I am a big fan of thrift stores. I love having a mooch through the rails to try and find that one…read moreoff or hidden treasure. Thrift is a new addition to the Birmingham scene and they have really excelled with this new shop. Oldschool decoration and vintage furniture sit alongside both branded and unbranded pieces of vintage from the 70s,80s and 90s. From the minute we walked in the people working were so friendly and happy to help, they explained that they have only been here a couple of weeks so if you are in the area go and have a look for yourself, get involved and possibly meet that one off special item you didn't even know you were looking for.

The Bullring was built around a Church, St Martin's in the Bullring…read more It's named after Martin Lewis who is the patron Saint of shoppers, He used to show shoppers how to make great savings on their purchases in Medieval times. Ok so that might not be true. But with recent facts about Birmingham being confused by Fox News. The bullring opened in September 2003 (I know I was working there!) It's mainly a high street fashion shopping destination but there are lots of little food units to explore round the three floors. Built into what was a sloping hill each of the floors have street level exits which can cause lots of confusion on your first visit. But fear not. There are touch screen maps around the centre to help you explore. It's huge glass roofs help natural light flow through each of the floors and you can walk from here to Birmingham New Street Station without going outside if you follow the walkways. Mornings are usually quieter than the rest of the day so if you are in a rush get there for 10am on a week day!

I see this place as more of a necessity, I don't really like going here but you have to so you can…read moreget to the majority of the shops in Birmingham city centre. Don't get me wrong, the place in comparison to other shopping centres is almost beautiful, big open skylight, actually quite clean and toilets on almost every level. But half the time the escalators are broken, the last one being a total of nearly 4 months (and having to fight through H&M if you wanted to go down to the ground level). The elevators are ridiculously slow, and usually monopolized by the owners of tiny humans in prams... which is fair enough as they would struggle with the stairs. The morale of this story is - take the stairs. Other than that gripe its generally not a bad place, just really busy. You can cut through the bullring to quickly get to any other part of town and because the whole building is sheltered its convenient for shopping in the bad weather.

ive only been a few times lov the place wish there was one in brum all merryhill dudley and…read morestourbridge woodent have to travel so far to get there but thay have great stock in love the place for great bargains

If you're after bargains and you've got the time to browse, this is a great store. It's absolutely…read morehuge and full of old Argos stock at great prices. I don't know how the system works as some of the stock they have was in Argos six or seven years ago (where has it been in the meantime?) but it's well worth a look. The items are good quality and have been well stored, but the shop can be very difficult to get around. There is just a massive amount of stock there, and it is often not clearly marked (plain brown boxes etc). So you may have to do some digging around, and keep your eyes peeled. You could miss some great stuff! I think the place could do with its own catalogue, but that's probably not viable considering they likely get daily deliveries of random old Argos stock. So heartily recommended, but you have to go in with either a great amount of luck or a lot of time to really get the most out of it.

Mairs are one of the exceptional stores on Soho Road for that Asian wedding and bridal attire…read more They always display the latest designs and the fashion you can't produce in the UK, they bring all the items over from all over Asia, which includes, India, Singapore and far out east. Popular, and occasionally you will find a great sale on, they also have some nice outfits for men. Certainly take friends and family with you on your visit here. Whatever colours you prefer they sell. I like how they speak lots of languages, and it's more convenient for my mothers generation who knows that she trusts what they're saying about their garments when she can speak to them in her own language. I'd recommend visiting the store, car parking is available nearby, and the shop is served with bus routes regularly from the city and West Bromwich. Quite busy on the weekends though.

This is one shop on Soho Road I like going to and just walking into the shop, I got a sense of…read morethere being a friendly atmosphere about the place. Despite the fact I have not brought anything from here, I have tried one or two sherwanis from Mairs. Just wearing them felt good and the only thing that prevented me from buying them was price. I did ask if they could reduce the price by a small amount but they couldn't. What I will say is that the staff here are very friendly and will help you if you need it. They will happily answer your questions and offer you advice. I did find some sherwanis had way too much embroidery but I guess there are Asians out there that like Indian suits with plenty of sequins/embroidery. If Mairs did lower their prices then maybe I would buy a sherwani from here. As well as Menswear, there are Asian Ladieswear on sale here as well.

Poor old Five Ways Shopping Centre - built in the early 60s this was originally designed as a…read moretraffic-free piazza with ground floor retail spaces, an indoor market area, a car park on the second floor and the 10 storey Auchinleck House - a statue of Claude Auchinleck (a British army commander during World War II) still stands in the square but you won't be able to look at it these days as the whole space is awaiting demolition. To be honest Five Ways Shopping Centre has always had a slightly derelict feel - during the winter the design of the place meant that it acted as a veritable wind tunnel and for years it hosted a weird array of shops that always seemed a bit empty - although I do miss the greasy spoon caff that was here which was all Formica work tops and unknowingly kitschy shaped sauce bottles. The only thing it houses now are a Select n Save (more on that later), a Boots and load of sad looking empty shops - not somewhere I'd recommend spending too much time in as it can get really dark down there but worth a quick peek.

Grim. The fact that from above it looks like a giant coffin pretty much sums it up. The Five Ways…read moreShopping Centre is now almost completely abandoned, waiting for a natural disaster to come and wipe it off the earth. It sits sadly on a corner, a run down miserable old concrete block acting as a full stop to the overbearing neon and orange spray tan smell of Broad Street. I can't imagine a reason, that anyone would want to visit. There might be a little nostalgia, maybe your favourite newsagent was there... you was a massive fan of that particular Braggs bakery that was there in the late 80's? There was an urban legend that the architect who designed it made it in the shape of a coffin then jumped off the top, providing a suicide/funeral all in one. Maybe they could turn it into some kind of spooky theme park.

I recommen going to Hobbycraft if ur a therian they have felt, paint, masks, feathers, brushes,…read moreeverything you need!

Ventura park although I frequent on occasion is really just a clone of other business parks , it…read morebacks the traffic up completely on a weekend I once got trapped in the Sainsburys car park side for over two hours on a Saturday...with added nandos and pizza express its got a lot of shops to choose from if your an avid spender notice didnt say shopper !

I forgot about this little gem of brum! I've been coming to…read moreRag market since the 80's (yes I'm that old lol!) and still have items I bought back then (yes I'm a hoarder too!) Great for bargains & banter!

Birmingham Rag market used to be a great place..chaotic..great bargains. I used to buy tons of…read morecheap lace and fabrics. I used to go out of my way to make an effort to go and look round and buy. The new Rag Market looks very similar to any other market now..was a bit disappointed. It was late on a Saturday though and stalls were beginning to pack away so need to give it another chance soon. Stalls include: Fabrics(dress and houshold)/ haberdashery/vintage clothes/ fancy dress /foot wear/ jewellery / pets etc. To me Rag market means fabrics and haberdashery and other related items but now it seems to be a general market. Shame. Open Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday 9am-5pm

Good range of shops; Iceland and Tesco for food, Coventry Building Society, a post office,…read moreWilkinsons and a nice range of small privately-owned stores. There are some empty units but the management works hard to keep them looking nice and makes displays of other stores' special offers inside them. The shopping centre is always kept looking clean, and there are flower displays all year round. Events during the year are hit and miss, but the annual Xmas display and Santa's grotto is great. A good, well run shopping centre. Beware: The cash machines outside Tesco have been targeted by crooks many times - use the one outside Coventry Building Society instead, it's got a CCTV camera trained right on it! Parking can be a nightmare at the weekend, but there is another carpark around the back you can use.

Contains many shops including a few charity shops, a Chinese food store, New Look, Boots, Tesco,…read moreIceland and Wilkinson. Parking can be busy but you should always get a space, and a good place to go to get a variety of goods.

Grand Central is my favourite part about Birmingham New Street Station, it is a shopping centre…read morelocated above the train station, which connects into the Bullring (the city's main shopping centre), via a walkway. It can be a great to visit to kill some time before your train, or even to shop while in the city, plus the walkway acts as a cool way of getting to the train station and dogging the rain, of which we get more than our fair share of in the UK! Birmingham New Street Station - https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/birmingham-new-street-station-birmingham-3 Bullring- https://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/bullring-birmingham Grand Central opened in September 2015, it still feels new and modern. The stunning balcony, lighting and architecture are nice to admire, and the perfect welcome into one of the country's greatest cities. I loved admiring the view in the dark autumn nights, while sat enjoying a coffee at Joe and the Juice. Grand Central's only flagship retailer was John Lewis, sadly this store has now closed down but there are still a couple of shops located here, which includes Tesco Express, Foyles and Whittard. The selection of food and beverage options is much better including Nando's, Tapas Revolution and Joe and the Juice. There's plenty of other options, including a Natwest bank! 4* - I do think the loss of John Lewis is going to hit Grand Central hard, it's sad to see such a huge empty unit in such a cool building, but it is a great place in the city which many tourists and locals alike are sure to visit, by choice or by chance.

Although not 100% finished, Grand Central really has the wow factor that Birmingham New Street…read morestation has previously lacked. The highlight for me has to the the huge and beautifully designed skylight, positioned right in the middle of the development. This has changed a formerly dark space, into a vibrant hub of cafes, restaurants and shops. Grand Central can only be a good thing for Birmingham, proving the perfect first impression for people arriving in the city.

At first glance, man this place has so many cool things to do! They are VERY well decorated and…read morehave lots of fun eateries. They have outside and indoor eateries, and they have an arcade and an escape room. However, that's about where the praise stops... We came here from a nearby hotel to eat dinner. It was a short walk, the lake was pretty. We chose Zizzi's as it looked like a fun Italian choice (we later learned this place was a chain restaurant, so that was a bummer). I'll write up my restaurant reviews in detail on their pages instead, but in short, the places we ate all all seemed to be short staffed, in a rush, and not very open to service. We ate at Karaage also. Everything was pretty overpriced, especially when we considered the escape room option. They have a 'sky garden' that wasn't very impressive. And being an American visitor, I was eager to try anything but American cuisine, but half of what Resorts World offered was American cuisine. Overall I wouldn't recommend Resorts World, but if you're staying at the Hilton nearby, boy, this place really is your only dinner option.

Resorts World is a really cool entertainment complex, it is opposite Birmingham NEC and within…read morewalking distance from Birmingham International Railway Station. The area looks and feels pretty good, it is set alongside the river, and the glass building still feels modern to this day, it is still relatively new having opened in 2015, but it still doesn't feel that old. There are many places to eat and drink: Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Miller and Carter, Nando's, Pizza Express and Starbucks are just some of the options here. If shopping is more of your thing, there are many Outlet stores with brands including Nike, Next and The North Face, the selection of stores isn't too impressive although it is a welcome addition as this isn't designed for shopping, and is an entertainment complex after all. It is over multiple floors, I did find the layout to be confusing, I do feel more of a plan could be helpful, I did notice a couple of people wandering around and looking confused, in and out of lifts/escalators. The building is owned by Genting, who run the casino here. Resorts World can still be seen as a family complex, as you can still walk around the complex without having to go through the casino. 4* - Resorts World is a great addition to the surrounding area and Birmingham as a whole, it's a pretty cool place despite the issues mentioned.