Nike factory outlet.. The have great stuff here its all Nike branded and it very very reasonable…read moreprices. Its not the latest designs or styles but its like last season or ex stock they can't sell. Mens Trainers average in from £20-40 a pair depending on discount amount. Good if u wanna by a few pairs in one go. Good for gym clothing men's shorts £5-10 tops £10-20. Stock is limited so go grab yourself a bargain. Parking outside costs £1.60 for two hours and cheaper for 30 minutes.

Puma, Nike, Umbro as well as Lacoste are some of the brands of clothing you will find at Sports…read moreBox. There are plenty of jeans on show that's for sure. You will not find any football shirts at Sports Box which will disappoint football fans. In fact there are no sports teams shirts in the shop. No doubt this will have an impact on whether customers visit Sports Box or not. There are plenty of clothes on offer at Sports Box for children ranging from jackets to t-shirts to coats etc. I'm not sure adults would want to buy sporting wear from Sports Box and to be frank I would not blame them for going elsewhere. Don't get me wrong the staff do make you feel welcomed and will help you if you need their assistance but I would say Sports Box is aimed at more children and teenagers rather than adults.

Rather like Maurice Robinson in Kings Heath, this is a Sports Store from a bygone era. In the days…read morebefore retail parks, online shopping and massive emporiums like JJB Sports and the like, this is the sort of shop where you would have come to get anything sport related, whether your chosen game was cricket, football, swimming, running, tennis, or anything else for that matter. Dr Sports stocks a little bit of everything, so given the size of the place the stock of each sporting item is limited compared to what you might find in a larger outlet, but what they do have on offer here is reasonably competitive in terms price. As usual with a shop such as this, they will attempt to order in anything that they don't have in stock.

This is a standard sports shop. I came in here to see if they sold sports bras and unfortunately…read morefor me, they did not. However, whilst I was in there I had a browse around and they do sell a variety of other clothes, such as sports vests, shorts and trainers. They also have a variety of sports equipment, such as tennis rackets and footballs. I did find it quite uncomfortable in there as the man at the counter just stared at me as I walked around the store, which is not ideal when you're looking for a bra. There was also no one else in there when I was there, which is a shame as I think it may be the only one on Harborne High Street, although it may not have been a busy day for the store! The prices are not too bad and the sportswear consists of a variety of brands. I would go in again if I needed some more sportswear, but not just for a browse.

Fashion File and Sports United, as its name suggests, is essentially two shops for the price of…read moreone. On walking in, you find yourself pretty much in the Sports United part. This part sells a small but well-stocked selection of name-brand sports clothing (Adidas, Nike etc.) at prices not that far from High Street competiors such as Sports Soccer (or Sports Direct as they want to be called nowadays - political correctness gone mad if you ask me). The rest of the shop, the Fashion File section, is dedicated to clothing for the older and larger gentleman. Be under no illusion, there is nothing fashionable about the selection of slacks, jumpers and cardigans that line the walls and fill the racks. There's alsohalf-decent selection of budget priced suits (you know the kind, outrageously pin-striped or shinily silver) but special mention has to be made of the 'larger' size collection. Fashion File even outlarges Jacomo by going up to a size 6XL. Just to be clear on that, they do clothes that are a XXXXXXL, or extra extra extra extra extra extra large. The name is misleading - there was as much fashion as there were files. The sports bit was okay though.

The Stadium Megastore has been refurbished in recent times. In here you can find West Bromwich…read moreAlbion's home and away shirts for children and adults, Albion training shirts, beanies etc. Everything Albion will be in here! The Club will also have Players visiting the Club Shop to meet and greet fans. This will probably take place during the school half-term. I had the privilege of meeting both Peter Odemwingie and Youssouf Mulumbu this year at the Club Shop. Keep an eye out on the Club website and attend the Stadium Megastore to see what offers are available for Baggies fans. The Stadium Megastore is situated right next to the East Stand and is open on Matchdays. The opening times can be found above.

Embarking on a weeks worth of work experience with West Bromwich Albion, I spent a day in the…read morestore, dealing with customers and helping out with stock etc. Of all the days, this was probably the most tedious due to the repetitive stream of tasks I had to do. Despite this, the staff there made it fairly enjoyable, as otherwise I can imagine the day to have turned out quite differently. The store was fairly empty, although being close to the end of the season, it did have its outbursts of customers who made the most of the great offers to snap up some merchandise. I may be an Aston Villa fan, but the day spent in the megastore at West Brom was still a relatively good day, with a well ran shop and great staff to boot.

This is a relatively large Sports Direct store, in the Bullring in Birmingham city centre, it is…read morepretty much your typical Sports Direct store, relatively cheap sports clothing in a claustrophobic atmosphere, where they always seem to unnecessarily make the store as narrow as possible, resulting in a not so great overall shopping experience. There are entrances through the mall and on street level which is handy. They did have a pretty good selection, many of the items were competitively priced. They did seem to have a good number of employees working to satisfy demand, which is rather efficient and can be hit or miss at these types of stores, more so in the current climate - although queuing at the checkouts could have again be improved. 3* - Large store with a good product selection, I just wish they thought more about their own layout making it more welcoming and accessible, rather than appearing to be more of a mess than anything else.

This place provides a truly awful shopping experience…read more A discount sports clothing chain that sells a small amount of sporting equipment also. The staff here seem to hate the place. I don't blame them as the clientele seem to be mostly rude with little consideration for other shoppers or staff. You'll also find plenty of pushchairs in the aisles blocking your way, or people having conversations unwilling to step aside to let you through. There's always a queue at the tills, and you'll always be asked if you want to buy a branded plastic bag. After a second "no thank you" persuasion techniques became annoying. This place's saving grace comes in the form that it's cheap branded specialist sports clothing. Also in its location in the bullring- if like me you needed some sports leggings and are in this area, there's not many other places where you can pick up good quality ones fairly cheap. (Let me know if there are please!) Be warned though, they have an in store no refunds just store credit policy which can be inconvenient.

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.

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.