One of the advantages of living in a big city is that you always find what you are looking for, especially when it comes to stores to buy a gift. In Madrid, in addition, multi-brand stores, or with a careful selection, are concentrated in certain neighborhoods -mainly Salesas, Almagro and Malasaña- which is very convenient when you have to launch a search for a special gift.
1. WOW Concept
Wow Concept is located in the heart of Gran Vía and is the evolution of the concept store into a luxury shopping mall. It has a selection of beauty and fashion brands difficult to find in Spain; risky, very linked to design and high prices. They also have a floor dedicated to decoration and another dedicated to technology and video games.
So it is the perfect place to buy gifts for people with different tastes.
Location: Gran Vía street, 18 (Downtown) and Serrano street, 52 (Salamanca).
2. Despacio
Here all brands comply with the concept that gives the store its name: Despacio. Whether they are interior design, fashion or stationery, what is sold in Despacio has been made following responsible production processes, with small collections, in which aesthetics prevails. It is a perfect store to buy a detail for people who care about the origin of the things that make up their home, their closet or their life in general.
Location: calle de Belén, 10 (Salesas)
3. El Moderno
El Moderno is the mature evolution of the traditional gift store with a touch of design. Here there is everything: stationery, decoration, jewelry, art, technology, plants and accessories. At Christmas time and on weekends there are usually a lot of people trying to do the same thing: find a gift that is not easy to buy elsewhere.
Location: Baja de San Pablo, 19 (Malasaña)
4. Abanuc
Abanuc is the store to buy a beauty gift for those who dedicate at least 15 minutes a day to their skin care routine. The brands you can find here are quite niche and exclusive . Dytique and Byredo candles and perfumes are their forte, once you try them it’s hard not to take them as a reference.
In addition, this place in the Salesas neighborhood has a special charm because in its former life it was a bookstore specializing in law that has kept its old hardwood shelves, only now, instead of the Civil Code, on its shelves there are creams, serums and perfumes.
Location: Plaza de las Salesas, 10 (Salesas)
5. Petra Mora
Sometimes finding out someone’s size or decorative tastes is taking a big risk, that’s when good food can save the gift. Petra Mora started out as a place to sell the produce from the pastures of Zamora, from meat to milk, including cheese, but has added almost everything you can find in a gourmet market.
They also sell ready-made dishes, some with their own name, such as the chef Jordi Vilà’s or the stew from the Galician restaurant La Molinera. Their spirit is online, but they have recently opened a store in Madrid.
Location: Barquillo street, 40 (Salesas)
6. La Causa Art Shop
La Causa started as a gallery and art store, but now it is divided. In Malasaña is its store specializing in prints, that is, numbered copies of artists. Here you can start your own small art collection, or encourage someone else to do so with a gift. They have prints from 30 € and all kinds of artists, Spanish and international.
The art gallery focused on emerging artists and urban art is now in the neighborhood of Las Letras, if your budget exceeds 100 € here you can also find something.
Location: Calle Jesús del Valle, 27 (Malasaña)
7. Formaje
When you really do not have it clear, but you want to look good, there is nothing like a gift that you can eat (or drink). Wine doesn’t fail, but cheese is more unexpected and those who like it, love it. Among the cheese shops that have multiplied and refined in recent years in Madrid, buying at Formaje is to play it safe.
In 2021 they were on the list that World’s 50 Best Restaurants dedicates to those under 35 years old, and in which DiverXo is usually in the general category, the quality of what they sell speaks for itself.
Location: Plaza de Chamberí, 9 (Chamberí)
8. Taschen
Having a Taschen bookstore in Madrid is a privilege, which must be taken advantage of from time to time and a gift is the perfect excuse. This publishing house focuses on art, design, architecture, photography and film publications. And many of its editions are collector’s editions. Examples of the latter are the Dali Tarot book or, one of the most popular, The Personal Archives of Stanley Kubrick. So it’s the perfect place to buy a gift for that ascetic friend who boasts coffee table books.
Location: Calle de Barquillo, 30 (Chueca)
9. Pez
Pez is one of the oldest multi-brand stores (since 2004) in Salesas, before the area became a hotbed of concept stores. The grace and success of its now two stores -the original one dedicated to fashion and accessories and the second one to decoration-, is the selection of pieces and brands that its owners, Patricia de Salas and Beatriz Mezquíriz, make.
When you buy something in Pez you know that behind it there is a brand that takes care of the quality of the garments, the design and the materials, such as Forte Forte, Masscob or Sansoeur.
Location: Regueros street, 15 and Regueros street, 2 (Salesas)
10. Bajoelvolcan
Music lovers have returned to vinyl and the stores dedicated to this reproduction format are reviving, evolving and multiplying. Bajoelvolcán sells both new and second hand records, and all kinds of music styles, they also have a section of books on music, film and current narrative, so it is the perfect place to make a double cultural gift.
Location:Ave María street, 42 (Lavapiés)