Bored at JFK? Here Are the Best Places to Shop, By Terminal

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Welcome to Racked's first annual Travel Week. Through Friday, roughly half of our content will be devoted to everything you need to know about traveling to and from New York City—whether you're entertaining out-of-towners, killing time at the airport, or planning the ultimate staycation.

Photo via Foursquare

Elevate layover hell at John F. Kennedy International Airport with some good old fashioned retail therapy. Much like calories, dollars spent inside an airport don't count—or at the very least browsing can't hurt. We've broken down the most entertaining shopping in every terminal of JFK airport to make your flight delay/layover/super early traveling partner a little more bearable.

Photo via

Terminal 1
Congrats, you have won the shopping terminal lottery. T1 is home to a host of luxury brands worth the time-killing browse: Bvlgari, Cartier, and Hermes among them. On a more functional note, Victoria's Secret, Tumi, and Clinique can fill in any packing blanks you may have missed (with undies, luggage, and skincare, respectively).

Rendering via

Terminal 4
T4's best best are are the beauty realm, with newly opened shops from MAC and Jo Malone. There's also a drycleaner, and the promise of Michael Kors and Victoria's Secret, which aren't open just yet.

Rendering courtesy of Benefit

Terminal 5
T5 wins in three realms of shopping: cult status products, tech innovation, and cosmetics. Let's start with the Muji To Go outpost, which could certainly occupy an hour of delayed flight time, stocking everything from functional traveling supplies to impulse buys disguised as Japanese utilitarian necessities.

Benefit Cosmetics Glam Up & Away automated kiosks recently landed at JFK, stocking the brand's best in a vending-machine style format. 3 Fl Oz—the name references the TSA's allowed liquid maximum for carry-ons—also goes the automated route, eschewing typical vending machine fare (soft drinks, packaged peanuts) for beauty and wellness products from buzzy brands like Dr. Dennis Gross skincare, E Boost supplements, St. Tropez self-tanner, and Rahua haircare.
Last but not least, you can hop on a Birchbox-stocked Jet Blue flight from T5.

Terminal 6
No longer with us.

Photo courtesy of 3 Fl Oz
Terminal 7
T7's most exciting retail prospect is the aforementioned—and pictured—3 Fl Oz. Feeling splurgey? Go ahead and browse the Best Buy kiosk or see if any of the new, streamlined bags have hit the Coach store.

Photo via

Terminal 8
Pick up a I-totally-didn't-buy-this-at-the-airport souvenir at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Shop, or at least stock up on fascinating plane reads. Business travelers in a pinch can turn to T8's very own Brooks Brothers to re-up plane-to-boardroom apparel. Dream about being out of the airport and in your own personal spa with L'Occitane's natural beauty offerings.
· All Travel Week 2013 posts [Racked NY]
· Bored at Newark Airport? Your Four Best Beauty Bets [Racked NY]

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Benefit

454 West Broadway, New York, NY 212-769-1111 Visit Website

MUJI - Soho

455 Broadway, New York, NY 10013 Visit Website

John F. Kennedy International Airport

JFK Airport, Queens, NY