Bath - a great place to shop (if you're rich) (Shopping Areas in Bath)

Member Name: katew

Product:	Shopping Areas in Bath
Date:	30/07/08 (274 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of interesting independent shops

Disadvantages: Very very expensive for the most part

Bath is a beautiful place to visit, and a wonderful place to shop if you have plenty of money. Unfortunately I don't!

The city appeals very much to tourists, having a range of independent shops, but less so to us locals of limited means, having very few of the cheaper chains.

OK, let's start at the beginning. You will arrive in Bath either at the railway station, or at the temporary bus station several streets away. From the railway station, your first view is of a massive building site. The former Southgate precinct has now been demolished, and a new shopping centre, due for completion in 2010, is being built (very quickly and efficiently) in its place. You can check the progress of this project at http://www.southgatebath.com/. The general idea of this new centre is that it will have a mixture of independent and chain shops, but the only company that has been confirmed so far is Debenhams. There will also be a new 'transport interchange', combining the existing railway station with a new bus station.

In terms of existing shopping, Bath has a selection of the usual shops: M&S, Boots, WH Smiths, House of Fraser (which in Bath is called Jolly's), Superdrug, etc. There are also several mobile phone shops - there seems to be a new one every week!

For fashion, there are names such as Karen Millen and Ted Baker alongside high street names such as Topshop, Gap, Next and BHS. However, there are few of the cheaper options like Peacocks, Primark or New Look - the only low budget clothes shop is QS.

Foodwise, there is a Waitrose and a Sainsbury's convenience style store in the centre, a full sized Sainsbury's a short walk from the middle of town and a Morrison's about 2 miles out. Again, there are none of the cheaper supermarkets such as Asda or Tesco. There are surprisingly few independent food shops either, although there is a farmers' market every Saturday in Green Park Station.

For a fascinating shopping experience, it is worth setting aside a day to wander around. Green Street (just off the main thoroughfare) has some interesting shops such as a sausage shop (I kid you not!) and a fishmongers, and Bartlett Street (a couple of minutes' walk from the top of the main shopping area) has several antique shops. There are also pedestrianised 'corridors' with shops such as Arcania, which sells new age products, and a shop selling Latin American craft items.

The other thing Bath has plenty of is charity shops, although for the most part they are a lot more expensive than a charity shop should be. The best bargains are to be found in the Dorothy House shop, which supports a local hospice, and is in Abbeygate Street, next to M&S.

**My opinion**
If shopping is your pleasure, then you can't go wrong in Bath. However, if you want to buy everyday items at reasonable prices, you're in the wrong place. I once spent a week trying to find a place that sold beer mugs - I could find all sorts of expensive arty drinking glasses, but plain, ordinary, dimpled beer mugs? Not on your life! My own favourites in Bath are Walters in the Podium, who sell cameras and other opticals such as telescopes, and The Works, who sell books, DVDs and low budget craft supplies.

The other thing about Bath is that, being a tourist city, you will usually find the staff in most shops extremely helpful. The downside is that if you're disabled, you might as well forget it. A huge proportion of the city centre consists of listed buildings, and for some strange reason, that seems to mean that you can't do *anything* to help the less mobile among us get around your shop! Having said that, the most helpful staff on this front are in some of the charity shops - they have portable ramps in many of them and are only too pleased to help you in any way they can.

Summary: Great to visit, but frustrating to live in