Even though we can often find familiar brand names, being in another country can be confusing at first if you don't know where to shop or eat. So, here's a post about the most common shops and chain stores in Stockholm and Sweden, as well as the best places to shop!
My biggest shopping shock in Sweden was this: They have no euro/pound/
dollar store!
I thought every country had one of these, it seems Sweden is the exception. There is a shop called Clas Ohlson that sells a variety of electrical and household goods, but it sure isn't priced at 10kr! While it could be cheaper than other stores, most things are at least 50kr up to 1000kr (for the electrical items). Shops like LagerHaus and TGR are good for some novelty
household items, as well as
gifts. TGR is very cheap, some things are 10kr, while most things are around 20kr-40kr. It is probably the closest you will get to a dollar store in Sweden.
For
groceries, the popular Swedish shops I've seen are Hemkop, ICA, Pulssen and Coop. The prices in these stores vary depending on what you buy, but generally they're all pretty similar. Pulssen often has massive savings on one or two products. There is also Lidl, which is familiar for many Europeans, and is cheap (also, Lidl products usually have English on the packaging which is useful!). Finally, there's another shop called Willys. I've heard it's one of the cheapest shops, and also here you can bulk buy things like rice and pasta, but this will only benefit you if you're staying here for at least a few weeks. The most common
corner stores are Presbyran and 7-Eleven, but items in here are usually expensive, so try to avoid going unless you have to. The grocery and smaller local run stores are often better value.
The popular chain
coffee shops are Espresso House, Coffehouse by George, and Waynes - which has a massive mug of coffee for around 30kr. They are more reliable than local cafés, which can be very expensive and offer small amounts of coffee. [Fun fact: there are only three Starbucks in Sweden: one in Stockholm Arlanda airport, and one each in Gothenburg and Malmo central train stations!]
If you're looking to
eat out, your best option is a buffet. Buffets are really common here and if you're hungry, are much better value than anywhere else. Prices are usually 100kr for lunch time, and then 150kr for evenings and weekends. Sushi and Asian buffets are the most common, but Pizza Hut also have a lunch buffet. Otherwise there are the same food places you might expect (McDonalds, Subway and Burger King, but no KFC). The McDonalds menu is pretty much the same as every other European country, and a Big Mac meal costs about 60kr, while any of the special edition items or bigger burgers cost about 80kr. They have a saver menu too. Sweden's national fast food chain, Max, has meal prices at about 70kr, and is a tasty change from McDonalds. If you really need food on the go, there are also lots of fast food venders on the streets, selling things like kebabs and hot dogs, which are really popular.
For
clothes, from what I can see, they have none of the UK high street stores like New Look, River Island etc. No Primark either!! Their main store is (you guessed it) H&M. It's familiar and has nice clothes but like most things in this country, I'd prefer something cheaper. There's also a shop called Lindex, which I think is pretty similar to H&M, except it seems to cater a bit more for an older market. The same goes for Ginatricot. For something more fashionable perhaps, Bik Bok is quite reasonable, and has some really cool clothes.
For
shoes, there's a shop called Din Sko. I'd never heard of it before but it's really popular here. The prices seemed average enough, though at the moment is a 70% sale in which I got some very nice boots for 200kr down from 700kr! So maybe look out for a big sale like that before you buy. There is also Euro Sko and Nilsson Shoes, but these both seem to be more expensive.
And of course for all your
household furnishing needs (as well as some delicious meatballs), there is only one place to head in this country:
