Tamil Nadu is renowned for its rich culture heritage including its exquisite arts and crafts, which are world-famous for their uniqueness. Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, is one of the important trade centers of South India and is a good place to shop for a large variety of things.

The most popular shopping centers in Chennai are at Rannganatha Street in T. Nagar and Anna Salai (Mount Road). Mount Road offers a range of glittering showrooms, hotels and restaurants. George Town near Parry's corner has one of the biggest markets of the city and deals in wholesale as well as retail trade like electronic goods, sweets and chocolates. Here you can find everything from paper and textiles to cosmetics and decorations. Nearby is the famous Burma Bazar where one can find all sorts of important goods ranging from electronic gadgets to ready-mades and perfumes.

There are many shopping complexes that have come all over the growing city. Such shopping centers as Alsa Mall on Montiety Road in Egmore, Spencer Plaza on Mount Road, Prince Plaza on Pantheon Road, the Nilgiris and Chinthamani offer a large range of shopping to be done under a single roof.

Most shops are open Monday to Saturday 9 am to 10pm with a lunch break from 1200 -1500 although some remain open through-out the day. Weekly holidays may differ for shops in the same locality. There are often discount sales during the festival seasons of Pongal, Diwali and Christmas. 

For handicrafts, Victoria Technical Institute or Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan at Mount Road is a good option. It  has many other retail outlets for traditional handicrafts - handlooms from the south, handmade clothing and batik greeting cards. Central Cottage Industries Emporium in the Temple tower is another good spot for purchase of art and crafts items. This place is tastefully decorated and has products from all over India so the choice is pretty vast. For those looking for traditional bell metal items, bronze icons and stone sculpture as well as other crafts from Southern region, the best place would be the Tamil Nadu State Emporia Poompuhar.

For silk, the main centers are Srinivasa Silk, Nalli and Kumaran, RMKV, Pothys and Chennai Silks at Theyagarya Nagar (T Nagar) and B.M.Silks at Mylapore. For ready made clothes and accessories try shops at TTK Road, Spencer Plaza, Saga Departmental stores, Alsa Mall or Prince Plaza near Egmore, or in Nungambakkam and T. Nagar. Lifestyle at TTK Road, Westside at Spencer Plaza, Saga Departmental stores are major shops for ready made clothes. Mount Road, and T.Nagar has retail outlets for all major textile mills in India. 

For Gold Ornaments the best place to shop is Mount Road and Theyagarya Nagar (T. Nagar). Visit the shops Prince Jewellery, Lalitha Jewelry and GR Thanga Maaligai. For diamonds, visit Mehta Jewellery, Kirtilalas in Mylapore.

For books, CDs, cards and other novelties, visit Landmark at Nungambakkam, Odyssey in Adayar or Fountain Head at Mylapore, SAS Connections in Annanagar. The most popular bookshops are Higginbothams, BookPoint (Anna Salai) and The Bookshop (Spencer Plaza), The Giggles Bookshop (Taj Connemara hotel) etc.