Chittagong shops like the port it is: goods that land by sea reach its lanes within days. Three days take you from the wholesale bazars of Kotwali to the boutiques of CDA Avenue and the salvage yards north of the city.
Chattogram's largest retail bazar, roughly 3,000 shops packed between Station Road and Terri Bazar. Open 09:00–21:00. Cotton lungis, Chinese electronics through the Singapore Market wing, brass kitchenware and cane baskets.
The fabric wholesale lane behind Reazuddin: bolts of jamdani-print cotton, Rajshahi silk and shirting sold by the thaan (about 4.5 metres). Tailors upstairs stitch a salwar kameez in 48 hours. Shops shut 13:00–14:30 for prayers.
A 400-metre lane in Kotwali barely two metres wide, lined with some 200 jewellers alongside ayurvedic and attar sellers.22-carat ornaments are weighed and priced against the daily BAJUS rate chalked on boards at each shop door.
The discount lane where Chattogram buys cosmetics, watches and imported crockery, much of it landed through the port. Stalls trade until 22:00 and prices soften sharply after 20:00. Perfume oils and steel tiffin carriers dominate.
BRAC's craft chain in a four-floor outlet on CDA Avenue, open 10:00–20:00 daily. Nakshi kantha quilts, jute and leather bags, terracotta and fine cotton shirts sourced from around 65,000 rural artisans. Fixed prices, cards accepted.
Chattogram's flagship mall on CDA Avenue: eight floors, with Sailor, Yellow, Ecstasy, Le Reve and Cats Eye stacked across levels one to three, then a food court and cinema above. Air-conditioned, 11:00–21:00, busiest on Friday evenings.
Two malls a five-minute rickshaw apart. Finlay Square leans to Bangladeshi labels — Rang, Deshal, Kay Kraft — while Afmi Plaza stocks imported denim and sportswear. Both open 10:30–21:00; Afmi's ground floor is entirely footwear.
The design and bookshop quarter. Batighar fills a restored heritage building at Cheragi Pahar Mor with Bangla and English titles, and the surrounding lanes hold flower sellers, framing workshops and small ceramic studios open till 21:00.
Thirty kilometres north on the Dhaka Trunk Road, the shops fronting the Sitakunda breaking yards sell everything stripped from scrapped ships: brass portholes, teak cabin doors, ship's bells, compasses, lifebuoys and Japanese galley crockery.
Bangladesh's biggest commodity market, running along the Chaktai canal. Sacks of turmeric, dried chilli, cardamom and the mezban spice blends particular to Chattogram are traded by the maund (37.3kg), though shops will break bulk for visitors.
The dried-fish quarter beside the Karnaphuli, and the most pungent shopping in Bangladesh. Loitta, churi and rupchanda shutki sit stacked in open sacks; the larger houses will vacuum-pack a kilo for your luggage for a small fee.
Two adjoining markets at Station Road: Bipani Bitan (New Market) for cane, brass and Hill Tracts weaves, and Johur Hawkers for export-surplus garments — factory overruns from the mills that stitch for European labels, at ৳200–600 a piece.