Junction 1 is all about managing your expectations. The first time I visited, I had just been to…read morethe US and been on a serious spree in one of the outlet malls there. I went to Junction 1 expecting the same kind of unbelievable bargains there, especially as Belfast's first Ralph Lauren store had just opened there. Big mistake. You just don't get those kind of crazy prices anywhere but in the states. So, with my expectations of bargains managed right down, I made a second visit and was very impressed with both the range of shops and the prices. The best buys are to be found in M&S and the Next outlets, as well as Gap, Levis and Mexx. You'll get prices which are about half of what you would pay in the high street shops, but you may be buying goods that are a season or two old. As long as you're not looking for high fashion, there are savings to be made. M&S underwear, Next shoes, Gap clothes for children and jeans are all good choices and sadly the Ralph Lauren store has closed down. Maybe it was too expensive to do any business? The whole environment at Junction 1 is really pleasant, beautifully landscaped 'streets' and lots of open space, very much in the style of my beloved US outlet malls. There are plenty of places to bolster your energy reserves for round two of shopping - M&S café, Starbucks, Subway and Moe's Cafe which does very good scones. It's not really a place to take the kids, although if you have to, you could bribe them with a visit to Adventure Island, an indoor play area. Sadly you can't drop them off there and collect them 3 hours later, you have to actually stay with them. Now there's a niche in the market if ever I saw one.

Junction One is my kinda shopping experience...cheap, easy to get around, and tons of wonderful…read moreshops all in the same area. Heaven for most girls, and even for some guys (my dad's a huge fan, but he doesn't like to openly admit it). This place has really taken off since its opening in six years ago. Us poor Norn Ironers now wonder what the heck we were doing paying full price for all those clothes / shoes / accessories / cosmetics / other bits and bobs when you can get up to 60% off such things in Junction One. I've gotten so many things here over the years, many from shops which are long since gone (RIP Logo...darn that recession), and for really genuinely good prices. Ones to definitely check out are Next Clearance (no changing rooms is the only let down here), All Wellan Good (*really* cheap makeup and toiletries), Cosmetics Company (top brands such as Bobby Brown and Elizabeth Arden feature here, but you'll get them for a good bit cheaper than on the high street), Mexx and Tom Tailor. Unfortunately, as I previously mentioned, a few shops have closed over the years, including the awesome Ralph Lauren store and Pilot. One other slightly negative note is that the cafes are really quite expensive...no 60% bargains to be had in these! All in all, a tremendous shopping experience, and one which you won't regret.

Sadly more and more units have closed down here. But it still has the adidas shop. This means I…read morecan get my trainer fix and coffee fix at either Starbucks or Costa. So a win win for me.

About 12 years ago, Antrim's town planners stumbled across an empty space on the outskirts of town…read moreand thought "Hey! This is the perfect spot for a cheap and nasty retail park! Let's build it here, next to the derelict Kerr's Tyres building to improve the area!" The end result created Junction One, a retail park with outlet stores. So think Next Clearance, M&S Outlet (2 levels), Nike Factory Store, Adidas, Antler and Toytown. All of those are located here. The layout is a bit weird, as it is two triangles of shops back to back which is a bit inconvenient if you are trying to find a shop only to find that it is on the other side of the triangle. In a way, it reminds me of Glasgow Fort but on a much smaller scale and with shops that are dire. Don't get me wrong, I do love a bargain but with the amount of empty units and the fashion actually in the outlet stores, it does feel slightly limited. It does have its positives like a Starbucks, a big Asda and a cinema with an "IMAX" screen. (Screen 1 of the Omniplex is 23m wide and is the largest cinema screen in Ireland.) I do miss the café that was in M&S, and there was a decent little ice cream parlour at the back but both have sadly gone to make way for more emptiness. The former M&S Café is now the extended lingerie department. But M&S here doesn't even have a food hall so what is the point of calling it M&S! But Starbucks, Asda and the cinema do keep me coming back when I'm over in Antrim and Redz, Moe's Grill and the Antrim Park at the edge of the place are also pretty good.

Two or three? Two or three? Two...or...three?!…read more Fine, it's three. Just. Multi-faceted, capacious and, well, just plain random, Castle Mall has the makings of a fantastic shopping centre. With plenty of decent shops, such as Dorothy Perkins and Burton, New Look, Dunnes Stores, Pound Stretcher Extra, Clinton Cards, and even a Post Office, it sounds good on paper. It's well-located, situated right smack bang in the town centre. So what's the problem? Castle Mall is tired, lacking in fervor, and it just hasn't managed to materialize its potential quite yet. There's the old problem of too many empty shop units, and despite one entrance of the centre looking fantastic, the other entrance leaves a lot to be desired...I think the mall has a few identity issues. There are worse, but there are definitely better. Three stars = piggy in the middle.

The Castle Centre has really gone downhill over the last few years. Dunnes Stores has closed and I…read moreheard a rumour that New Look was moving out to Junction One. There aren't really any places to eat and the number of shops has gone down a lot. Right now, Poundstrecher, Poundland and New Look are managing to keep everything together. I remember that they spent loads of money getting Woolworths and Adams to come to the centre only for them to fade out after a few months. If I'm in the area, I only use this place if I have to use the loo as the toilets in here are very clean. It has been really sad to see names like Dorothy Perkins, Woolworths and now Dunnes leave the centre and I fear for what will happen to it. Ballymena has really stolen all the trade from Antrim and I'm not happy.

Well it's an M&S with a pretty good choice of food and a diverse selection from Eccles cakes to…read moreflowers so it's about five stars even by default. I only pass by very occasionally as Belfast International Airport is my least favourite airport ever as it's run by talentless spivs and it's as grotty and soulless without as within. Take international with a pinch well a big shovel of salt. Anyway back to a real, well managed, professional company wonderfully run. Last time I was there they'd installed a sophisticated self serve coffee dock. So three of us had pretty good coffee and it was great value with some of their baked goods. We were collecting a visitor and happy to give money to M&S but not a brass cent for the nearby dump masquerading as an international airport - my derrière.

This is a fairly new Tesco superstore. I used to go to the Tesco Extra in Lisburn prior to this one…read moreopening. Although it isn't as big or with as wide a range as the Lisburn store, it still has pretty much everything you could need. The store is always clean and tidy and the shelves well stocked. Lots of parking outside too.

The new Tesco store is much bigger than we all had anticipated…read more It's great to be able to buy chart CDs and DVDs in the town.

Another of those small shopping centres dotted around Belfast. As with all these centres, it has a…read moresupermarket for your grocery shopping, surrounded by a few other retailers. The centre isn't that big (being only slightly smaller than the Westwood Centre), although there are a few shops at the back of it as well, and the shops are mostly local services - chemist, library, education training centre, credit union, etc., so you'll not have any wild retail adventures here, but it does its job.

Small local shopping centre currently has a Supervalu, chemist, off sales, a gym, and various other…read moresmall local shops, there when u need something quickly and haven't time to run to a larger supermarket, rumours asda is taking over in the near future!

This place doesn't look like much on the outside, but don't let that put you off. They have some…read morereally good value furniture inside. They delivered our first purchase within a few hours! Forget flat packs, shop here instead.

Simpson's fitted the bill quite nicely for the purpose of magazine and sweet buying, and it was…read morequite an agreeable little shop really, so the outcome = happy Lynne, writing equally happy review. Deceptively big (I *love* these kinds of shops, sad that I am), Simpsons stocks a large variety of magazines and newspapers, including a Northern Irish fashion magazine that I have been unable to find elsewhere (review to come shortly). Once I had found this, my eyes were quickly distracted by the stand filled with offers on different confectionery, and in particular the 3 for 60p Chewits offer (I'm such a sucker for, well, anything chewy). Joining the queue, I realised that the back of the shop extends back much further than I had originally noticed. I picked up a packet of chewing gum, had a joke at the til, and went on my merry way. To happily write this review, you see.

This is my favourite shop in the whole of Junction one - why? Because i love the quality of next…read moreclothes and you can get big discounts in here - some of which are in the current catalogue. When there is a sale you can get tops from as little as £2 and jeans for £3. This is a great shop for me as they do the petite sizes here. They also have men's clothes and you can often get homeware goods cheap. Occasionally you will get designer brand clothes and shoes at low prices such as Firetrap, Amplified and FlyFlot etc. The staff are always nice and helpful. Located at Junction One Retail park so free easy access parking.