One of the advantages of living in a big city is that you always find what you’re looking for, especially when it comes to stores to buy a gift from. In Madrid, moreover, the multi-brand stores, or those with a careful selection, are concentrated in certain neighborhoods -mainly Salesas almagro and Malasaña– which is very convenient when you have to search for a special gift.
1. WOW Concept
Wow Concept is in full Gran Vía and is the evolution of the concept store to shopping mall luxury. It has a selection of beauty and fashion brands that are difficult to find in Spain; risky, very linked to design and with high prices. They also have a floor dedicated to decoration and another dedicated to technology and video games.
So it’s the perfect place to buy gifts for people with different tastes.
Gran Vía Street, 18 (Downtown)
2. Slowly
Here all brands comply with the concept that gives the store its name: Slowly. Whether interior design, fashion or stationery, what is sold at Despacio has been made following responsible production processes, with small collections, in which aesthetics prevail. It is a perfect store to buy some detail for people who care about the origin of the things that make up their home, their closet or their life in general.
Calle de Belén, 10 (Salesas)
3. The Modern
The Moderno is the matured evolution with design touches of the gift store of a lifetime. There is everything here: stationery, decoration, jewelry, art, technology, plants and accessories. At Christmas time and on weekends there are usually quite a few people trying to do the same thing: find a gift that is not easy to buy elsewhere.
Corredera 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 is hard not to take them as a reference.
In addition, this local 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, its shelves contain creams, serums and perfumes.
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 began as a place to sell the products of its pastures in Zamora, from meat to milk, including cheese, but has been adding almost everything you can find in a gourmet market.
They also sell ready-made dishes, some with their own name, such as those of chef Jordi Vilà or the cocido (stew) from the Galician restaurant La Molinera. Their spirit is online, but they have recently opened a store in Madrid.
Barquillo Street, 40 (Salesas)
6. La Causa Art Shop
La Causa began as a gallery and art store, but is now divided. In Malasaña is his store specialized in prints, that is, numbered copies of artists. Here you can start your small art collection, or encourage someone 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.
Calle Jesús del Valle, 27 (Malasaña)
7. Forming
When you’re really not sure, but want to look good, there’s nothing like a gift that can be eaten (or drunk). The wine does not fail, but cheese is more unexpected and those who like it, love it. Among the cheese dairies that have multiplied in number and refined over the last few years in Madrid, buying from Formaje is a safe bet.
In 2021 they were on the list that World’s 50 Best Restaurants dedicates to those under 35, and in which DiverXo is usually in the general category, the quality of what they sell speaks for itself.
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 their editions are collector’s editions. Examples of the latter are Dali’s Tarot book or, one of the most popular, Stanley Kubrick’s personal archives. So it’s the perfect place to buy a gift for that ascetic friend who brags about coffee table books.
Calle de Barquillo, 30 (Chueca)
9. Fish
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.
15 Regueros St. and 2 Regueros St. (Salesas)
10. Under the volcano
Music lovers have come back to vinyl and the stores dedicated to this reproduction format are reviving, evolving and multiplying. Bajoelvolcán sells records both new and second hand, and of 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 gift cultureta.
Ave María Street, 42 (Lavapiés)