Ålesund has a strong tradition as a commercial town. The shopping areas in the town centre are Kipervika, Skansen and Aspøya. These three areas are each distinctive in their own way. At Aspøya you will find traditional shops selling building materials/DIY and hardware goods and several small specialist interior and design shops. The Skansen area includes the town’s pedestrian street, one of the finest in Norway. Kipervika has a wide range of specialist fashion, art and arts and crafts shops. The town’s Kiperviktorget market, with stalls flowers, fresh fruit and vegetables, is in the same area.
There are two shopping centres in the town centre with most kinds of shops as well as attractive cafés and restaurants. The Moa shopping area, 10 km from the town centre, attracts shoppers from near and far. It has one of Norway’s largest shopping centres, the biggest between Bergen and Trondheim. The abundance of shops of most kinds, all under the same roof, makes for pleasant shopping - even on a rainy day.