Even if in Lima opened at the end of the 19th century one of the first department stores in Latin America, shopping there was for decades reserved to the upper class. In 1955 a second department store chain started business in the capital and Peruvian middle class families slowly could afford and enjoy shopping at a department store. During Peru's economic collapse with hyper-inflation and terrorism in the 1980s, the business was nearly dead. But with the overall recovery of the country in the late 1990s and the increasing purchasing power of some department stores finally found their way back to Peru.

Today Lima is home to numerous western style department stores belonging to the three mayor retail players Oechsle, Ripley and Saga Falabella. Here you find everything from local and imported fashionable clothes including well-known brands, shoes, perfumes and beauty products, toys, electric household and entertainment appliances, toys, furniture, home decoration and much more. All three have their own bank, accommodating their customers with cash and credit cards.