Great for bargains and spacious. (The 99p Store)

Name: jennikitten

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Product:	The 99p Store
Date:	29/05/08 (167 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Never know what you might find. Price.

Disadvantages: Only accepts cash, staff can be rude, shop itself is ugly.

My closest 99p store is in the Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham, so I'll be focusing on this particular one in my review.

When I first moved to Nottingham, it was Hobbycraft, but then closed and opened as a £2 shop. I was surprised (but pleased!) to see it become a 99p store soon after.

Unlike a typical £2, £1 or 99p store, this one is large with wide aisles (probably because it used to be Hobbycraft). This is a definite advantage because it gets busy, and items are easier to see; however it also highlights the fact that the walls, ceiling and floor could do with a makeover, being bland, old and cheap-looking. Items can be high up and difficult to reach. Still, it is a good environment to shop in for such low-budget items, and it means they can store more/put more stock out, which is never a bad thing.

It sells a wide range of products. On the left as you enter, there are toiletry related aisles of products such as shampoo, toothpaste etc. Many of them are high street brand names such as Colgate and Head and Shoulders. However, the unrecognisable-name products should not be overlooked; as a student living with 2 other girls (and all of us have friends/boyfriends round a lot), being able to buy half a litre of handwash for 99p shouldn't be knocked! I also got 6 toothbrushes for 99p, and they were pretty good quality. Continuing down the store, there are tons of home products from stain remover to 6 pack kitchen rolls to boxes of 200 Kleenex man-size tissues.

I tend to avoid the cheap plastic toy aisles, however I imagine they'd be good for things like school fairs and small children's party bags. Next to these are the pet aisles, and anyone who's spent several pounds on dog treats only to have them gobbled up in minutes will appreciate this section.

Some of the shop is poorly blocked off with tape and a sign saying 'Staff only'. I did assume they were eventually going to open the store up more but this has not been the case since it opened about a year ago, and so this looks untidy and unprofessional but is easily ignored.

One of my favourite aisles is that DVD/CD/video part. I've managed to pick up a sealed 'FRIENDS' DVD here for 99p - it usually retails between £10-15, so a fantastic bargain. My sister also bought CSI DVDs, and a CSI game with a similar saving.

Opposite this section are the seasonal aisles, which are good for cheap Christmas decorations for work dos, schools etc. and a limited range of fancy dress stuff for parties. This section is not great unless you're throwing a Halloween or Christmas party, simply because there are not many major themed celebrations throughout the year! I imagine they have quite a bit of competition, since there is a Poundworld and a Pound Mania in the same shopping centre, and 2 Poundlands are close by - but the 99p store is holding its own and just keeps getting better.

The last defined section is that of food. Sometimes you can get things here which aren't easily available elsewhere, such as Pombear crisps. This section is good to get biscuits and a range of party snacks cheaply. However, some of the branding I find looks a bit suspect and so I don't always buy food here.

Upon approaching the tills, there are a few random items such as batteries and whatever they are currently trying to get rid of, for example lighters and fluffy pens. This is where the shop loses a star from me, because they only accept cash. They are also quite rude about this, usually barking 'Cash only?' at the customer if they have more than about 5 items. This I think should be clearly labelled at the entrance to the store and/or have posters around it or have a sign where the queues are to prevent confusion. Also, I'm not sure why they only accept cash, and have done since they opened (perhaps to cut costs).

Overall, this shop has great bargains and you don't have to do much searching to find treasure amongst the tat.

Summary: A great all-rounder; don't be put off by the disadvantages!