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The Friary Shopping Centre (Guildford)
by sa_O33
This multi-storey shopping centre stood on what was the site of a Friary, hence its name; however, its function has changed greatly. All sorts of shops are included here - fast food, cafés, clothing, music, DVDs et. c. However, like most of Guildford, the vast majority of the more than 60 shops are clothes shops (of all different ... varieties, from Ann Summers to BHS.). This is a Westfield shopping centre, and so has small toy cars for children to borrow to drive alongside their parents in. Access is good - both ecalators and lifts function here, so those in wheelchairs, or with buggies can easily get to all shops easily and without hassle. There are two sets of toilets; one on the ground floor and one on the top floor (there are 3 floors overall).
Car parking is provided by the nearby Bedford Road car park, which is well sign-posted within Guildford. However, as a non-driver, I can't tell you the prices! My driving friends tell me there are usually plenty of spaces.
In terms of busyness, it's not the best place to go if you just want to pop in for something, or to have a quiet wander round, as it's usually rather busy. But still, if you want a centre with quite a lot of shops, here's one.
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Liverpool One
by biv2k
Liverpool One is very easy to get to. It is in walking distance of the city train stations. If you are visiting by car, the nearby motorways do a great job of landing you in good proximity of Liverpool city centre, and fairly simple network of a-roads make driving there a relaxing experience.
One thing to note is that the ... parking charges at Liverpool One are high; at time of writing it is £1 for every 25 minutes, up to a maximum of £14. Given that you could easily spend 6 hours shopping, exploring the albert docks, and having a meal, it's quite easy to rack up these charges. We felt £14 was obscene; almost like paying the entrance fee to a theme park, and tends to be much higher than other shopping destinations in the wider proximity, such as the Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and the Trafford Centre (which is free!). Naturally, we opted to park in a multi-storey less than a mile away and paid £5 for the day.
Our first impressions of the complex were positive; the area around South John Street looks fantastically futuristic, full of slender curves and clean angles. Chavasse park, raised off the ground with the curved Hilton hotel and apartments either side, is a great location for eating - I was disappointed to see that half of it was fenced off though for no apparent reason, as we were looking forward to relaxing on the grass after shopping. One critique of the overall design however is that it didn't fit in the surrounding city centre streets, which I couldn't help but notice looked dilapidated in comparison; making Liverpool One seem like an inappropriate statement of wealth in a sea of recession.
Liverpool One boasts a large variety of chain stores, including many premium label stores such as G-Star, Jane Norman, Ted Baker, and Radley but to name a few. I cannot see any fashion conscious shoppers being disappointed here; Liverpool One is certainly not overshadowed by other shopping destinations in this respect. I would have liked to see more unique stores however, and I'm sure there are more original stores off the beaten trail. Again, spoilt for choice with places to eat, from popular chain restaurants such as Cafe Rouge and Zizzi to more independent ventures such as Dinomat. Oh, there is an Odeon cinema too.
Unfortunately, we found it a bit difficult to get our bearings at first. After sitting in a car for a while our first priority, naturally, was to nip to the loo before setting off any further. The map indicated that toilets were on the ground floor the south end of the complex - but these were nowhere to be found. Were they in the car park entrance? Upstairs at Chavasse park? Down the un-signposted escalators (that also led to the car park)? Eventually, we noticed that they were sealed behind a giant wooden 'Liverpool one' board, with no notice. So we cheekily nipped in John Lewis. Good job too, as the functioning toilets were behind a payment barrier!
At times this frustration continued. Lack of signage, angular walkways forcing you to 'zig-zag' to reach your desired store, dislocated elevators only serving certain floors, angles of concrete enforcing random steps, and one-way escalators proved an annoyance. On the positive side, walkways and stores felt spacious, compared to the 'cram' of places such as the Trafford Centre.
The futuristic, minimal design did continue to please. Stores too tended to share the vision, by fitting out their interiors with glossy black floors with studded lights, curved walkways and glass barriers.
I didn't feel that there was much atmosphere in Liverpool One. It didn't feel vibrant; I kind of missed the features of other city centres - the deluded street entertainers, occasional protester, one-off stands, the noise and culture of the shoppers, flashy light displays and art. It all seemed a bit controlled and sedate.
In considering Liverpool One, it's always worth considering its proximity to other attractions, including the Albert Dock, Tours, the Cavern club, and other Beatles related Shenanigans.
Unfortunately overall as a tourist, we felt underwhelmed by Liverpool One, and felt that better value, mix of stores, and atmosphere can be found in other northern cities such as Leeds and Manchester. A great regular destination for Liverpudlians; and to be honest probably just what Liverpool needs to kick start some regeneration. But as a tourist, not somewhere I would consider visiting regularly.
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Marks and Spencer (London)
by sooty1987
Marks and Spencer High Street Stores.
I have a Marks and Spencer store in my local high street. The store is in a prominent position and has a clothing department upstairs and a food hall downstairs. The store has a nice shop front and is always very clean.
The clothing department has a lot of the Marks and ... Spencer Classic Range which caters for older ladies, a very little amount of the Per Una range, some ladies and gents jeans and a small range of unisex underwear and lingerie. it really is quite a small store.
On entering the clothing department I can see lots of shop assistants dressed all the same in the blue Marks and Spencer uniform. Some are busy filling rails with clothes, some are busy serving customers and others are chatting to each other. I actually feel quite bad interrupting two chatting assistants to ask if they have the jeans I am interested in in my size - one assistant looks away and the other says - all we have is on the shop floor, you can order them over there! She then points to the customer ordering desk.
I decide to give the jeans a miss - I will just order them online later at home and save any further interaction with the shop assistants - I am not saying all shop assistants are like this - but Marks and Spencer in my high street seems to be really bad.
I then enter the Food Hall part of the store - lots of customers - what are they putting in the food to make it so addictive? Still quite a small store, 3 freezers for frozen food, some fresh bakery produce, fruit and veg, some tins etc and absolutely lots of flowers - they must be expecting lots of customers looking for flowers and Mother's Day and Easter are now long gone! In my opinion too much space is taken up with the flowers.
I grab an egg sandwich, it's the only one I can afford as the food prices are quite high probably 33% more than my local Tesco. I get into a que, the que is going nowhere - customers are outnumbering staff by about 25 to 1 and it is taking ages to get served. It is only 10am in the morning - where have all these customers come from? I run out of time and decide to put the sandwich back on the shelf and leave empty handed.
Marks and Spencers food is very nice and good quality, it is just too expensive for my budget. Staff in the clothing department out number food hall staff and the food hall with it's volume of custom seems to be what is keeping the store open. Perhaps they need to look at this aspect of staffing the store.
Clothes from the clothing department is mainly for older people and for real variety then you need to order online.
I like Marks and Spencer and it does have it's uses but only when I use the online version!!!
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