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Where to buy what in Porto Alegre

Malls, the Mercado, Independência’s used furniture, and the one street you need.

Groceries

  • Zaffari / Bourbon: the nice ones — same group, one family, two signs
  • Carrefour: the normal one. The Nacional banner is being wound down after Carrefour's 2022 purchase of BIG
  • Bistek: the newcomer from Santa Catarina, spreading through the neighbourhoods since 2020
  • Mercado Público: meat, cheese, spices, civic life
  • Feiras modelo: Bom Fim Sunday, the Cidade Baixa one on Saturdays, neighbourhood feiras for fruit

Home

No IKEA. Tok&Stok, Mobly (online shop, not a store), Leroy Merlin (out of centre), Mercado Livre, OLX. Used furniture concentrates along Independência and in Bom Fim antique-ish shops. Facebook Marketplace is active. The Brique da Redenção (Sundays, under the trees at Redenção) is the classic flea market for antiques, used vinyl, and kitsch.

Malls

Iguatemi, Bourbon Country, Praia de Belas, BarraShopping Sul. You will end up in one when it rains for three days.

Clothes

Moinhos and Iguatemi for brands. Centro still has the cheap racks. Used / brechó culture is real in Cidade Baixa and Bom Fim.

Outdoor / bikes

Specialist shops exist. Ask in cycling groups before you buy a bad bike. Register the frame. Theft is a market.

English books

A thin market. Bring a Kindle. Book browsing happens in smaller local shops and at the malls, mostly Portuguese. The big chains (Livraria Cultura and the like) are gone; the Feira do Livro in October is the one event worth planning around.

Hardware

The condo building will have a WhatsApp group where someone knows a plumber. For screws, use a neighborhood hardware and building-supplies shop (loja de materiais). For a larger project, try Leroy.

When everything is closed

Sunday night: mall food court, some Zaffari, delivery. Do not count on a pharmacy being 24h unless you checked. Panvel has late ones. Confirm.