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B&M Stores
by Emma1973
I've never seen one of these down South so after seeing the signs several times up here in Manchester I was extremely nosy to see what these Northern places were.
They've actually been going for over 30 years and have 280 stores around the country, although I wouldnt say many down South, the nearest to Bristol for example is ... in Trowbridge, and the nearest to London is in Slough whilst in Manchester we have at least 5.
My first impression was just that of a warehouse which is what the one in Gorton, Manchester looks like. I did think it was a DIY store at first.
Walking in is a bit of a surprise, its all tall shelves absolutely packed with goods and I don't mean stacked like Tescos, I mean rammed in every inch possible. Its always the food aisles first which is usually the main reason for my visit. It's a mix of well known brands and one you will never have heard of and may be slightly suspicious of.
You can get great big jars of curry sauce and pasta which is better value than Tescos and more tasty. They also seem to carry an inordinate amount of sandwich spreads those Vesta Prawn Curry meals. At the moment they have udon noodles for a mere 50p a packet which will cost you £1.32 in the likes of Tesco.
Snacks are the best things, bags of crisps, choccies and other snacky things usually for under a quid, with drinks a bargain as well it's the best place to go for a party.
They are very big on their seasonal section, at the moment it's enough gardening equipment, fertilizer, plants and the like to make you feel like Alan Titchmarsh or Charlie Dimmock (They do sell the bras though ladies) At Christmas its a guaranteed store for a migraine or a seizure, lots and lots of flashing santa's and christmas lights, nowhere in your wildest dreams did you think you'd get a flashing santa (not that kind) to stick in your living room window but you get carried away in the moment. Hence I have a santa sleigh with flashing lights that plugs into my cigarette lighter and twinkles from the parcel shelf.
Then we move on to, quite frankly, crap and tat! Lots of gift sets with perfumes and aftershaves you've never heard of that smell a strange mix of vinegar and cat wee, strange pots full of marshmallows which take more chewing than a rubber. Great big pants which even your granny would refuse, day-glo socks and those cheap slippers which always wear a hole where your big toe is.
Kids wise theres some interesting stuff, usually cheap versions of better known toys like the Super Space Rangers, and Babyy Cries-A-Lot. Basically stuff that'll break pretty quickly but that's ok because its cheap. When it's coming up to Crimbo it is of course piled high with even more toys, I shant mock too much, after all very small children wont know the difference between a V-Tech and an Z-Tech.
They have an extra-ordinary amount of household furnishings. I personally have never seen so many cushions in one place at the same time. Silky, satiny, suedey, cottony, blue, green, black, purple, sequinned, brocaded, embroidered and fluffy, they have the full lot. I suppose they arent too expensive ranging from a few pounds up to a tenner. Though spending a tenner on a cushion is quite frightful!
They're great for keeping the outside world out, the curtains that it, if you like the pole curtain types you'd be hard pushed to find a better selection, every colour, every drop size, and a fairly comparable price as well. Not so the bedding, why is bedding so expensive. I ponder that every time I go to buy a new duvet cover. They have lovely pattered sets I must admit with great modern designs, I'm not allowed to have my slinky red satin set on the bed anymore though as my partner complained about the quilt sliding off!
They sell the beds to go with them as well, cheaper than places like IKEA and sturdier as well, I was almost tempted by a leather (ok, leatherette) sleigh bed at only £89 last time I was there, but I've got a fairly new one so I wasnt allowed! In fact you can pretty much furnish your whole house! I've gone into houses and it's been like a B & M showroom! Which isnt always pretty to be honest, theres only so much you can do with black and red flock wallpapers, cushions, rugs and sundry decoratives before it starts looking like a bordello!
I'm beginning to suspect theres a conspiracy by B & M smarten up every low wage household in the UK (Apart from London!) You can indeed get the flock wallpaper here as well as a variety of paints, smarten up the floor with a rug and with the spare cash get some furniture. Actually no, forget the furniture, they do do tables and chairs, TV stands, etc but I'm not convinced of their prices, shop around!
And when you've put the last picture of a giant flower on the wall, you can start on the kitchen, they've now started stocking the electrical items as well as condiments set in every variety, everything but the kitchen sink!
Of course, you've got these home in your car which has been pimped out from the car decoration section, with the car electrical tyre pump in the boot ready to be returned for the 3rd time (it did happen to me!)
You can also ponder on the staff who seem to have no clue what you are talking about, no clue where to find it, no idea how much something costs if the label is missing, and quite frankly no inclination to go and find out the above!
And when you've sat down and surveyed your hard work you can enjoy a drink or several. I might be careful on the several though particularly on the spirits, they may have gotten on or two mixed up with the cleaning fluids. At least thats why they taste like, but hey its cheap. Dont take your teenager either, they'll be begging you to buy the nuclear colour alcopops and vodka shots they have so many of!
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Tiger Stores
by m_illie
Tiger is a international branch of stores that sell a variety of quirky objects in a Ikea-esque setting. The products on offer are seemingly miscellaneous but can be categorised in the following way: home office, essentials, kids and people.
Tiger Home: This includes spices, kitchenwear, candles, lamps, clocks, storage, and ... stainless steel objects such as spoons and sieves. Strangely enough, out of the home section, my favourite has got to be the candles, because although for the most part unscented, they really do showcase the store and make it colourful and modern looking. My local store has a wall of candles in a variety of shades and colours, and it genuinely is so appealing my boyfriend has to usher me out of the store, as I already own a ridiculous amount of candles! As well as this, home also includes a few frivolous items, and even joke items, such as a novelty horn which my boyfriend had great fun squeezing and frightening half the shop with! This is also where he and my best friend of mine purchased many of my birthday gifts as they were able to cheaply find small, valuable gifts that weren't to pricey and they knew I'd love.
Tiger Office: This includes stationary, folders, headphones (strangely, as I dont necessarily think you would get away with wearing huge headphones in the office), calculators and other little bits and bobs that you usually tend to find in stores like WHSmiths. The beauty of Tiger is, however, everything is much cheaper, and in my opinion much sleeker and more modern looking. For example, I purchased a simplistic purple folder from my local shop recently and it only cost me a pound! Its great quality and excellent value for money, I will definitely be looking for my school stuff from here in future if possible.
Tiger Essentials: This section is pretty self explanatory as it is pretty much just goods that you will need/dont mind having about the house. For example, things like batteries in a variety of types, extra remotes, and things such as tooth picks and birthday candles which you always need and never seem to have. That is a great moto for Tiger as a whole actually, it is a store that offers you the things you need but never thought you needed! That sounds as though they are being manipulative and conning you into buying frivolous, excessive things but that really isn't true; for the unorganised and dopey person like me, Tiger just seems to offer everything I need and at an affordable price too.
Tiger Kids: Typical items for sale in the kids section includes things like joke moustaches, water balloons, whoopie cushions and even juggling balls! For my boyfriend, and I'm sure many young men, this area is particularly fun and somewhere you can spend a little bit of cash for a joke. This definitely isn't the area I tend to spend the most in, but if my boyfriend had his way it sure would be! It's a place to get typically 'kid' items in one place instead of shopping around local pound stores looking for something that might be moderately fun 1/100 times.
Tiger people: 'People' loosely translates as adults in the Tiger store, and so items for sale here are things like small blushers, eyeshadows and even mascaras. I don't tend to wear makeup that often, and I'm sure there are some women who prefer well known brands to ensure top quality, but judging on the quality of the rest of their goods, I dont doubt Tiger excels here also.
The staff are usually twenty-something-year-olds and are nice enough. I wouldn't say you get outstanding customer care, but in a store with so many varied items, I dont really think their assistence is required that much. Instead, it is much easier, and much more interesting to stroll about the shop yourself, looking out for something that catches your eye. For this reason, and my general preferences also, I'm glad that the staff are a little kept back, but I think some people may find this frustrating if they have their mind set on purchasing a very specific item that is difficult for them to find amongst all of the other products for sale.
Stores are available in the following countries:
Denmark, Finland,Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Span, Sweden and obviously England. The TigerStores sites caters to each of these countries and you are able to select which country you're in to gain access to the website with the appropriate details and language.
If you are unfamiliar with Tiger the website is probably the best place to start. It is strictly an information site and as such, you are unable to purchase any products through it. Instead it showcases a number of items for sale in their stores, and offers you the chance to sign up to their newsletter. The newsletter simply tells you about all the latest products on offer, which is information that can be found on the website, and so I unsubscribed once I realised this for the sake of my bulging inbox, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be useful for someone else. The website also boasts a store locator which is useful for those of you who are entirely unaware of Tiger until now, or at least don't know where your local store is, as it offers you the chance to get in on this excellent store and all it has to offer.
As mentioned before, the store is very modern, and very light and area. With so much for sale, it would be very easy for the store to be chlaustrophobic, but because of clever lighting, and pale, modern colour schemes, often matched with simplistic oak shelving, the store remains very open and airy. It is very welcoming, and even their window displays manage to drag me in without fail.
This is definitely a store I would recommend, as it is somewhere everyone is bound to find something they like. The prices are very reasonable, especially compared with their better known store counterparts. For example, a simple plastic bowl could cost as much as £5.99 in BHS home section, yet it is barely £2 in Tiger. The layout and choice of offers is excellent and inviting, and I guarentee you will shop there more than once, despite its somewhat novelty-eque feeling the first time you enter.
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Harrods
by Laminator123
Harrods is a major department store situated in Knightsbridge, London.
I was very excited to visit Harrods for the very first time. I'd heard so much about it and couldn't wait to explore the store. It seemed liked the ultimate shoppers dream.
After getting off at Knightsbridge underground station, it was a short ... walk to Harrods. I found that there were various exits/entrances all around the store to ease the flow of people traffic.
The first thing I noticed about Harrods before I stepped foot inside was how big and grand it looked. As I approached one of the entrances, I suddenly saw a display/stand just outside. It was the protests for fur. I was also thrust a leaflet on my way into the store by one of the protesters.
As you may or may not be aware, Harrods is the only UK department store to sell real fur. Fur has to be imported from other countries. So the likelihood is that the protests will be there when you visit. Still, it doesn't stop thousands of people coming into the store every day.
At the entrance, there is a Harrods security guard to make sure that everyone is okay and nothing suspicious is going on.
Inside the store is massive. I think I was in there for a good hour or two but I don't think I managed to see everything. The layout, particularly on the ground floor, is a bit of a maze. There are several routes into different rooms so it can get confusing.
There are lots of things on sale from cosmetics, to kitchens, to teddy bears.
If you're planning on doing a serious shopping spree there, it's best to go quite early as it gets very busy. The queues get extremely long and it can take a while to get served. And the queues tend to weave around the aisles too, preventing you from looking at certain displays/products.
The staff at Harrods look immaculate, especially the ones working on the cosmetics counters (they all happen to look the same too, same make-up policy perhaps?). The staff are actually remarkably friendly which was a surprise to me. Having been in various high end department stores such as Selfridges, I found that a lot of them had employed snobbish recruits who clearly don't want to give you the time of day unless you're dressed perfectly or look as though you have a good wad of cash to spend.
At Harrods, probably the most prestigious department store in the UK, the staff treated everyone the same and made everyone feel welcome. I think that they are all a great asset to the company.
The prices of products at Harrods are high, as expected. I don't recommend you get your grocery shopping there unless you really do have money to burn.
Harrods is apparently a good place for celeb spotting too, although I didn't see any whilst I was there.
Overall, it's definitely worth checking out, even if it is just to mock the ridiculous prices there. It's definitely not a regular shopping destination but it's nice to go there every once in a while, or around Christmas time when it's all festive!
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