Smithsonia is an exceptional jewellers and gift shop based in Birmingham's Piccadilly Arcade. They…read moresell many things from gorgeous silver jewellery to Japanese Kokeshi Dolls and amazing sculpted pieces in ceramics and glass. There is something for most budgets in this shop and it's a great place to browse. I bought some cute button earrings for just £10 but there are plenty more extravagant gifts, believe me! You could spend forever just gazing in their windows as you walk past; there is so much to see - it must take them forever to clean! They do beautiful and unique silver rings by up and coming jewellery designers as well as pieces by established brands such as Pilgrim. Every time I walk by I can find at least 15 or so items in their window that I want to buy; I'm sure everyone else can too which is why they are so successful. Smithsonia are the longest running business in Piccadilly Arcade, they've been there for around 30 years. If you are looking for a gift then definitely check them out first and impress your loved one with something a little different.

A wonderful independent gift, card and jewellery shop. If you are looking for a birthday or…read moregreeting card that is a little different to what you might find in one of the chains this is a good place to start. Their collection is not huge but you will definitely find something a little different. They also stock fabulous gift wraps and papers. To entice you into the shop the window displays are made up of some beautiful and unique silver jewellery. Again, here you will find pieces you can't find anywhere else. If you are looking for special pieces of silver jewellery at fairly reasonable prices start with this shop. Inside the staff are welcoming and very helpful.

All things American all in the name of 'candy' on the middle mall Debenhams end :-)…read moreOnly a small stall but a nice selection of candy to make you smile. Its always nice to have a treat and this stall has plenty with a few not seen before yummies too. Today at last I got a packet of Peanut Butter M&Ms as recommended by Desta H and I'm looking forward to trying them (^_^). Noticed a few things I need to try esspecially #TAB (brings back memories from the 70's) I brought my son a Million Dollar Bar Chocolate - I would recommend this, I only had 2 squares and it was luxuriously creamy - scrummy. At £2.50 a bar, as a treat I'd say go for it :-)

It's the pun that got me here, but it's the sweets that keep me coming back…read more As the name suggests this place's sole agenda is to sell us Brummies the finest confectionary from the US of A. Whilst Birmingham has done so much for English chocolate already, it's hard not to feel like rationing is still on when you look at all the exotic and gawdy wrappings and packaging from the American brands. Our British sweeties feel a bit bland in comparison. As Yankees is also essentially a little cart, the shop further taps into a neat sense of by-gone Americana. It feels like a tornado has picked this place up from the Magic Kingdom and dropped it here. I fully expect to hear a barbershop quartet start up as I nibble, suck and chew. Just a reminder that Yankees also does American crisps and pop - just in case you want to give your sweet tooth a day off. So, all in all, this is the place that makes us jealous of America consumerism again, I wouldn't be surprised if they also stock the nylons and tobacco I can't find.

Waterstones on High Street, just outside the Bullring is the largest location of Waterstones I've…read moreseen, this one is in Birmingham city centre. The store has six floors including two cafes and multiple floors with toilets - Click and Collect (online orders) is conveniently on the ground floor in case you're in a hurry and don't want to navigate throughout the whole store, which can be a little awkward as this isn't something you'd expect to do from a book shop. The staff seemed disinterested which is a shame, and not too willing to help and with a book store as big as this one - it is something you'd often need to enhance the experience from book recommendations to finding a book if you already have one in mind - they do have writing on "recommended" books but unlike other stores these are newspaper quotes which every book seems to have which are easily found online or even on the book its-self once you pick it up - I mean come on, are the staff literate with a passion for books and customer service? PERSONALISATION. Other than the size of the store, it doesn't really stand out - the store seems to follow the newer and more modern layout Waterstones are slowly rolling out (sadly this hasn't arrived in my home town of Manchester yet!) 3* based on a great central location in Birmingham and huge size over multiple floors, the layout and slightly cramped nature of the ground floor and disinterested staff really is a shame because without it the store could even warrant a high four-star rating.

This Waterstones is accessible from the High Street and also from the top floor of the Pavillions…read moreshopping mall. This store is large, spacious and airy with a huge selection of books. Anything you can think of you will find and if they dont stock it they will search to see if its at the New Street branch (the other large store) or order it in for you. There is a Costa Coffee on the first floor and the 4th floor has a large floor space dedicated to travel and the world. As you walk across to pay for your purchase you get a nice view of inside the Pavillions and as you take the glass elevator back down you get a whirl wind view of New Street :-)

Nicely laid out, good range of stock, clothes, gifty bits and the like that are fairly quirky for a…read morehigh street store- kind of as if paperchase did clothes. The staff here are particularly helpful- lovely guys. When I had trouble with a online order and the customer service lines were all dead or unanswered- I rang the birmingham store as I'd been in there before. Although stores are all separate from the online- hoops were jumped through to try and be helpful.

After being heckled by an Aston Villa supporter, who was campaigning for a charity in Birmingham,…read morewalking around with my Manchester City shirt, I noticed this store and as a football fan, had a walk in to see if Aston Villa's central Birmingham Shop was as bad as well... Aston Villa (Aston Villa fans stop reading now) With a 4-0 victory over Villa, around a month after my visit, I still felt I had bragging rights, when I walked into this store, but still for a club like Aston Villa, who seem to sack their managers everytime something goes wrong (I still don't know why Tim Sherwood went) I was quite surprised, in a good way. This is a pretty cool store, to me it looks quite new and modern, it is on New Street, quite close to both New Street Station, Grand Central and The Bullring, and did have a good selection of jerseys. It also had a good selection of merchandise for Aston Villa fans, and even a ticket office on the top floor. If you're an Aston Villa fan, this is actually quite a good club shop for a soon to be Championship Club and actually can compete with the larger clubs stores in city centers such as Manchester City, and even beating Stoke City's club shop by far. I'm not an Aston Villa fan, but I found this store to be great for Aston Villa supporters to warrant a solid 3 star rating.

I'm not a footie fan myself but have been raised in a household of devout 'Villains', hardcore AVFC…read morefans who don't seem to realise that more often than not their team is a bit rubbish. However, despite my ignorance on the subject of football, every annual Brummy Christmas shopping trip with my mom means a brief visit to the Villa football shop to ensure Santa brings my brother various Villa-shaped goodies. It's a great little shop and sure to please any dedicated fan, with everything from the latest home and away shirts to mugs, pens and fun but throwaway merchandise. At any other time of year, my mom would think it ridiculous to splurge on some of the stuff she's bought here - but, hey, everyone goes a bit mad at Christmas. Ever in need of Villa-branded sweets? I'll try not to judge you if you are. Just know that this place can sort you out if so. The stock is spread over two floors and staff are positioned across the space to help out anyone like me who has zero knowledge of the 'beautiful' game. It's all-encompassing, with items for blokes and ladies - as well as cute little garments for babs, which led to my mom shelling out on some kit for a newborn in the family. Definitely one for Villa devotees, but Birmingham City fans might want to steer clear.

This newly opened shop is the latest in a number of excellent independent businesses to set up in…read morethe famous Jewellery Quarter area of Birmingham and it compliments well the many already there. It's a gift shop with a difference, the difference being that profits are reinvested in the good works undertaken in the city by its parent social enterprise. So when you buy something here you also leave behind some added value that's reinvested in the community. I'm not sure whether everything sold is actually produced by other social enterprises, but I think that is the aspiration. The range of stock actually surprised me; there's everything from wrapping paper, scented candles and retro vases to gift boxes filled with all kinds of wonderful stuff, so it's an ideal stop off for Christmas gift hunting. When I popped in I right away found several items to add to my shopping list, including an item or two for those difficult to please folks we all struggle with. The shop itself isn't that easy to notice at present, but it's only been open a few days. If I didn't live within a minute or two I may have missed it, but I had seen the shop had been taken over, having been empty for quite a long time now, so my curiosity was pricked. I'd suggest an A-Board outside to help potential customers notice as they walk down the street. It's got a great old-style but rather discrete frontage that belies the size of the interior. OK, it's not huge but it's actually very nice and bright inside with lots of room for stock. Knowing how the building was before I'd say they've worked hard to bring it up to scratch! The staff are pleasant and attentive but don't hassle or linger. I felt quite comfortable browsing. While the shop had one or two people in while I was there, three staff did seem like overkill, but it's clearly great work experience for them and that's part of the social enterprise idea I guess. They'll probably need three as we approach Christmas! This end of Vyse Street was fairly dead when I first moved here but over the last few years has picked up nicely. This is a lovely and welcome addition, very well located close to the brilliant, rather fascinating JQ museum and a couple of excellent cafés, one a traditional egg and chips place, possible the best in the area, the second more a deli and tea shop (also really good). So you can have a walk down the street checking out the jewellery (remember to haggle!) and the famous museum, pop into Citizen Home for a few gifts and a browse, then finish off with some lunch or a decent cuppa! I wish the business well - a great idea that seeks to make the world a better place!

From the owner: We provide gifts and homewares with a bit of a twist! Many of our products are ethically sourced…read morefrom social enterprises and local businesses. We are always keen to add more locally produced products- pop in and say hi

You can not really beat the quality of Birthdays cards, but with that does come the price. I…read moreusually weigh up the importance of the card/person before I buy a card from here which sounds fairly cheap but there are some people I get cards for who dont really look at them and throw them away the following day and for those I would rather pay as little as possible for! The staff here are very helpful though and they have looked through drawers for alternative cards for me loads of times. They also have gifts and wrapping.

Excellent range of cards. Cheap prices. Fairly good sized shop with gifts, cards, balloons etc…read more Always neat and arranged so its easy to find the occasion you are shopping for. Good helpfull staff. Overall good value for money on those birthday or any other cards for any occasion.

How to screw up a business in a short amount of time. Was a great business but one man managed to…read moremurder a long standing business within a year, didn't listen to the staff and bought in crap and sold it st stupid prices.....

I love stationery - ergo I love stationery shops. Shopping for a new notebook or decent pen makes…read moreme happy. Osborne's for me then, is a real treat - encompassing a wide range of notebooks and pens as well as diaries, address books, (do people still use these? I hope so) notelets, paper by the sheet, stickers, rulers, pencil cases, plastic folder things, index cards, hole punches and card. There's a photocopying service that always seems very much in demand and a comprehensive crafting range where you can buy paper flowers and best of all GLITTER and they stock a nice range of cards and non-fiction books - the latter best described as 'stocking fillers'. At Christmas I also like perusing their calendars which seem to consist almost entirely of cute kittens or scenic shots of the canal network (but never both at the same time sadly). It's the place to go for reams of paper and printer cartridges and situated by the 22/23 bus-stops is the ideal place to waste a few minutes before your bus is due.