Downtown Houston is home to the flagship Macy's (former Foley's) Department Store (founded in 1900), which moved to its current location in 1947. It has 10 levels and it occupies an entire Houston square city block. In 2006 this store, along with all other Foley's stores, was renamed Macy's. This is the only freestanding middle-market department store in a central business district in the Southern United States.

The Shops in Houston Center is an enclosed shopping mall. It houses ninety stores and the building itself straddles two city blocks.

Downtown Houston is served by five light rail stations on METRORail's Red Line. They are the Downtown Transit Center, Bell Station, Main Street Square Station, Preston Station, and University of Houston-Downtown Station.

There are a number of Taxi cabs that can be hailed from the street, 21 Taxi stands, or at the various hotels. Trips within downtown has flat rate of $6 by Cab.

Part of the shops and restaurants that make up Houston's central Chinatown extends into the CBD.

The Houston Pavilions is a major project currently under construction Downtown. This project comes from the same developers of the Denver Pavilions in Denver; spanning three square blocks, however, Houston Pavilions is said to be larger.