An improved rating for this branch of WH Smith, it has been refurbished since my last review and…read morethe store does look a lot better on the interior, while it is still let down by high pricing and slow service including staff failing to understand how a coupon works to the point I was so close to walking away empty-handed on a recent visit, it has improved overall as a store. The overall selection is pretty good, especially considering a lack of a rival within the intu Trafford Centre for the stationary part of the business with no Ryman, Paperchase or The Works branches nearby. 3*

The thing you need to remember about WH Smith's is it's great for absolutely everything except…read morebooks. Which is ironic, considering it's partly a bookstore. Okay, I'm not being fair - that depends entirely on the kind of books you like. If it's bestsellers; chick-lit, celebrity autobiographies, those 'painful memories' stories about child abuse, some frothy comedy or a bodice-ripper, you'll be fine for books here. However if you want stationery, greeting cards, DVDs, art supplies, even toys or a vast array of niche magazines, then you'll be spoilt for choice. This Trafford Centre branch is perfect for a mid-afternoon stop-off as it has a Superdrug nearby for cheap soft drinks, and a fountain just outside to sit on the edge of to read your new magazine. And believe me, in the hectic crowded atmosphere of the Trafford Centre, it's more than necessary.

It's funny how you can live somewhere for ages and still make joyous discoveries, such as this. I…read morecame in here a while ago (having some how missed it!) and was delighted to see a shop dedicated to retro gaming. Although as I entered the front of the store had a few bare shelves, next to the DVDs that were on sale, as you delve further back there are many retro gems to be found. All kinds of old school games and consoles are on offer here, from Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, Mega Drive and many more. I'm always on the look out to find old games and was really chuffed to see they had quite a few of my old favourites in attendance! All the classics, Golden Eye, Sonic and a range of Disney games to name but a few, were there before my gleaming eyes. They also buy in old stock, which is great news for me as I have a hoard of items that I really can't see myself playing anymore, so promised the guys I would be back soon with a bag of goodies for them! One of the best things, other than the old school haven of games, was that they had a whole hoard of Tartan Asia Extreme films on sale too. To any other fans of Tartan, you'll know this is pretty awesome, since Tartan Asia is sadly no more! I'd strongly advise getting in there and stocking up, if I don't beat you to it that is... To conclude: Friendly staff, awesome retro games, Tartan DVDs. That adds up to a win in my book!

This is a brilliant little shop which ok is not as cheap as cex most of the time, but the fact…read morethat majority of the time they have DVD's and games that cex don't more than makes up for it and are generally in better condition as most discs i get from there don't have a single scratch or finger print!! Considering its only a small shop they have a very large selection to choose from, for example you can get anything from super nintendo, and dreamcast to PS3 and XBOX 360 games and video cassettes to DVDs. Its deffinatly worth a look if you want to buy a box set as they are quite often fairly cheap. The service is very friendly and they know what they are doing I would recomend anyone to go in and have a look.

Hmmm, in my opinion, Cheshire Oaks should have something a bit more well known such as HMV or…read moreZavvi...anyway, this shop is ok, sells most CD's and DVD's and games that you would expect but considering it is on the outlet side, prices don't seem all that much cheaper.....

DJ Shadow would have a field day in X-Records…read more From the outside it looks like your average, old skool music store. Walk down to the basement however, and you're greeted with the sight of thousands of 7" singles, 12" EPs and 33" albums stacked floor to ceiling on weight-bearing shelves. Look around and you'll notice there's thousands more records housed in boxes and crates all around you. Some of them are clearly marked Hip Hop, Reggae, Northern Soul and so on, others are simply marked Sale and have reduced stickers on them. Gloriously, X-Records sells a combination of new and secondhand vinyl, making it a bit of a one-stop destination for collectors and deejays. Naturally, there's some records that were destined for landfill but dig carefully and you'll find plenty of gems from Patti Smith and Television to Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and Can. Prices are low, most of the stock is in great condition and there's lots of deleted and obscure titles in-between popular albums. As for the kind of music they stock, X-Records sells everything from prog-rock, punk, indie and heavy metal to country, folk, blues, hip hop, rap and ska to free jazz. DJ Shadow's score to Dark Days: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgWn9ZdyiAE

X Records is a real forgotten gem of a record shop which should certainly be on the radar of anyone…read morehalf serious about their records. Basically, as no-one ever remembers this place exists outside of Bolton, you can find loads of ace deleted stock, usually at knock-down prices because the owner doesn't have a clue what he's doing. That means stock that is not available anywhere else, not marked up as a 'rarity'. There's a decent array of styles and genres, with modern releases nestled up against an extensive metal and hard rock selection. There's also a load of decent reissues on the shelves. Tucked away in the back is a dedicated dance area where you'll find shaven headed lads nodding furiously along to kiddiecore donk or whatever they're listening to that given week. Thanks to some changes in staff (be it that they left to pastures new or were 'let go'), X Records has sadly lost its way slightly and these days, it seems to be afloat thanks to Kiss memorabilia rather than selling records to enthusiastic teenagers. That's a shame as this is a shop that has done wonders in shaping me and my musical tastes over the years.

A good mix of CDs and vinyl that also tailors to the more eclectic tastes. Friendly employees each…read moretime I've visited. Deals in new product mainly. If you have more eclectic tastes this is well worth your time.

Sizzling Soul Fabulous Funk…read moreBrilliant Broken Beats Awesome Abstract Hip Hop Fantastic Free Jazz Dazzling Dubstep Sweeeeeet Lovers Rock Beautifully crooned Country Amazing Americana Classic Chicago House Tantalising Techno Pogo-ing Punk-Funk Perfect Pop Gorgeous Psyche-Folk Blistering Garage & lots of cool Rock & Roll Don't mean to get all High Fidelity on y'all but Piccadilly Records is the Northern equivalent of Rough Trade East. They have aisles of incredible vinyl on 7", 12" and long-players, tons of new and re-issued CDs and listening decks where you can check them all out. Even better, most of the staff are deejays so can give you the lowdown on the tracks that are the most fly. They also host in-store gigs from emerging and established artists. What more could you want?

Favourite record shop in Wrexham. Lots of selection on Vinyl record and CD with multiple genres…read moreavailable. The prices are affordable and I can usually find what I'm looking for. The owner is a friendly man who knows a lot about what he sells and is nice to talk to about albums etc.

That's Entertainment is a chain of music and DVD shops, with a few games owned by Music Magpie, the…read moreonline giant in the UK. This particular branch is actually located in Liverpool, due to its' location I'm sure it is classed as being apart of the St John's centre. I basically came in here just to browse the games, I asked a member of staff and she pointed me in the right direction, but she sadly didn't seem really friendly and she didn't stand out on her level of helpfulness. The game selection was quite small, and in all honesty most of the stock was just rubbish even from old consoles such as the original Xbox, which I doubt have any value anymore since they stopped making the games and as far as I'm aware can't be used on the newer 360 or One consoles. There seemed very few games on the other hand on new consoles such as the Xbox One or PS4. The selection was quite weird, there was a small selection of books and a larger selection of CD's and DVD's which were the main things this store stocked. Inside, it carried on the tradition which That's Entertainment seem to do of being slightly basic. The range seems out of touch, they are stocking really old stuff and not the newer stuff which can be used from new consoles, most games stocked seem to be old also, for example the latest FIFA version was 2013, and they even had some dating back to 2009, this store is out of date, in terms of decor and stock and because of this sadly suffers the same negative fate as its' Oldham branch to warrant a single one star here in Liverpool.

This HMV store is located inside Intu Potteries in Hanley, Stoke On-Trent. It is quite a nice…read morestore, it is a good size and a good selection of dvd's and cd's. I mainly come in to take a look at the cd's, especially albums from Englebert and Frank Sinatra, I noticed a wide selection of CD's, in some form of alphabetical order, yet I found it to be disorganized, it was arranged into categories and then alphabetical order, hence became confusing, and I didn't realize that until I got all the way through the alphabet a good 2-3 times. The layout of CD's really needs sorting, as it did seem confusing, as they was such a big selection it always would be hard arranging them, but they didn't seem to do a job here. Prices for me seemed a little pricey, a little expensive but still some of them were on par with Amazon's price for new, but considering what used CD's can be bought for and from other sellers new on Amazon, it was a little pricy. For example, as CD's are going out of fashion, they should be much cheaper, and I still was hesitant about paying £6.99 The signal in this store is weak, so it can be hard to price-check on your phone. As this store appeals to a younger market, selling entertainment products, this is one of the stores that doe and should have some sort of wi-fi, or at the very least some 3G/4G signal, and considering even Lush has free wifi, HMV should too! The staff here seemed okay, although he seemed hesitant about signing me up to the loyalty scheme and telling me it wasn't free, as I thought it would have been, which is a little bit of a rip-off and makes it less of a rewards based system, and more of a punishment. I decided not to subscribe as I rarely visit HMV. The range of all other items was okay / good, but still the prices remained poor / satisfactory, even the offers were confusing, for example Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked can be bought for £5.99 or £2.99 for any purchase, but still it remains £3 to buy on Amazon and it sells for about that, making it not much of a savings. The 2 for £5 / £10 offer also was confusing, it was on cheaper albums that were not really worth much online, and only few of them. Overall, it is just too pricey here and they make the prices seem great by using "Special Offer" promotions which is a little misleading, considering this factor, an issue with the arrangements of the CD's, the staff being merely average, I feel I can only give this HMV store 2 stars.

HMV in the Potteries Centre has a very large selection of DVD's, CD's, video games and consoles…read more The prices tend to be quite good and they regularly have special offers such as 3 DVD's for £20 or cheap games console bundles. The store layout is very good. Everything is arranged into different categories with special sections devoted to things such as the current top 40 singles so it's easy to find the what you are looking for. The staff are friendly and even though there is sometimes a large queue, they are very fast at dealing with people so you don't usually have to wait long.

this is good shop for guitars drumsetc. tiny shop but jam packed with musical goodies ie straps…read morestrings electric acoustic amps and loads more