Aberdeen Highstreet Shopping
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Union Square (Aberdeen)
by eilidhcatriona When a sign appeared by some disused land beside the railway station in Aberdeen approximately 12 years ago proclaiming there would be a big new shopping centre and cinema complex built and opening there by spring 2001, I was quite excited. The development was to be called Union Square. Fast forward through those 12 years, and ... Union Square has now been open for about 4 months. Clearly the schedule didn't quite go according to plan. Building started a few years ago, and it was very promising. The first major benefit was that the bus station was integrated into the new building. I was now able to wait for buses in a clean and warm waiting area. Things were looking up, and I was on the side of the new development. Work was also done to integrate the train station into the new centre, which made it possible to walk from train to bus without having to go outside. Always a good thing in Aberdeen. The Union Square development consists of a shopping centre, Cineworld and Jurys Inn. The Cineworld is slightly unnecessary as there is a Vue nearby, however I can understand that Cineworld would want to have a presence in the city centre - their other Aberdeen centre is out at the beach retail park, and not easy to get to without a car. I haven't been into the Jury's Inn at Union Square, but having stayed in one in Glasgow, I would assume it is a high quality hotel. Aberdeen has a chronic shortage of hotel rooms, particularly during the busy Offshore Europe event every September, so another large hotel is welcome. Now for the main attraction - the shopping centre. It is a nice building, with an impressive front and cute courtyard outside. The shops, however, are a disappointment. There are the usual suspects, Next, M&S, TK Maxx, H&M and the like, alongside some which are new to Aberdeen, such as Ollie & Nic and an awful lot of jewellery and watch shops. Why Aberdeen needs yet another Next is a mystery, there's two large ones already, and exactly how all these expensive jewellery stores will survive, I don't know. The shops seem to be aimed at a mixed audience. The more pricey ones are aimed at 20-30 somethings, maybe young professionals employed by the numerous oil & gas, law and accountancy firms. There are also the shops like H&M, Zara and AB10 which seem to be for teenagers. I found the selection of shops dull. There is nothing particularly new and exciting in amongst them, and there aren't even that many. I am still of the opinion that the St Nicholas & Bon Accord is the best in the city; the Academy and Galleria centres have always seemed a bit of a waste of space to me. Union Square is no different in terms of its shops in my opinion. The cafes and restaurants however are a little better. There is the usual Starbucks and Costa, along with a slightly more interesting cafe by the escalators whose name I have forgotten. I had a very disappointing cup of tea there, and the unisex toilets freaked out my mum, but it was still different to the generic Starbucks you can find on every high street in Britain. The choice of restaurants is quite good. They are all chains, including Frankie & Bennys, Nando's and Yo! Sushi. Most are new to Aberdeen, with the exception of Frankie & Bennys, and I was unsure Aberdonians would accept things like sushi, but it was doing a roaring trade when I walked past. The building itself is bland. I found the interior of the centre echoey and boring, and there is an awful lot of empty space, where plants or sculptures would really make a difference. It is however clean and well maintained. The toilets are also clean and clearly looked after. I was keen to see Union Square, but having been I'm not that sure. I think it is a wasted opportunity; the shops are not exciting enough to draw people away from the main shopping areas around Union Street. However I think the cinema and restaurants could do well in that location. If you're going to Aberdeen to shop, stick to Union Street and the St Nicholas & Bon Accord centres. I like the integrated bus and train stations, but that's hardly worth this massive development just for that. Read the complete review |
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MacBeans
by machar MacBeans is one of the most amazing shops in Aberdeen. I would describe it as a tea and coffee emporium although they describe themselves as coffee roasters and tea specialists. With a description like that, you may have guessed that I am talking about a tea and coffee shop. The shop is truly unique in Aberdeen, as it is the ... only specialist shop in the city. Therefore it is normally quite busy on a Saturday afternoon! The shop itself is rather small and smells wonderful! The aroma of tea and coffee has permeated the woodwork in the 12 years that the shop has been here. The fact that they roast their coffee beans as required in the basement of the shop, only adds to the wonderful smell! The tea and coffee are stored in large metal jars behind the counter. You simply choose from what you want from the up to date list on the counter (complete with prices and descriptions). Most of the loose teas cost between £1.30 and £1.80 per 100g. You should really buy in small amounts as tealeaves can loose their freshness. The speciality teas (see below) are much more expensive ranging from £3 - £7 per 100g. As I am not a coffee drinker I'll mainly talk about the tea as that is my area. However, my boyfriend is a committed coffee drinker and swears by MacBeans! The tea comes in several different categories and I'll give you some examples complete with the descriptions (which are very good!). BLACK TEAS Indian tea e.g. Darjeeling, Assam, Ceylon China tea e.g. Keemun - a mild aromatic tea with a delicate flavour. Suitable for drinking with or without milk and goes well with Chinese food. Formosa (Taiwan) e.g. Formosa oolong - a semi-fermented tea with a light delicate flavour. Drink with or without milk. BLENDED TEAS Earl Grey, Earl Grey-Blue Lady, Breakfast blend, Afternoon tea and (one of my favourites) Russian caravan. This blend was originally brought across Asia to Russia by the camel caravan! You can drink Russian caravan with milk, black with lemon, hot or iced. Very versatile! GREEN TEAS Japanese tea e.g. Gen-mai cha, Bancha, Ho-ji cha, Ko-kei cha and Japanese cherry. The cherry tea is lovely as an evening drink and is certainly something different! Chinese teas e.g. Pai-mu-tan, Green Yunnan and another of my favourites - gunpowder. This tea got its name from the fact that the tightly rolled leaves look like gunpowder pellets! It is actually a little it smoky as well and tastes delicious! SPECIALITY TEAS Now we enter the realms of the more expensive "first pick" selections. Here we have the best Ceylon, jasmine, China Keemun and first flush Darjeeling. Expensive but we all need a little indulgence now and again! OTHER TEAS Here we have tea from other less well known parts of India, Kenya, South Africa, Brazil and spiced teas. Always something interesting! MacBeans also sell teabags for people who aren't too keen on messy tealeaves. However, the range of these is limited to the more popular loose teas (such as Earl Grey, Assam etc) and herbal. The range of herbal tea bags is quite impressive and is quite good value at £1.30 for 20. They don't just sell tea and coffee. They also sell a wide range of Bodum products such as tea and coffee pots, travelling coffee mugs and filters. They even sell coffee roasting machines if you have a spare £700!! If you were ever in Aberdeen I would highly recommend a visit to MacBeans to stock up especially if you are a committed tea drinker like myself! The shop is easy to find as it is in the middle of the city centre. However, if you fail to spot it just follow your nose! Read the complete review |
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New Stitches
by machar Being small and having a waist that is tiny in comparison to my hips. I am no stranger to alteration shops. When a new large alteration shop opened in Aberdeen, it wasn't long before I paid it a visit. New Stitches is situated in John Street, which is near the main shopping area in Aberdeen. This means that you don't ... have to go out your way to drop off your items. New Stitches specialise in tailoring alterations, dry cleaning services and professional leather repairs according to their advert. At the moment I have only used their alteration service but I may be using the other services! I needed a brand new pair of Diesel jeans shortened and my boyfriend also needed a pair of Moschino jeans shortened. As these are both rather expensive items we hoped that they would do a good job! The shop had only been opened a few days when we dropped the stuff off so they were not busy. We both tried on our jeans and tailor took the jeans up to the length we wanted and pinned them. They offer a one hour service at no extra cost which is wonderful. As far as I know they are the only alteration service in Aberdeen to offer this. This service could be a god send if you want to wear those trousers you've just bought the same day but they are a little bit long. Straight from the shop to the tailors and they are ready in an hour! True to their word, when we got back (more than an hour later as we went for lunch and shopping) our jeans were ready. We tried our jeans on when we got home and they were perfect. The shop had made a really good job of them and you couldn't tell that they had been taken up. I found the prices to be very reasonable for the quality and speed of service. I've listed the prices for some of the most common items below - Skirt hem shortened - £6 Skirt waist altered - £8 Trousers shortened - £5 Trousers lengthened - £5 Jeans shortened - £5 Jean zip replaced - £6 Tro user zip replaced - £6 The shop is opened fantastic hours that fit in with your working day so you can drop stuff off at lunch time and pick it up when you finish work. The opening hours are - Mon - Wed and Friday 9am - 6.30pm Thurs 9am - 7.30pm Sat 9am - 5.30pm I was very impressed with the service and I would use it again. The main attractions for me were the one hour service and the reasonable prices. If I use any of the other services I will be sure to update this op. Read the complete review |
Aberdeen Highstreet Shopping |
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2 reviews Shopping Centre / Highstreet Shopping / Address: Guild Square / Aberdeen / AB11 5RG / Scotland / Tel: 01224 254300 |
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1 review Highstreet Shopping / Clothes shop which will buy from you designer clothes and sell them on your behalf taking some commission. 2 Crown Lane, Aberdeen. |
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1 review Highstreet Shopping / City streets, markets, shopping malls, large retail parks... |
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1 review Highstreet Shopping / 2 Little Belmont Street, Aberdeen AB10 1JG. Tel : 01224 624757. Fax: 01224 637377. |
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1 review Highstreet Shopping / Clothing alteration shop and dry cleaners. 29 John street, Aberdeen. Tel - 01224 648890. |
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Highstreet Shopping / Coco Violet shop is a womens fashions and accessories. |
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| Aberdeen Highstreet Shopping Recommendations 1 | ||
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