Shopping Post Hurricane

Hi! I will be in St Thomas in early April. I had planned this as our shopping stop, but I am now wondering what is still around/open since the hurricane? Thanks in advance for your assistance!

Lots of shops are open. Did you have any specific ones in mind?

Lots of shops are open. Did you have any specific ones in mind?

I am a huge fan of pearls and always have to browse. Other than that, I will be on a quest for a college graduation gift for a dear friend's daughter and a 50th anniversary gift for my in-laws. Not sure what I want other than unique. So long story short, pearls and local items. Any suggestions of shops to visit? I appreciate the help!

 

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Every effort is being made to get the shopping open in both St. Thomas and St. John back to normal as possible.

In January much more normal shopping in St. Thomas than in St. John.

Yes, a lot of stores are open so no worries.

Keith

Enough stores were open last week to satisfy my DW so you'll likely be OK. Those stores still closed showed no efforts at recovery. Also, and I found this disturbing, there appears to be a scam being done by a lot of vendors we visited. They act as though their card readers are down. In all cases you don't swipe your card, they do. You can't even see the "error". I've been in IT since 1979 and found this very suspicious. A couple of vendors actually admitted they wanted cash so they could avoid declaring the revenue and qualify for more from FEMA. So you may want to either take more cash or, unfortunately, stick to the bigger shops like DI where the readers seemed just fine. :(

OH! Pearls! I LOVE pearls. There is a small shop in the Professional Building by Fort Christian called the Pearl Lady/ Irmela's Studio. She is all things pearl. I brought in a Victorian bracelet and she was able to find a matching pearl and restore the entire bracelet to perfection.

 

There have been lots of internet problems since the storms. I think some shops are not as savvy at figuring out how to get their credit card machines up and running.

OH! Pearls! I LOVE pearls. There is a small shop in the Professional Building by Fort Christian called the Pearl Lady/ Irmela's Studio. She is all things pearl. I brought in a Victorian bracelet and she was able to find a matching pearl and restore the entire bracelet to perfection.

 

There have been lots of internet problems since the storms. I think some shops are not as savvy at figuring out how to get their credit card machines up and running.

 

You're more generous than I on the card readers - I'm especially suspicious since the problem is not across the board. The world is savvy - much more than it was when I started in IT nearly 40 years ago.

Thank you all for the information and advice! I will look for Pearl Lady and bring a bit more cash than normal though I am hesitant to walk around with too much on hand.

 

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You will LOVE The Pearl Lady! A one-of-a-kind store. Other great stores are Eden Living on Main Street, and Just Imagine and Fish Face in Palm Passage. Great stores for gifts.

Do Travelers checks work like cash for the vendors? I am looking to buy a ring and don’t want to carry that much cash but know cash is king and now hearing of the cc scam, so when bargaining is TC same as cash?

Is the flea market area that is close to Tiffany's still open or was it damaged during the hurricane ? I'm looking to visit that area again we visit in five weeks. I can't recall if that's considered downtown or not. Thanks in advance.