sustainability, both in the building itself and in its external communication and range of products.
Along Königstrasse, directly adjoining the classical Königsbau building, there's the Königsbau-Passagen shopping arcade. This modern and spacious shopping plaza, with a sales area of some 27,000 m² spread over 5 levels, was conceived by Hascher & Jehle, the architects of the adjacent Museum of Art.
Hochland is a name that is closely linked to Stuttgart. Hochland coffee shops can be found on many of the corners in the city centre. The parent company in Stuttgart-Degerloch has its own roasting house. Today, the company is managed by Martina Hunzelmann, the granddaughter of its founder. Apart from coffee it also sells other specialities, for example "Stuttgarter Maultäschle" (a sweet imitation of the traditional pasta squares) and Swabian "Wibele" (tiny biscuits). These and other regional delicacies can also be found on a stroll through Stuttgart's Market Hall, at the traditional Stuttgart delicatessen Feinkost Böhm, or at Stuttgart’s stallholders’ market, which is held several times a week in the city centre.
In Metzingen, the Swabian shopping metropolis, shopping fans will be in seventh heaven. Both in the stores and online, more than 380 leading brands – including top designer labels, sportswear manufacturers and fashionable shoes – fulfil every wish. Autumn of 2019 saw the opening of the new BOSS Flagship Outlet, which with more than 5,000 square metres of sales area is the largest store of the HUGO BOSS concern worldwide. Metzingen is the only outlet in Germany to offer its international visitors a tax-free Reisebank.
The Outletcity lies at the foot of the Swabian Alb, surrounded by natural orchards. Here, the modern shopping world and a historical city centre meet. Seven historical buildings on Kelternplatz (named after the historical winepress) bear witness to a century-long tradition of wine growing, and the exhibits at the Museum of Viniculture even date back as far as the 11th century.
