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Fosse Shopping Park (Leicester)
by janimoo23
I love shopping and as I only live 5 minutes driving/20 minutes walking for the shopping centre I use it on a regular basis as it is handy if I just need to get something. It has got everything I need and with the long opening hours it is just convenient if I want to pop there after my daughter has gone to bed whilst my hubby babysits. ... And plus shopping little bit later on the day guarantees better shopping experience as there is a lot less people around and easy parking.
***Location***
Fosse Shopping Park is one of Britain's lagerst shopping centres. It is situated in Enderby (Blaby District) which is on the southern side of the Leicester City. The retail park is less than a mile from Junction 21 of the M1/M69. Junction 21 also connects the M1 with Narborough Road which is a main route to Leicester City Centre.
To me Fosse Park is divided into 3 sections:
First one has massive ASDA superstore which is opened 24/7. It is situated on its own separate bit with separate car parking facilities. I do not shop in ASDA at all. I must say it has massive car park with quite a few mother and child parking spaces. The reason I do not like shopping in Asda that it is always packed which people pushing each other and kids running riot everywhere. I am not saying this is not the case in any supermarket however; there is a big Sainsbury's situated just around the corner (literally) which tends to be less busy so it is much nicer to shop there (and its bit closer from my house to get there).
Second - MAIN section of Fosse Park which has majority of the shops. Car parking is massive, although I am not sure how many spaces are there nor there are any signs to state this. There are only fed disabled spaces available and again very little mother and baby spaces which are always taken up so I just park in any available space I can find. Some of the major shops in this section include: massive BHS, JJB, Monsoon, River Island, Next (one of my favourite shops), Gap (including baby Gap), Clarks, Boots (visiting regularly), Evans, Dorothy Perkins, WHS Smith, Sports World, New Look (excluding New Look Men) and Massive Marks and Spencer department including M&S food with its own car park at the back. All those shops are big versions providing good range of products to choose from and I feel even fussiest shopper will find something that they like in here.
You will probably get hungry/thirsty with all the shopping and walking so it is probably worth mentioning that there is a Food hall in the corner between Sports World and New Look. Within the food hall, there is plenty to choose for everybody if you just fancy having a cuppa or bite to eat. Eating drinking facilities include: Costa Coffee, Druckers Vienna Patisserie, KFC, Thorntons, Greggs or L4P. In addition in Food Hall, you can find Parfume shop, O2 and Orange shops, Clinton Card and very small newsagents. There is small stand on the side selling hand bags too. Food hall is quite big and always packed in the peak times. There is range of comfy leather seats, classic wooden chairs or bar stool to choose from. There are good amount of highchairs provided. Also quite good think about food hall is that they provide bottle warmers (Tommee Tippee) which is convenient if you need to warm up a bottle or jar of food. Microwave is also provided to use warm up baby food. I have used food hall facilities before; I normally have something from Costa however recently I have been to Druckers Vienna Patisserie which has their own seating area for customers. I have had coffee and a cake which was delicious!!! Definitely recommend. If you do not fancy anything from food hall, there is also McDonalds which is situated outside of the main food hall.
Toilet facilities that are situated in the corner of the food hall. I have used them before and must they are being cleaned (have seen the sign warning of wet floor etc) however they are not the best toilets, some of the doors are wonky and they look probably bit outdated. At the peak times, they are rather unpleasant with the wet toilete paper on the floor or toilets being blocked. I generally do not like using public toilets and avoid using these. There are disable toilets and nappy change facilities available separately.
Another facilities area is also available from Marks and Spencer which also has disabled toilets and nappy change/feeding cubicle. I have used this nappy change facility before. They looked cleaned with couple of bins provided which were not overflowing with nappies.
There are few ATM's availabe at Fosse Park.
Third and last section of Fosse Park includes megastores such as Curry's, Argos, PC World, Next Home, DFS, Harvey's and SCS. This section has separate car park with plenty of car parking spaces and disabled parking as well. This section of Fosse Park is separated from main bit by a round abound (if you are driving) or just a traffic light controlled crossing.
Car parking is free at Fosse Park.
My experience in shopping at Fosse Park is really good. As I mentioned, as I live very close to it, and work even closer, I find it easy just to pop there if I need to get something. It has plenty to offer and 9 out of 10 times I manage to get what I need. I do try to avoid going there on Saturdays and Sundays as it tends to get really really busy and around Christamas time it is real nightmare to find a parking (its good job that I can walk there so no stopping me). It has not entertainment for kids so if you have fidgety child (just like mine) I would avoid taking them with you.
What I also like about living so close is that I can order something on-line like I have done with Boots or Next and have it delivered to the store free of charge without having to travel far.
There are buses that regularly go to Fosse Park (Arriva and Centrebus) there are several different services available.
Fosse Park is opened 9am till 9pm Monday to Saturday and 11am till 4pm on Sunday. Extended late night shopping also applies around Christmas time.
Address should you want to visit is: Fosse Park Avenue Leicester LE19 1HY
In summary good range of shops, good range of refreshments available, free parking - something for everyone what else do you need?
Fosse Park gets 5/5 from me
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Pad Chorlton (Manchester)
by happybunny2204
Living just a few roads away from this store, I often pop in to see what new items have come in. Pad is located 2 minutes away from the centre of Chorlton, and opposite the Unicorn grocery store and Chorlton Leisure Centre. There is plenty of space to park your car just around the corner although it does get quite busy at the end of the ... school day as there are three primary schools close by.
Althought the shop is quite small, it is packed full of interesting, quirky items, which are ideal as gifts or to display in your own home. There are a wide variety of items on offer, and due to the size of the shop, they are always rotating the stock, so if there was an item you liked, then even if they don't have it in store anymore, they may still be able to get it for you. They sell everything from greetings cards to mugs, photo frames, toys and other decorative items. All of the items are of excellent quality, so althought they may be a little more expensive than other shops, you can guarantee that they will last.
The website, www.padwebstore.co.uk shows you the full range of the products that they sell and the staff are always very knowledgeable about what they sell. Most of the items would appeal to younger people in their twenties and thirties, although they do sell a range of childrens gifts and some of their gifts would also be great to give to teenagers.
The service is always friendly and personable, and the staff cannot do enough to help you. Most of the items are very reasonably priced, and there are a wide range of prices so there is something to cater to everyones budget.
Opening Times:
Monday-Friday 9:30-18:00
Saturday 9:30-17:30
Sunday 11:30-16:30
Overall: A great shop staffed by great people.
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