Where to shop in Madison, WI: shopping districts, malls and food co-ops

Downtown: State Street and the Capitol Square

Visit Madison describes State Street as a strip of independent boutiques, bookstores, gift shops and fashion stores, and the Capitol Square as part of the same downtown shopping district with a similar mix of locally owned shops.

State Street has changed in recent years. The City of Madison says Metro Transit moved bus routes off the 400 to 600 blocks in June 2023, and the city ran a temporary pedestrian mall there in 2024. Check the city's State Street page for the current setup. For parking and getting around, see our downtown parking guide.

The Madison Public Market, 202 N. First St., is an indoor market run by a nonprofit foundation in partnership with the city. It has about 28 permanent local merchants, with prepared food and handcrafted goods, plus pop-up vendors.

Neighborhood shopping streets

• Monroe Street, near Lake Wingra: the Monroe Street Merchants Association describes more than a mile and a half of locally owned shops, restaurants and service businesses in a walkable setting. Events include First Fridays and the Monroe Street Festival.
• Williamson (Willy) Street and the Marquette neighborhood on the near east side: the American Planning Association's profile describes locally owned shops, restaurants and music venues, along with the Willy Street Co-op. Neighborhood events include the Willy Street Fair.
• Atwood Avenue (Schenk-Atwood): Visit Madison highlights its independent shops and restaurants.

Our neighborhoods guide puts these areas on the map.

Hilldale, East Towne and West Towne

Hilldale, 726 N. Midvale Blvd., is an open-air center on the west side. Its directory sorts stores into fashion and style, food and drink, beauty and wellness, and services and specialties.

The two enclosed malls are listed by CBL Properties:

• East Towne Mall, 89 East Towne Mall, on the east side. CBL lists DICK'S Sporting Goods, JCPenney and Barnes & Noble as anchors, and the mall includes Flix Brewhouse, a dine-in cinema, and Thrill Factory.
• West Towne Mall, 66 West Towne Mall, on the west side. CBL lists Von Maur as the anchor, with DICK'S Sporting Goods, JCPenney and The Cheesecake Factory among the stores, and says open-air centers nearby add more options.

Browse the directory for malls and department stores, clothing and shoe stores and electronics stores.

Middleton and Sun Prairie

Greenway Station in Middleton is, per Visit Middleton, a 46-acre outdoor shopping and dining center just off the Beltline with free parking. It lists about 25 retailers, including Ann Taylor Factory, J.Crew, Lands' End and World Market, and eleven restaurants.

Downtown Middleton is a separate, older district: Visit Middleton calls it a walkable historic shopping district of boutiques and specialty stores, with a self-guided walking tour and public parking lots on Hubbard, Terrace and Elmwood avenues. See our Middleton guide.

In Sun Prairie, Visit Sun Prairie describes downtown as centered on Cannery Square, with restored historic buildings housing apparel, vintage and home décor shops. Retail clusters elsewhere include the Prairie Lakes Shopping District and the area around Hoepker Road and Legacy Way, where it lists Costco, and Bass Pro Shops on Cabela Drive. See our Sun Prairie guide.

Food co-ops

Willy Street Co-op was founded in 1974 and is owned by the customers who invest in it. Anyone can shop there, and owners get added benefits. It runs three stores:

• Willy East, 1221 Williamson St., Madison
• Willy North, 2817 N. Sherman Ave., Madison
• Willy West, 6825 University Ave., Middleton

Regent Market Co-op, 2136 Regent St., is a neighborhood-owned co-op grocery, and its website explains how membership works.

For other grocers, see the grocery stores directory. For seasonal produce straight from farms, see our farmers markets guide.

An international grocer

Global Market & Food Hall, 2161 Zeier Rd., describes itself as an Asian grocery store and food hall that opened in 2020. Its grocery side lists live and fresh seafood, vegetables, fruit, noodles, frozen foods and general groceries, and its food hall lists vendors for dumplings, sushi, Hmong food, bubble tea and more. Other international markets operate around Madison, but we only list those we could confirm on their own sites. Look through the grocery stores directory for more.

Specialty shopping and gifts

For bookstores, vintage, hardware and garden centers, browse the directory: bookstores, thrift and vintage, gift shops, hardware stores, garden centers and bike shops. Holiday-season markets, craft fairs and Small Business Saturday are covered in our holiday shopping guide.