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 20 to 40 minutes out cover boutiques, markets and outlets. This guide works through all four in that order, then covers parking, hours and what closes on a Sunday.
How Clearwater's Shopping Map Works
Clearwater is a city of about 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 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 are shopping rather than browsing.
The third ring is everything 20 to 40 minutes out. Dunedin sits 20 minutes north, Safety Harbor 20 minutes east, Belleair Bluffs 15 minutes south, St. Petersburg and Madeira Beach around 30 minutes, and Tampa about 40. 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 either side, it runs later than mainland stores, and it is the most expensive square footage in the county for a t-shirt. 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 small landmark plaza of beachwear and souvenir shops with a bar in the middle, Captain's Pizza and The Mint Fox Cookies and Ice Cream. It recently changed ownership. Vendor hours vary store to store, so call ahead if you are making a specific trip rather than wandering in from the sand.
Surf Style is the enormous catch-all beach store, good for swimwear, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and footwear when a trip starts badly. There are several stores along the strip and in neighboring beach towns, each with a slightly different souvenir mix. The South Beach location houses a Flowrider standing wave machine that runs until around 11 p.m., so one person can surf badly while everyone else shops.
Freaky Tiki Surf Shack is the antidote to airbrushed lettering. The apparel is locally designed and hand drawn, including lightweight sweatshirts and cotton shorts that work as souvenirs without announcing themselves. It is smaller than the big surf stores and takes ten minutes to shop properly.
Frenchy's Off The Hook sits beside Frenchy's Original Cafe and carries the full range of Frenchy's merchandise plus beachwear, sand toys and souvenirs. Every Frenchy's location sells some merchandise, but this is the one with everything. The practical move is to put your name down for a grouper sandwich next door and shop while you wait.
Clearwater PaddleBoard and Rental Co. solves the rental and the retail problem in one stop, with paddleboard sales and rentals, cruiser bicycles, and clothing, footwear, hats and sunglasses. It suits anyone who came to get on the water rather than look at it. Boards and bikes bought on holiday have to live somewhere afterwards, which is why a 5×10 storage unit 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 is 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. It is still filling back in, so go with modest expectations and enjoy that parking costs a fraction of the beach.
The Market Marie at Coachman Park is the reason to time a downtown trip to a second Saturday. It runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 300 Cleveland Street with more than 100 small vendors selling produce, art, clothing, candles, pet treats and home goods, plus live music, and it is free to walk in (Visit St. Pete/Clearwater). 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 wall and Topgolf Swing Suites in the back. It opens at 11 a.m. daily and runs to 9 p.m. on weekdays, later on Friday and Saturday. The swing suites need booking at 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 more than a hundred stores, an indoor ice rink, a cinema with recliner seating, a small children's play area, a ride-on train and oversized board games. Standard hours run 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Countryside Mall), and the doors open an hour early for mall walkers, which is 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 at genuinely low prices, and it stays open until 9 p.m. most nights and 8 p.m. Sunday with its own free parking.
The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store at 23399 US Highway 19 North is the best-organized charity thrift stop in the city, carrying clothing, shoes, accessories, kitchen items, furniture, electronics, books and home goods. It's open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, closed Sundays, and the revenue funds furniture and household goods for local families in crisis (St. Vincent de Paul Clearwater).
Consignment Furniture Gallery at 1111 Court Street is the answer for anyone furnishing a rental or a snowbird condo. The showroom holds more than 1,000 pieces at a time, mixing clean pre-owned furniture with new factory closeouts and model home liquidations, plus a bedding department, layaway and delivery five days a week (Consignment Furniture). Inventory turns constantly and most pieces are one of a kind, so decide in the store. Buying a dining set before the room is ready is a normal problem here, and a 10×10 storage unit in Clearwater holds roughly a one-bedroom'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-run furniture warehouse and auction house running to more than 15,000 square feet. It rewards a slow lap and a tape measure. Hours are narrower than a mall's, 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.
Within Forty Minutes: Dunedin, Safety Harbor, Belleair Bluffs and St. Petersburg
Downtown Dunedin Main Street, 20 minutes north, is the walkable independent shopping Clearwater Beach does not have, a small-town main street of shops, cafes and breweries with the Pinellas Trail running through it. The Dunedin Downtown Market runs Saturdays year-round and adds Fridays from November to May, at Pioneer Park in season and the Dunedin History Museum lot in summer. Take the Jolley Trolley or the Clearwater Ferry, which sails Thursday through Sunday, and skip the parking problem entirely.
Safety Harbor Market on Main runs Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 401 Main Street, 20 minutes east across the bay arm, with produce, meats, cheeses, desserts, crafts and live music. Pair it with a walk down Main Street and a look at Whimzeyland, the mosaic and bowling ball house two local artists built, which is free and viewable from the public side of the fence.
Jewel Antique Mall at 2601 Jewel Road in Belleair Bluffs is the antiques stop worth the 15 minute 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 is a browse rather than a targeted shop, so leave an hour.
Central Avenue and the Grand Central District in St. Petersburg, about 30 minutes south, holds the best independent shopping in the region, with clothing and decor boutiques along Central Avenue and the antique dealers concentrated in Grand Central. This is the honest answer when the beach souvenir shops are not what you had in mind. John's Pass Village and Boardwalk in Madeira Beach, also around 30 minutes, is the touristy alternative, a boardwalk of shops and seafood restaurants that is easy to walk with children.
Outlet and Upmarket 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, about 45 minutes northeast. The open-air center opened in 2015 with roughly 110 stores laid out around courtyards and fountains, including Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Coach, Cole Haan and Steve Madden (VISIT FLORIDA). Go on a weekday if you can.
International Plaza and Bay Street in Tampa, about 40 minutes across the causeway, is the nearest full-scale upmarket mall, with more than 200 stores including Nordstrom, over fifteen restaurants, a dine-in cinema and a children's play area. Hyde Park Village, also in Tampa, is the prettier version: an outdoor village of more than a hundred shops, restaurants and bars, 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, and the Jolley Trolley is the way around it. The trolley runs seven days a week year-round from the beach up the coast to the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, and its passes work on PSTA buses too, so you can shop Mandalay Avenue, eat, and ride back without ever moving the car. Several beach hotels include trolley rides with a room key.
Sundays and Mondays thin out fast off the beach. The charity thrift stores and the consignment furniture showrooms close Sundays, independent shops downtown keep short weekend hours, and the antique dealers often work a Thursday to Saturday week. 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 March brings the snowbird season, when US 19 and Gulf to Bay traffic is at its heaviest and every parking lot fills 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, with more than a hundred stores plus an ice rink and a cinema. For independent shops rather than chains, the Cleveland Street District downtown is the walkable choice, and Downtown Dunedin, 20 minutes north, has the boutique main street most visitors are picturing when they ask.
Is there an outlet mall in Clearwater?
No. Clearwater has outlet-style discount stores along US 19, but no outlet mall inside the city. The nearest purpose-built center is Tampa Premium Outlets in Lutz, roughly 45 minutes northeast, with about 110 stores. Ellenton Premium Outlets sits farther south past the Skyway, 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, the stores stay open later than mainland retail, and almost everything is walkable once you have parked.
What is the main strip in Clearwater?
Mandalay Avenue on Clearwater Beach is the main strip for shopping and dining, running north from the roundabout past Pier 60. South Gulfview Boulevard is its beachfront counterpart, 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 you can walk around any day. The Market Marie at Coachman Park on second Saturdays brings out more than 100 makers, and the Grand Central District in St. Petersburg is where the region's antique dealers actually 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 for boxes and off-season clothes through 5×15, 10×5 and 10×15 units, up to 10×20 and 10×30 spaces that hold a household or a small retail inventory, with boat storage and car storage for what will not 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.
