_ By that time, the sensory overload had done its damage and I felt stressed, cranky, unable to focus, dazed and tired._

Sounds like me whenever I go shopping in a mall or a big department store, or for that matter get dragged to a boutique crawl. But there are exceptions - books, food, cookware bring my inner consumerist out. On the other hand for the other stuff department stores and malls aren't so bad - I can get my once a year shopping done more quickly.

Good shopping experiences:

Union Square Greenmarket

Used books (Strand)

New books (Labyrinth)

Meat

Cheese and cold cuts

Cookware (Broadway Panhandler)