To ask you to tell me what to buy in the US

[usashopper]

We are off in a week's time on a family holiday to the US. It is years since I was last there and I just wondered what is worth buying and bringing back that is much more expensive and hard to find over here? I am unreasonably excited about a trip to Walgreens but wonder if there is anything else I should consider. Thank you all!

Here is my list:

I buy shoes - I have massively huge feet and the choice (if only in cheap places!) is much better in the US. I often find the brands I buy in the U.K. for £80 are about $20 dollars at Payless (they aren’t great quality shoes but I’ve havent got much choice!

Cake decorating supplies, baking supplies and sprinkles - fewer restrictions on food colourings so there are some different things.

Spice mixes, bbq sauce, Chilli sauce, hot wing sauce, Mexican ingredients.

Williams Sonoma is lovely as a PP said, expensive but I could buy everything!

I also try to have a book shop browse, different cook books, magazines, stationery etc

Christmas decorations - we try to get a bauble with the date on from most places we go

Outdoor supplies and clothes, I like LL Bean

Melatonin

Don't buy chocolate. Seriously. U.S. chocolate is crap. UK chocolate is MUCH better.

Make sure you check the guidelines in terms of what you can and can't bring back into the country.

Melatonin is indeed a good idea - it's OTC in North America.

Not sure I would go with Old Navy. I believe they are a subsidiary of The Gap - and The Gap has a TERRIBLE track record of using little children for labour in the third world. Plus, I have found the prices in the UK pretty decent for clothing.

If you do decide to buy clothes, make sure you try them on. Sizing is different. Same with shoes.

Coach bag and wallet
Makeup - Sephora and super market
Peach and Lily (and Peach Slices) skincare

To be fair you can buy good chocolate in the USA but Hershey’s in particular is utterly vile. Whole foods have a range of nice chocolates for a price!
Where do people go to get cheap pharmacy goods? CVS and Walmart are both expensive for over the counter stuff compared to U.K. supermarkets.

walmart can be cheap for meds if you get their own branded ones

Neosporin cream

Peppermint bark from William Sonoma is delicious. Didn't manage to get back to it recently when over in North America to get a tin. Gutted. Got some great bargains at Kate Spade outlet.

I think the Ghiradelli peppermint bark is the best. OP it's a funny name but it's gorgeous. It's a layer of dark or milk chocolate then a layer of white chocolate and sprinkles of peppermint rock on the top. I bought some to bulk out family presents a few years ago, and now everyone asks for it every year (I'm cabin crew.. I've carried so many Bath and Bodyworks candles and packets of peppermint bark home over the last few weeks!). Lindt are doing chocolate and mint chocolate balls in white or milk and also gingerbread ones - both Xmas specials and both lovely).

Thank you all.

The things I have in mind after your fab suggestions are-

larger box of paracetamol/ibuprofen (not 1000 but maybe 100)
Burts bees stuff
Clinique- I checked and their prices are definitely lower
Outlet mall for clothing bargains in US brands
Melatonin
Sephora- just to step outside and see what the fuss is about
I don't have much of a sweet tooth so chocolate suggestions are a bit lost on me.

This thread has been incredibly helpful!

Sephora stores are beautiful and the assistants are very helpful.

GAP, Ralph Lauren both for adults and children and Sephora! 😍 oh and the individual flavoured coffee creamers in multipack boxes for pennies in big supermarkets, and just make an Americano with my Nespresso machine and pop one of those in.

Doxylamine has been a lifesaver for me since the buggers changed the syndol recipe. I buy it online and thankfully don’t need to use it too often.

I’d go to a Sephora just for the fun too.

Crate and barrel.

Gotta admit, the drugs are good. Cheaper and you can buy 1000's

Drugs! Big bottles of the equivalent of Nytol One a Night (not the herbal crap), melatonin, Nexium, ranitidine, lactaid, paracetamol, ibu, naproxen, etc. No stupid fucking questions asked or silly blister packs.

I wouldn't bother buying 1000 paracetamol. The sizes are limited for a reason. The ration of lethal: therapeutic dose is really very low.

They aren't even any cheaper - currently $25.99 in CVS which is about 2p per 500mg caplet. I can buy them for less than 1p each in Poundstretcher.

Oh, I go to Sam's Club, much cheaper.

Levi’s, Converse, DJNY and Calvin Klein are all loads cheaper in the US - get to a Macy’s if you can, we got loads of pairs of Levi’s and a gorgeous DKNY down winter coat for bargain prices last winter. Don’t forget a lot of the department stores to a tax exemption offer for tourists.

Have fun!

Oh, shoes definitely! And Levi's, yes.

Taking the thread off-topic but where's the best online source for doxylamine, please?

Lamented the end of Syndol and then did a bit of research...

They aren't even any cheaper - currently $25.99 in CVS which is about 2p per 500mg caplet. I can buy them for less than 1p each in Poundstretcher.

You can get 500 Tylenol for $5.59 in Target. I've no idea why anyone would buy anything in CVS unless they have money to burn.

If you know anyone who collects Disney, there are some Disney Traditions exclusive to the US which is what I stocked up on when I was there. Tylenol is great. Don’t buy Red Vines, for some reason they taste like nail varnish remover?

There's an art to shopping in CVS... You have to have a loyalty card, and you have to have coupons - and remember that you can double (or triple up) coupons. There are all kinds of crazy offers like "Buy this shampoo for $7 and get a $5 CVS voucher back", then you can use a manufacturer's coupon to get $1.50 off the shampoo, so you end up buying the shampoo for $5.50 and getting given a $5 at the till - so your shampoo effectively costs 50 cents.