Having lived in the west of Scotland in small towns all of my life I have always had to travel to meet my shopping needs with Glasgow and Clydebank being my normal haunts but over the recent years I have begun to use Stirling as a shopping option more and more thanks to the huge transformation which has taken shape throughout.
Stirling is an old town with a castle and not much else on offer until huge improvements to the shopping facilities (namely the Marches and Thistle shopping centres) have caused the town to be a name which is linked to shopping. With excellent rail and bus links to the town centre right beside the shopping areas the town has become a popular shopping area for people to take a trip to for the day and thanks to huge amounts of parking areas it has become easier for people too.
The shopping centres themselves are well designed and linked with both having a clean and welcoming feel to them as well as spacious walkways. There are a huge variety of shops on offer including:

Burtons, Dorothy Perkins, Next, Game, HMV, JJB Sports, Vodafone, River Island, Marks and Spencers, Debenhams and BHS to name but some

The stores themselves are all well maintained and kept clean and fresh making the experience feel a pleasant and relaxing one. The centres have good accessability with no stairs to worry about.
The people in Stirling are on the whole friendly and the shopping experience there is on the whole one which is enjoyable and allows for a great amount of purchases with nice travel links nearby.

Positives:

- Clean and well maintained shopping centres
- Excellent variety of shops
- Good accessibility
- Excellent travel links
- Friendly and helpful people

Negatives:

- None

The experience of shopping in Stirling is one which has improved hugely over the years and is an enjoyable plus relaxing experience with the shopping centres allowing for all year round shopping without worries about the weather.