BEST EVER! Anyone…read morewho remembers Carrick from years ago will remember that we used to have an old sweet shop at the top of North Street called the Pipe Shop. Unfortunately that closed years ago, and there's been nothing like it since, until now. They have over 250 different types of sweets in here, and the sweets are weighed out for you in the old style scales. It genuinely is like stepping back in time, really lovely. My favourites are the Chocolate Toffee Rolls and Army & Navy!

Really poor customer service. Waited more than two months for my delivery to be shipped and never…read morereceived anything. Despite two phone calls, three emails and multiple messages with the owners... I never got my order. Lots of empty promises and ridiculous excuses. I'm sure there's a decent business here, but I did not experience it. I was never even got a refund and had to complete a chargeback request through PayPal myself.

When I accidentally stumbled across this fab wee sweet shop a few months ago, I wondered how on…read moreearth it had been kept secret for so long (from me anyway). Where there's a sweet shop, I'm honestly not far behind, and Curious Candy was no exception I'm horrified to say I'd almost forgotten about it, but I remembered just in time, and made a mental note to pop in the next time I was down in Bangor. Which just so happened to be today. Yippeeee. Located off the top of Main Street, Curious Candy is your typical old-school, walls-lined-with-an-enormous-amount-of -sugary-delights sweet shop. It is indeed 'wee' as we say in these parts, and with the customers in front of us consisting of a lady, a buggy and a child, it was a squeeze. Especially when they tried to get out, as you can imagine. Thankfully, said lady with buggy took quite an age selecting her choice of confectionery (I think she bought at least six bags), so I had a chance to scour the walls. I'd suddenly gotten a notion for Millions, and was slightly gutted not to have discovered any. Surely every good sweet shop does Millions? As I searched for a backup sweetie choice, lady and buggy moved, uncovering seven jars of Millions of the bottom shelf. Phew. I chose Bubblegum (always satisfies the sis...she seems to have a fancy for blue sweets), Blackcurrant (my fave flavour of any kind of sweet) and Raspberry (second fave), plus some Jellybeans for my dad. 100g of each of the above came to £3.16, which wasn't bad at all. Happy days. Pay the lovely people at Curious Candy a visit. You know you want to...

Seller charged me £7 for 198g packet of jolly ranchers, she was also mumbling answers to my…read morequestions at the till and did not disclose the price properly.

I was a bit dubious as to why Belfast needed an American sweet shop in the first place, and having…read morevisited I still am. Having peanut butter Twixs' is a pretty flimsy premise for a shop in my book, but they are going for it. While they do have probably the best selection of M&Ms in town, and you can get bags of boiled sweets decanted from jars, it is no McKays in Queens Arcade. A wall of cheap plastic gums just isn't my bag of sweets.

The Candy Box is Millisle's lifeline, because it is one of those wee shops that are totally taken…read morefor granted until we run out of something at the last minute. It is an aladdins cave inside , no matter what it is that you need this we shop will have it from sweeties to dog food and washing powder to gift bags , it really has an amazing stock of everything. What is also very commendable is that the prices are not over the top they match that of the high street stores. So this may not be the biggest store in town but it does have everything thar is needed including very pleasant staff who are more than helpful. They also have everyone's favourite for summer the good old ice cream cone with trimmings!

Sometimes I say to my dog, "I'm going to take you to The Candy Box, would you like a walk?"…read more Of course I am referring to a Newsagents, Tobacconist and sweet shop located on Millisle Main street. This wee shop is a jack of all trades, Milk is 99p for 2 litres and you would be hard pushed to beat or meet that price anywhere. It also doubles as ice cream seller, sometimes the dog and I sneak a cheeky Ice cream on our way home from getting the Sunday papers. This leaves both of us with a bit of a brain freeze but the ice cream is so good it would be hard not to rush it. The Candy Box is a favourite with people visiting the seaside, Millisle must be the only seaside town on the Ards peninsula without a dedicated Ice cream parlour, so The Candy Shop makes a bit of a killing with its cones. Whether it is a paper, a packet of cigarettes or North Downs famous Poor Bear ice cream you should pop into The Candy Box if you are passing. Also try the Fresh Dulce and yellow man, these are specialities of the region.

Well that was a nice surprise!! Me, my mum and my 3 year old son headed here on a Saturday morning…read morefor the candy workshop (purchased on a whim from a well known voucher site) not expecting too much apart from maybe some free sweets! The man who was taking the workshop-one of Aunt Sandra's nephews, calling himself Willy Wonka's cousin, was hilarious! The workshop was bunged but he took the time to speak to every group individually and made everyone feel involved. I'd highly recommend this to anybody who like sweets, history and a good laugh. It's suitable for all ages and interests. Along with us were family groups, older couples and a hen party (which I thought was fab!) So sad to hear Aunt Sandra has passed away.

Great customer service in here…read more Loved the wee story I got about the crisps chocolate on my last visit. I like being able to see the sweet making in action through their work room window. Had a toffee apple today. Was nice and fresh and packaging wasn't all sticky. Also good stick didn't fall out. Toffee was a bit think so took a good strong bite. Perhaps would have been better smashed against a table first. Lol

With supermarkets these days thinking we cannot be trusted to have sweets beside the till, McKays…read moreis a sweet tasting trip back to yesteryear. The walls are jam packed with bottles and jars, bags and packets of any sweet treat you could wish for, just waiting to be weighed out and enjoyed. It is amazing how such a tiny place can fit so much in, also selling a good variety of tobaccos for those that way inclined. Yes, it is aged, dark and tiny, but regardless it is rockin.

Until I decided to Yelp about it, I didn't actually know the name of McKays, I only knew it as…read more'that wee shop at the end of the Arcade that does the lovely sweets', and that's probably what I will always call it, to be fair. Really centrally located, McKays does a roaring trade from people out shopping, or others on their lunch hour who work in the town and want to pop in for their newspaper, magazine, cigarettes, or just some of the lovely old fashioned sweets, bon bons, gums and treats that you can get in here. It's really small inside, so you're better looking at what's on offer through their window, which bulges with goodies - if you have a sweet tooth beware, you will do yourself some damage here...

The Candy Shop has been in the same little unit in the main shopping plaza at Glassillan Court in…read morethe village of Greenisland for as long as I can remember. It is a useful little shop crammed full with a selection of greetings cards, wrapping paper, stationery, confectionery, magazines, newspapers, snacks and drinks and so much more. A good range of postcards are on offer as well, which are much cheaper than in some of the other shops. There is a large car park out the front of the shopping unit, so you are always guaranteed a handy space. Other than this, it is pretty much as you would expect from a newsagent/sweet shop. Very convenient for the local residents, and has been a valued business in the local area for many years, but if you are 'just passing' and happen to pop in, don't expect anything out of the ordinary!

I have never left Stewart Millers empty handed. I'm not kiddin', honestly. It's like some kind of…read moremagnetic force which leaves me completely helpless and powerless, removing all inhibitions and barriers which prevent me from purchasing extreme numbers of goods from this fave store of mine. Or maybe that's just me shopping normally... Anyhow, Stewart Miller is a bargainous store which is primarily a newsagent and confectioners, but is also a bookshop, cardshop and toyshop. I've found books for peanuts, excellent sweetie deals, and, when I was younger, it was my first stop for TY Beanie Babies (remember those?! I still have an absolute ton of them stashed away in my wardrobe...couldn't bear [excuse the pun] to part with them quite yet). The Holywood store is undoubtedly my favourite. The toy section is huge, and they are genuinely well-priced (not always super cheap), top-quality playthings. The card section is extremely well-stocked, with a huge variety to choose from, and at reasonable prices. The book section is my favourite - I've gotten presents for my mum and dad for next to nothing, and even picked up a football book for £1.99 from £12.99 today, and I've found travel books for a fiver. Oooh, its a good 'un.

I'm lovin it. This gem on the Holywood main street has some of my favourite everyday treats -…read moreglossy mags, cold drinks and chick lit style books at very good prices. It also keeps the kids very happy as it has the best selection of football trading cards I've ever come across. My favourite thing about Stewart Millar is the magazine and comic selection. One whole wall of the front section is given over to mags and comics which means that I can happily browse Marie Claire and 25 Beautiful Homes and the kids can look at the Beano (yes it still exists) and Shoot! before making our choices. And there are none of those shouty 'This is not a library' signs either. At the back of the shop are the toys - good selection of lego- and books. The books are worth a particular mention as the prices are great. Some of the not quite latest releases can be snaffled at Tesco-esque prices which certainly floats my boat. There's a good selection of kids books too, especially quite unusual activity and pop up books which are always good for Christmas presents. All I need to do now is stop accidentally calling it Stuart Little which makes the kids fall about laughing every time as Stuart Little is of course a talking mouse. It's happened, I've become an Embarrassing Mum.

Thorntons in one word rocks! They do the most amazing chocolate! And something I never knew, until…read moreI received one, is that they will inscribe names or messages onto things made out of chocolate, to give them that personal touch! I received a chocolate campaign bottle with 'Happy Birthday Magz!' written on it-so thoughtful! They do chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs too during that time of year! The newest thing which makes Thorntons even more amazing is their chocolate fountain! Oh Yes! You can have it poured over strawberries and ice cream or have marshmallows dipped into it! It is too good!

Thorntons is a cracking shop. This one in Castlecourt is probably the first one I ever went to and…read morestill is my regular stop when it comes to gifts that don't really need much thought! It's a deceptively big shop, as it stretches far back into the walls of the shopping complex. The best thing about this store is its chocolate fountain. For a small amount of your hard earned cashed you can get a box of choc covered strawberries which are always welcome in the part of the world known as my belly. The prepacked selections are a perfect gift if your in a rush.