One of the many things I love about Gloucester Rd is the huge range of independent shops and…read morebusinesses. There are few other parts of Bristol where you can see fresh local talent really shouldering its way in. Just over a year or so ago now two local lads Sam and Logan started up their very own clothing label. Focussing on the growing styles of snowboard and skate clothing they've come on in leaps and bounds. A lot of the clothing designs have deep roots with local graffiti artists and as a result the prices can be a little steep. Rest assured however that this money is paying for quality and shelf life, and the money is going back to the kids that deserve it, not some fat cat corporation. As big supporters of local up and coming 'urban' music Avalaan get about, getting involved with nights out and local festivals. This is a great shop to pick up some original bits of clothing but you really get the feeling that this goes beyond just a clothes shop - it's a lifestyle.

Avalaan may specialise in sports and ski wear but they're also a great place to stock up with…read morewinter essentials. Heavy duty gloves, woollen gloves and scarves are in abundance here, and it's the perfect shop to protect yourself from the cold. This flagship store also has a great range of t-shirts, posters, shoes and jump suits. The prices are fair for the quality of the clothes, and the shop assistants always smile when you walk through their doors. A lovely shopping experience - better for boys than girls.

Despite being brought up to be confident enough to feel I can fit in anywhere, I still feel a pang…read moreof self doubt whenever I enter a high-end store. I'm all to paranoid that the shop assistants nonchalant stares are really saying "you're not welcome here... don't touch the things, you're making them dirty". All this self consciousness lifted when I walked into Harvey Nichols. As the doorman pulls back the door and welcomes you with a warm smile, you can't help but feel at ease even though you know in your heart of hearts (if you're anything like me) that you can't afford the bags their lovely products come in. All the staff are wonderfully cheerful and laid back; no pushiness to force you to make a purchase - but again, maybe because they know in THEIR heart of hearts you won't be making a purchase. To call it a department store is probably unfair to properly sized ones, with this Harvey Nicks feeling like a taster of what you'd get in one of their larger outlets. But there's still enough for you fashionistas to gawp at and long for including Moschino, Chloé and Vivienne Westwood. Not a realistic shopping venture, but a great place to play "when I win the lottery I will buy..."

I was really excited about this store coming to Bristol and now I have mixed feelings. What it has…read moredone is bring a whole new set of shoppers into the city, and their money of course, which can only be good for Bristol. It also holds up Cabot Circus with its central spot on the main stretch. However with its bouncers outside it really intimidated me and it took me weeks to go inside after it opened! It has the sparse layout of you-can't-afford-this and even some areas have the we-don't-even-have-price-tags level of you-can't-afford-this. Needless to say with my budget that I haven't been back...

Terrible move removing the tills and replacing with self check outs…read more The queue was so long for the till that was open as you can not take returns to self check out. the one staff member on the tills who served me was super miserable . ( low staff moral I'm guessing). Then to find the exit entrance at the back of the store has now closed permanently due to store theft.. idea... put a security guard on the exit entrance. this is extremely concerning from a health and safety perspective as a emergency exit, everyone running for the stairs in a fire of a building of that size is dangerous. do better primark!

Hello. My name's Jenni. I'm 23. And I'm a Primark-holic. I'm embarrassed, and deeply ashamed. But…read moretheir disposable fashion and cheaper than cheap prices are addictive. I've tried to shop more ethically, honest I have. But something about this store keeps driving me back. I thought I was cured when all Bristol had to offer was the worst of the worst Primark's, with their poor selection and disorganised layout. But then they opened a super-store sized outlet and I just couldn't resist. I'm not saying it's the best one I've been to, and I've been to MANY, but I've never come out empty handed. My favourite thing about the brand new shiny Primark is their range of accessories which take up almost a third of the ground floor. Their underwear department is a bit lacking, but their sparkly dresses and cheap hosiery more than make up for it. The queues are still long, and you need a patient of a saint to trawl through the rails, but compared to most Primark stores this one is well managed and easy to navigate.

Nice store but not so nice customer service. I purchased a UK adapter and found others that were…read morebetter (global) so decided to try and return the original but he kept pushing for a receipt that I never received from the cashier I had just purchased the product from 5 min prior! I had the transaction on my account, yet he kept saying there's nothing he could do without a receipt. Didn't even offer store credit to help me out. I was in a hurry due to only being in this city for 24 hours for work so I just paid for 3 adapters...Please do better.

Well, I like to consider myself a person with more style than money. As such a person, TK Maxx is…read moreindispensable to me. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I am in fact all that stylish, but I do like to go and have a sift round TK Maxx anyway. The chains approach is to take brand names clothes, pile 'em high and sell them a bit cheaper than the RRP. This means you can find some real gems here but it does take a fair bit of searching of a little luck to manage it. The Bristol TK Maxx differs only in being slightly more Bristolian. The staff are friendly and usually not to be found. You'll here a request for all staff to go to the checkout once, twice, then four more times before the person on the till gives up. John Lewis this is not. I love TK Maxx nonetheless, bringing decent fashion slightly more within the reach of us without too much money by making a slightly stressful game of going shopping.

This is the kind of vintage emporium in which it's possible to lose whole afternoons as you rummage…read morethrough racks of incredible dresses, shirts and velvet jackets in colours you never thought possible and 1970s patterns that make your eyes go funny, and shelves of incredible aviators, braces, gloves, belts and badges, every item more mesmerising and tempting than the last. And that's before you reach the glorious, plush nook at the back of the shop where dozens of fur coats, leather jackets and bags brush against each other, giving a rustling call for you to drape them over your shoulders. It's hard to leave RePsycho, mainly because it is, actually, quite hard to leave; it's very cramped and stuffed with stock from ceiling to floor, wall to wall, and it can become a bit of a slalom if more than two people are inside. It's also awkward getting out if you're the only person in there and you haven't bought anything. It's the kind of small boutiquey environment that's staffed by people who are intensely passionate about what they're selling, so you can't really slip out empty-handed without offering a slightly grovelling "thank you", wearing your best "I'm sorry" expression as you open the door. Of course, as with any vintage shop, you get the best experience when you're prepared to invest time looking through all the racks and all the shelves and battling through lots of questionable stuff in order to find something gorgeous at a price you're willing to pay. RePsycho is one of those shops that can provide hours of silly fun if you take a friend and play dress-ups (and do your best to stop worrying about the shop assistant hearing you talking about how hideous some of the things are), but it's also good for intensive, solitary shopping when you're on a quest for those perfect Betty Draper-esque white court shoes.

I usually loathe vintage clothing shops. They make me feel more frumpy than a royal and further…read morefrom the likes of Alexa Chung and Agyness Deyn than a square meal. However, RePsycho manages to be kooky, great value and truly a beacon of style rather than just pretentious. It is not for those who like to cruise well-ordered rails and peel pristine items off their hangers, however, as there is something of a jumble sale feel to the mess within. But there are great bargains to be had, from cool Paddington Bear-style bags to amazing 80s garb and just lived-in enough cowboy boots. As usual I never emerge from here looking remotely cool but if you do have an eye for how to put a good outfit together, or a really cool Mod party to go to then this is the must-see haunt for you.

Having only recently moved into a new house I have been eager to find somewhere that sells a good…read morerange of plants and herbs, that isn't Tesco or IKEA. In The Garden Shop of Henleaze I have found just that, and more. A haven for any plant or flower lover, the outside of this store is packed wall to wall with every herb, bulb, seed, sprouting and flower you can imagine. With garden furniture, garden ponds and greenhouses to boot I was blown away by the choice - and this was just outside. Inside the store is every dog food, accessory, bird box, item of gardening clothing - anything you would expect from a high quality good sized garden centre in a smaller more personal shop. An enormous selection of shallots (I love 'em) and a plethora of information behind the counter - come here for all your gardening needs.

So, I came here and asked for, "Some of those terrecotta dishes that you put under plant pots"…read more Without blinking an eye the shop assistant pointed me in the right direction - where I found many dishes of many different sizes. I'll always tempted to buy a plant from here when I fill up at the next door petrol station, but I have to say, not that I know very much about plant/garden shops - but this one seems quite expensive. Good but expensive. I guess it"s a case of the old you get what you pay for1

A warning to all you ladies out there: if, after dragging your doting boyfriend around the retro…read moreshops of Park Street, you loving ask, 'is there anywhere you want to go?' you may just end up at Forbidden Planet. This comic book and sci-fi mega store is every boys dream and every girl's nightmare. Be prepared to lose several very important shopping hours here. Having said that, it's easy to admire the scale of the store and the quality of the goods they have to offer. Even I, a sci-fi phobic, enjoyed flicking through the comic books and eyeing up the DVDs. It's a great place to shop for presents for boyfriends, friends and little brothers. And, luckily for me, the shop assistants are so helpful so even the clueless can pick the perfect stocking filler.

Comic book nerds and geeks (or those that think Sci Fi is so square that it's hip) from all around…read morewill love forbidden planet. It's not the easiest place to find - it's on the less visited part of triangle, so a little away from the main shopping drag on Park Street, but definitely worth making the effort for. If you're not into comics too much yourself, this is definitely a brilliant place to grab an original gift for someone who is - there's endless amounts of memorabilia. The stuff here is pretty expensive though.

This is a pretty vast electrical shop located on a side road off Gloucester Road. By the looks of…read moreit, it looks like it used to be some sort of Church which gives you an idea of how big it is! To be honest, it's hard to say exactly what they sell. It's pretty much everything electrical, ranging from ovens, fridges and washing machines to small appliances such as kettles, toasters and hair dryers. All of which are available to view at their showroom. The company has been family run for 25 years and they are really helpful and friendly. It is nice to actually have a conversation with someone in one of these shops without being bombarded with technical information and being pressurised to buy something. Prices are marginally higher than Curry's Digital, but you are getting a much more personal service. Bonus: they have heaps of off road parking (which if you are familiar with Gloucester Road is a real selling point!).

I'm the kind of person that avoids shops like Nailsea Electrical like the plague. I much prefer to…read morebuy what I need from small independent retailers than huge sprawling shops like this one. I certainly wouldn't usually consider buying spares or having anything repaired here. I'm far too fond of Bobs Best Electricals and Beacon Electronics to willingly take my trade anywhere else. If it weren't for the recommendation I'd been given by the chap from Bristol Tools, who suggested that I try Nailsea Electrical to see if they stocked belts for my old Hotpoint Twin Tub, then I would never have thought to pay them a visit. He of course, suggested that I tried Bob's Best and Beacon first, but I explained that I'd phoned them both already, and neither one of them had anything in stock. Sharing the same level of reservation that I had, he gingerly suggested going to Nailsea Electrical, on the basis that I had nothing to lose. Ben dealt efficiently with my enquiry, and quickly told me that Nailsea Electrical never keep old items like this is stock on the grounds that there is very little call for it. Consulting a large catalogue he continued by saying that they no longer made the belt that I was looking for. He broke the news apologetically and then turned his gaze back to the catalogue. Stabbing at the page with his index finger in a triumphant gesture he announced, "but this'll do it". He said it with such conviction that I was instantly convinced he was right, and so I ordered it on the spot. A few days later I got a call from the shop to tell me that it had arrived, and I called in a couple of days later to collect. I've been washing non-stop ever since!