Loretta Snead and her eight children were settled this month into a four-bedroom house right on Central Park Avenue, Westchester's bustling shopping artery, where she is sandwiched between a chiropractor's office and a tailor's shop.

St. Catherine's Street, this city's fabled entertainment and shopping artery, used to boast the highest rents in Canada.

The pharmacist was sipping tea this afternoon with a colleague in Soraya's Pharmacy, off the main shopping artery, Saadoun Avenue.

Big spenders head for stylish Bloor Street, Yorkville's main shopping artery (www.bloor-yorkville.com).

The city's "Golden Triangle" - the three main shopping arteries of the 8th arrondissements on the Right Bank - is the heartland of Parisian couture.

Shopping Besides the underground shopping areas, which are like enormous upscale malls, Ste. Catherine Street West is Montreal's main shopping artery.

The elegant (and today traffic-choked) Gran Vía, Madrid's central shopping artery, is a turn-of-the century showcase of Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.

Mr. Lee is building another office condominium project: Queens Crossing, a 12-story building being framed at the corner of Main Street, Flushing's main shopping artery, and 39th Avenue.

"People just don't shovel the corners," he grumbled, lifting a fully loaded letter carrier's cart as he waded gingerly through a crosswalk on Prospect Park West, the main shopping artery of Windsor Terrace.

With Buchanan Street and Sauchiehall Street, Argyle Street forms the main shopping artery in the city centre.