Costa Rica, with its small population and focus on the tourism and exportation industries, has very few locally produced luxury items available to consumers . Therefore, the importation and availability of luxury goods and desirables is a primary concern with foreign residents. Fortunately, there are more and more options available to the Costa Rican resident with tastes for the small and large luxuries to which they are accustomed.

Gourmet shops now abound in any part of the country where there are high-end residential developments springing up. Spices, sauces, finer culinary tools, delicacies from around the world, as well as special gourmet ingredients are now readily available in the finer neighborhoods and shopping centers in San Jose, as well as on the coast wherever there is a market for the discerning consumer. Even the Costa Rican supermarkets are capitalizing on the demand, and are usually quite willing to import whatever particular item that their customers ask for. From high-end gourmet product lines, to fine wines and liquors, to the mundane but highly desired comfort foods their foreign customers crave, the marketplace is eagerly adapting to be able to provide the foreign consumer what they wish to purchase. Meanwhile, the Costa Rican production industry is taking notice. More and more Costa Rican producers are expanding their production to include holiday standards such as domestic turkeys and hams, higher quality meat products, and a greater selection of finer breads and pastries, as well as ready-to-eat delicatessen sections and sushi offerings in many grocery stores.

EPA is a very large home and garden outlet with tremendous selection in Escazu; PriceSmart in the area is the equivalent of Costco, and brand names of luxury also stand out in Escazu: Ferrari and Mazeratti hold a dealership there, as well as Rolex, Land Rover, GE and LG. Auto Mercado and Saretto’s are two major groceries catering to the foreign clientele in Escazu, and two of Escazu’s acclaimed meat markets are Carneceria Don Fernando and Lamb’s for the country’s best steaks and cuts for any foreigner’s tastes. Hagen Daas and Baglemen’s, among all the standards for fast food also fill the “Golden Mile” in Escazu, side by side with the country’s finest restaurants, computer outlets, luxury Oriental carpet stores, antique outlets, movie theaters, and all the services needed to run the luxury household such as dry cleaners, automated car washes, and a branch of every bank present in Costa Rica.

The current trend in importation of foreign favorites and specialty and luxury items does not end with the kitchen, either. Far from it. Today there is more selection and variety in home furnishings and appliances than ever before in Costa Rica’s marketplace. Whereas just a few years ago, one would have to have furniture and home accessories custom made from local artisans for their luxury home.....today you may choose from a number of different companies catering specifically to the luxury home-owner, who may choose from their inventory catalogues of the world’s finest home furnishings available on the market. Importation has become a specialty for the business catering to the luxury consumer, home-owner and developer, and there is practically nothing available on the world market today which is not available for the asking in Costa Rica. Fine fabrics and furnishings, cutting-edge electronics and appliances, luxury and collectable automobiles, yachts, and sports equipment, as well as the world’s finest clothing and accessories are available to the discerning consumer in Costa Rica, via the booming industry of importation experts.

Foreign residents living on fixed incomes and a more modest budget have certainly not been left out of the trend either. Mail forwarding companies abound, where one may receive goods to a North American postal address (items from companies that don’t ship internationally) and for a fee, you can have those items and mail forwarded directly to you here in Costa Rica. Expansion of the idea has grown to adapt to the Internet age, with the implementation of online shopping interfaces, where you may simply log into your mail forwarding service and shop from a selection of the most reliable and popular shopping websites, then have the goods delivered directly to you here in Costa Rica, regardless of the seller’s international shipping policy.