Chelmsford does not offer the traveller much in the way of unique gifts or products, but the town does feature enough for the passer through to stock up on essentials.
high chelmer
The older of the two malls, retailers include HMV, River Island, Boots a bigger one!, JJB Sports, Millets and many more. Expect a crush at Christmas time, and teens sitting outside HMV at all other times.
Chelmsford is also served by 2 large retail parks offering warehouse-style shopping and big car parking queues on bank holidays.
high street
The high street is dominated by the Debenhams department store, which offers the latest fashion, fragrance and electronics. Opposite this is the Marks and Spencer store, offering food and fashion for the older generation. There are numerous other shops, most notably Waterstones Books, Jessop cameras, Currys Digital, Next and GAP. The 'quadrant' located just over the stone bridge, is Chelmsfords only independent department store. It has three floors and sells fashions for the 30+ customer including East,Kalico,Jane Shilton and Brook Taverner for men. It is also the only store in the town centre stocking leading furniture brands.
meadows
Meadows is the newest mall in the town and was completed in the late 1990's, it is built on ground floor level and includes Waterstones another one, Boots, BHS department store, Burtons Menswear and many more. Despite its status as the newer and better mall, Chelmsford already had its fill of good retailers when it was built, and as such it is normally fairly quiet and serves best as a car park.