Shopping in Clearwater, FL happens in four distinct places. The beach strip sells swimwear and souvenirs, the Cleveland Street District downtown is the walkable independent block, the mainland corridors along Gulf to Bay Boulevard and US 19 hold the mall plus the thrift, antique and consignment furniture stores, and the small main streets in neighboring towns cover boutiques, antiques and markets. This guide works through all four in that order, adds the outlet and upscale centers across the bay, then covers parking, hours and what closes on a Sunday.
How Clearwater’s Shopping Map Works
Clearwater is a city of 116,821 people (Census Reporter, ACS 2024) built on two sides of a causeway, and shoppers should treat those sides as separate trips. West of the Memorial Causeway you get beachwear, gifts and rental gear at resort prices. East of it, the mainland carries everything practical.
The mainland breaks into two corridors. Gulf to Bay Boulevard runs east from downtown and holds the department store, a consignment furniture showroom and older strip retail. US 19 runs north and south and carries Countryside Mall, the big-box centers and the charity thrift stores. Neither is walkable, and both are worth the drive if you’re shopping rather than browsing.
The third ring is the towns around the city. Dunedin sits to the north, Safety Harbor to the east and Belleair Bluffs to the south, with St. Petersburg and Madeira Beach farther south and Tampa about 25 miles away across the bay. Pinellas County towns run together, so a Clearwater shopping day frequently ends somewhere else, and this guide says plainly when a place sits outside the city.
Clearwater Beach: Beachwear, Souvenirs and Board Shops
Clearwater Beach sells what you forgot to pack. The retail here concentrates on Mandalay Avenue and the blocks on either side, and prices run above the mainland. Treat it as convenience shopping with a good view rather than a destination.
Pelican Walk Plaza at 483 Mandalay Avenue is the most concentrated block of beach shopping on the island, a two-story plaza of beachwear and souvenir shops with a bar in the middle and The Mint Fox Cookies and Ice Cream for the walk back to the sand. Vendor hours vary store to store, so call ahead if you’re making a specific trip rather than wandering in from the beach.
Surf Style at 315 South Gulfview Boulevard is the enormous catch-all beach store, good for swimwear, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and footwear when a trip starts badly. It’s open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, so it covers the evening forgotten-sandals run too.
Freaky Tiki Surf Shack is the antidote to airbrushed lettering. The family-owned shop started on Clearwater Beach and designs and prints its own apparel, including lightweight sweatshirts and cotton shorts that work as souvenirs without announcing themselves. It’s smaller than the big surf stores and quick to shop properly.
Frenchy’s Off The Hook at 49 Baymont Street carries the full range of Frenchy’s merchandise plus jewelry, artwork, the brand’s hot sauce, hats, towels and drinkware. Every Frenchy’s location sells some merchandise, but this gift shop is the one with everything, open until 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 p.m. Sunday.
Frenchy’s Outfitters at 439 Poinsettia Avenue, the shop that started out as Clearwater Paddleboard and Rental Co., solves the rental and the retail problem in one stop. It rents paddleboards, kayaks, bicycles, umbrellas and chairs by the half day, day or week, and sells apparel, hats, accessories and outdoor gear. It suits anyone who came to get on the water rather than look at it. Boards and bikes bought on vacation have to live somewhere afterward, which is why a 5×10 storage unit, holding the contents of one room, is the common size for households with more gear than garage.
Downtown Clearwater and the Cleveland Street District
Downtown Clearwater is the walkable option, and it’s an hour rather than an afternoon. The Cleveland Street District carries independent shops, restaurants, the Bilheimer Capitol Theatre and a food hall across a few compact blocks on the bluff above the harbor. Go with modest expectations, and enjoy that most downtown lots cost 75 cents an hour on weekday daytimes and nothing after 6 p.m. or on weekends, according to the city’s parking page.
The Market Marie at Coachman Park is the reason to time a downtown trip to a second Saturday. The city’s event page puts it at 300 Cleveland Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., free to walk in, with more than 130 small businesses selling food, art, clothing, jewelry, candles, soap, pet treats and home goods, plus live music, and lists the next market for October 10, 2026. Go early if you want parking near the park.
Cleveland Street Market at 1011 Cleveland Street is the food hall the shopping day ends in, with independent vendor stalls, a self-serve beer and wine bar and Topgolf Swing Suites. It opens at 11 a.m. daily and runs to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 8 p.m. Sunday. The swing suites take reservations, so book ahead on weekends.
The Mainland Corridors: Countryside Mall, Gulf to Bay and US 19
The mainland is where Clearwater residents actually shop. Countryside Mall at 27001 US Highway 19 North is the traditional enclosed mall, with a Whole Foods Market among its anchors, a full-size indoor ice rink, a 12-screen CMX cinema and a children’s play space (Countryside Mall). Store hours vary by day, so check the mall’s site. For mall walkers, the doors open at 9:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 10:30 a.m. Sunday, which is also the quiet window with small children.
Bealls Florida at 2122 Gulf to Bay Boulevard is where locals buy beach clothing instead of paying beach-strip prices. The Florida lifestyle department store covers swimwear, casual clothing for the whole family, shoes and home goods, and it has its own parking lot. Hours run later on weeknights than on Sunday, so check before a late trip.
The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store at 23399 US Highway 19 North is a well-organized charity thrift stop, carrying clothing, shoes, kitchen items, furniture, electronics, books and sports equipment. It’s open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, closed Sundays, with rotating daily discounts, and the revenue funds furniture and household goods for local families in crisis (St. Vincent de Paul Clearwater).
Design Furniture Outlet & Consignment at 1928 Gulf to Bay Boulevard is the stop for anyone furnishing a rental or a snowbird condo, a consignment furniture store where inventory turns over as pieces come in and sell. Call ahead for hours and delivery, and decide in the store, since most consigned pieces are one of a kind. Buying a dining set before the room is ready is a normal problem here, and a 10×10 storage unit in Clearwater holds a one-bedroom apartment’s worth of furniture while you sort out the timing.
Slade’s Trades Antique Shop and Auction House at 1698 North Hercules Avenue is the big local antique emporium, a family-owned antique shop, furniture warehouse and auction house. It rewards a slow lap and a tape measure. Its hours are narrower than a mall’s and listings disagree on them, so check before driving over. Old wood, paper and upholstery do badly in Florida humidity, which is why climate-controlled storage in Clearwater is the default for anything bought at auction and not immediately placed.
Nearby Towns: Dunedin, Safety Harbor, Belleair Bluffs and St. Petersburg
Downtown Dunedin Main Street, just north of Clearwater, is the walkable independent shopping Clearwater Beach doesn’t have, a small-town main street of shops, cafes and breweries with the Pinellas Trail running through it. The Dunedin Downtown Market runs 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays at Pioneer Park from November through June, then moves to Saturday mornings in the Dunedin History Museum lot from July through October. Take the Jolley Trolley or the Clearwater Ferry, which sails Thursday through Sunday to Dunedin Marina, and skip the parking problem.
Safety Harbor’s Market on Main runs Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 401 Main Street in Safety Harbor, east of Clearwater, with produce, local food vendors, crafts and live music. Pair it with a walk down Main Street and a look at Whimzeyland, the mosaic-covered home and studio of artists Todd Ramquist and Kiaralinda, bordered by hundreds of bowling balls. They live there, so you look from the street and the outside grounds only, and that costs nothing.
Jewel Antique Mall at 2601 Jewel Road in Belleair Bluffs is the antiques stop worth the short drive south: 5,000 square feet, 35 vendors, and rooms of furniture, porcelain, jewelry, dishes, collectibles and curios behind an unremarkable exterior (Visit St. Pete/Clearwater). It’s open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and it’s a browse rather than a targeted shop, so leave an hour.
Central Avenue and the Grand Central District in St. Petersburg hold some of the best independent shopping in the region, with clothing and decor boutiques along Central Avenue and antique and vintage shops in Grand Central. This is the honest answer when the beach souvenir shops aren’t what you had in mind. John’s Pass Village and Boardwalk in Madeira Beach is the touristy alternative, a boardwalk of shops and seafood restaurants that’s easy to walk with children.
Outlet and Upscale Shopping Beyond the County Line
Clearwater has no outlet mall of its own, and the nearest real one is Tampa Premium Outlets at 2300 Grand Cypress Drive in Lutz, north of Tampa. The center opened in 2015 with about 110 stores laid out village-style around courtyards, breezeways and fountains, including Armani, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Coach and Cole Haan (VISIT FLORIDA). Go on a weekday if you can.
International Plaza and Bay Street in Tampa, across the bay, is Tampa’s largest upscale mall, anchored by Nordstrom. Hyde Park Village, also in Tampa, is the prettier version: an open-air neighborhood of shops and restaurants with names such as Ralph Lauren, Veronica Beard and LoveShackFancy, better suited to an afternoon that mixes shopping with lunch than to a serious list.
Parking, Hours and Weather Worth Planning Around
Parking is the real cost of shopping on Clearwater Beach, where city lots charge $3.50 an hour from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., and the Jolley Trolley is the way around it. The trolley’s coastal route runs from the beach through downtown Dunedin and Palm Harbor to the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, so you can shop Mandalay Avenue, eat and ride back without ever moving the car. Several beach resorts include trolley rides with a room key.
Sundays thin out fast off the beach. The charity thrift stores close Sundays, independent shops downtown keep short weekend hours, and the antique dealers keep narrower hours than the chains. The mall and the beach stores are the reliable Sunday options, and the markets are the reliable Saturday and Sunday ones.
Weather shapes the calendar more than the calendar does. From June through September, afternoon thunderstorms arrive most days, which makes Countryside Mall the standard rainy-hour plan. Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 to November 30 and peaks around September 10 (NOAA National Hurricane Center), so late-summer shopping trips deserve a flexible plan. January through April is the busiest stretch, peaking in March, when US 19 and Gulf to Bay traffic is at its heaviest and parking lots fill by late morning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the best shopping in Clearwater?
Countryside Mall on US Highway 19 North has the widest selection inside city limits, plus an ice rink and a 12-screen cinema. For independent shops rather than chains, the Cleveland Street District downtown is the walkable choice, and downtown Dunedin, just north, has the boutique main street most visitors are picturing when they ask.
Is there an outlet mall in Clearwater?
No. There’s no outlet mall inside the city. The nearest purpose-built center is Tampa Premium Outlets in Lutz, north of Tampa, with about 110 stores. Ellenton Premium Outlets sits farther south in Manatee County, which makes it a longer drive from Clearwater despite showing up in local search results.
Does Clearwater Beach have shops?
Clearwater Beach has plenty of shops, concentrated along Mandalay Avenue and in Pelican Walk Plaza. Expect beachwear, surf and board shops, gift and souvenir stores, and rental outfits rather than boutiques or department stores. Prices run above the mainland, and almost everything is walkable once you’ve parked.
What’s the main strip in Clearwater?
Mandalay Avenue on Clearwater Beach is the main strip for shopping and dining, running north from the roundabout near Pier 60. South Gulfview Boulevard is its beachfront counterpart to the south, heavier on resorts and restaurants. On the mainland, the equivalents are Cleveland Street downtown for walkable retail and US Highway 19 for volume.
What are some hidden gems near Clearwater, Florida?
Jewel Antique Mall in Belleair Bluffs hides 35 vendors behind a plain exterior, and Whimzeyland in Safety Harbor is a free mosaic-covered art house whose grounds you can explore from outside. The Market Marie at Coachman Park on second Saturdays brings out more than 130 small businesses, and the Grand Central District in St. Petersburg is where many of the region’s antique and vintage shops cluster.
Where to Put What You Bought
Furnishing a place in Pinellas County usually runs ahead of the moving schedule, and Value Store It has two Clearwater facilities for the gap. The Clearwater location covers the full lineup, from a 5×5 locker, about the size of a small closet, for boxes and off-season clothes, through a 5×15 that holds a studio apartment, a 10×5 that holds the contents of one room and 10×15 units for a two-bedroom apartment. At the top end, 10×20 units take a three-bedroom home and 10×30 spaces a four-bedroom home or a small retail inventory, with boat storage and car storage for what won’t fit in a driveway. Clearwater II runs a similar range: a 5×5 unit, 5×10, a 10×5, 10×10, 10×15 and 10×20 sizes, plus climate-controlled units for anything that minds the humidity. Rentals are month-to-month with no long-term contract, and the storage unit size calculator will tell you which one fits before you sign anything.
Once the shopping is done, keep going: our guide to the best restaurants in Clearwater covers where to eat between stops, things to do in Clearwater fills the rest of the weekend, and the day trips from Clearwater guide takes the Dunedin and St. Petersburg runs further than a single afternoon.
