2) The shopping available in a 1 million + city.
You think players pick their team based on the shopping?
No but their Wives do #MrsSmeltz
Sometimes sarcasm is difficult to detect on the internet. I'll treat this as serious. Mrs Smeltz quite possibly didn't like Wellington as much as an Australian city but I am pretty sure this was likely a combination of weather, family and familiarity. I highly doubt shopping, especially when they travel so much, has even the slightest bit to do with it.
I suspect nightlife and culture would be a lot higher on the list than shopping. Wellington doesn't have a bad culture with the cafes and overall closeness of everything. It might be a bit quiet compared to some European cities but it isn't bad. One positive point would be that it should be an attractive location to raise kids.