For its size and importance, it is an economic and social capital of a region that possesses approximately a million inhabitants (Vestibule of the Mercosul – the Common Market of the South).

Dourados is well-served with many other shops, including those selling top Brazilian jeanswear brands such as Forum, Triton and Ellus and the middle-market clothes and homewares store Riachuelo.

There are nightclubs and many restaurants in the city centre which offer a broad range of cuisines including a number of Churrascarias (Churrasco is most commonly beef but also lamb and pork carved at the table from joints on skewers) as well as Pizza parlours and numerous places catering to the substantial Japanese community.

At the Feira there are restaurants providing Brazilian and Japanese food as well as stalls selling popular local delicacies such as sugarcane juice (Caldo de Cana), Doce de Leite (a type of caramel made from milk and sugar and cooked until it is either a thick syrup or it can be formed into fudge-like pieces) and cocada (coconut and condensed milk cooked until either sticky or hard).

Many locals make regular trips to the Paraguayan border town of Ponta Porã/Pedro Juan Caballero where they are able to buy relatively low-cost low-duty imported items such as electronic goods, perfumes and designer clothing.