Sad to see so many of the stores closing down - partially "The Amazon Effect" plus the leasing…read morecompany raising rents to point that even national chains like Bon Marche and Evans closing their doors :( Review #10 2020

Burton is still a great shopping centre.Its rated the 6th best shopping town in the Midlands and…read morehas virtually all the major stores including M&S, Primark,New look,Monsoon,River island, Top Shop/Top Man and big new stores for H&M and Next. Like a lot of towns it has suffered due to shops going into administration such as BonMarche ,and CVA's such as Evans, but it has lots of stores all in the 3 linked covered shopping centres. Car parking is plentiful, situated next to the shopping centres and is cheap. There is 4 hours free at Middleway and its free after 3pm in most of the council run car parks. Can really recommend a visit.

I would say Burton Place shopping centre is the least popular of the 3 indoor shopping centres in…read moreBurton. It is the place to go if you're looking for household goods as it has Wilkos, Home Bargains and an electrical good shop among other things. On some days there are people with trestle tables selling gifts and books. There is also a photo book for you to get your passport photos done.

I must admit I am a big fan of Burton Shopping Centre, it has attracted most of the big chain…read morestores and also has a few little ones in case you want something different. You really can find anything you want and there are plenty of facilities and parking spaces making a great day out. The shopping centre in general is very clean and does not suffer from trouble as the security guards regularly patrol both centres. The choices for eating are great, no matter what your taste is, you will find something. Make sure you keep a day free because you will need it and try Burton if you have not done already.

I really like the Wyvern Retail Park in Derby. There's a plethora of shops from Maplin Electronics…read morethrough Homebase and Boots allowing me to shop High Street names without the hassle of parking in Derby. There's always plenty of parking spaces no matter the time of day with great connections to Pride Park and Brian Clough Way. If you're feeling peckish you needn't worry about a trip into town as there's ample eateries nearby from McDonald's through Harvester.

Large retail park with a number of different buisneses such as very large Sainsbury's, boots, toys…read moreR us, halfords, currys, costco, pizza hut, burger king and KFC, frankie and bennys, subway and starbucks. Very close to the football ground and railway station.

Just off the A38 is the Barton Turns Marina, set in sizeable grounds which are part of the National…read moreForest, the many fishing lakes and collection of mature trees, make this a good place to go for a stroll, rain or shine. It is particular popular with anglers, and there is a small caravan site just after the entrance. The Marina itself is quite sizeable, with the space for many narrow boats to moor either temporarily or permanently. Nearest to the spacious car park is the Waterfront, a large pub with outdoor seating overlooking the marina, it is a popular place, with regular live entertainment. Adjacent to this is a Garden4Less, a garden centre and on the other side Toys of Yesteryear, a toy shop, housing a toy museum. There is also one of the top 10 coffee shops in the country here, the Apple Tree, which also has a speciality delicatessen. There are a number of fashion stores including Blue Harbour (high end women's fashion), Sophia's and Start and Tremayne (Handbags etc). There is an impressive art gallery - Gallery 3, adjacent to a large and popular Thai restaurant: Siam Corner; as well as the Butcher, the Baker and the ice cream maker, a great place for specialist food ingredients, which also provides groceries for the mooring narrow boats. There are even shops on narrow boats, including an estate agent, a bookshop and ceramic painting boat for the children. The pick of the bunch is probably Brauz, a gift shop where you are likely to find that present for the person who has everything. Barton Marina is a great place to wile away a few hours.

A Lovely place to visit if the weather is good but also loads to look at and do if weather not that…read moregood see my full review and photos at http://www.kevinsimon.co.uk/?p=2810

intu Derby has had various names over the years, it became intu Derby after the centre was bought…read moreout from Westfield in 2014, but before then it was known as The Eagle Centre. Located in Derby city centre, around half a mile from the train station it has 199 stores over two floors, with the upper level mainly being occupied by restaurants. The largest anchor stores over 3 levels are Marks and Spencer and Debenhams. The mall is modern in most areas, however, other parts could certainly be done with some improvement which seemed so poor, it looks like two different shopping centres in comparison. The mobile signal around the mall was terrible, It even got so bad I had to go into the Three store, who is my mobile operator who explained it is bad and they normally have a signal booster which wasn't working. Luckily the centre did have wi-fi but even that was pretty poor. The centre is the largest shopping centre in the East Midlands region in terms of area and is the 14th largest in the country (Just 227 meters squared larger than intu Milton Keynes & thecentre:mk) The security staff gave me a bad vibe, they seemed like they were wanting to cause trouble and didn't seem as friendly as elsewhere in the UK, which could be said about the mall staff as a whole, but it is still one of the better shopping centres in the area with some nice brands including the city's only Starbucks store, you can also find stores from Nando's, Carluccio's, Jack Jones, Hugo Boss, WHSmith and more, so it is one of the best places to shop in the city even if it does lack multiple brands which can be found at smaller malls in Nottingham and Leicester such as Currys PC World and Apple. 3*

Now, I'm not normally a fan of shopping centres, but I have to confess I was seriously impressed by…read morethe new (opened in October 2007) Westfield Centre. It's seriously large inside, with 175 stores anchored by a large M&S and Debenhams. But what I liked was the bright, light and seriously minimalist finish to everything, and apparently all to a very high standard. It was about as far from a crappy British shopping centre as I have ever seen. On the inside, it also steers clear of that horrible cheap and tacky atrium style of architecture. It looks as though someone has at least tried to put some thought into it all. The stores were - unsurprisingly - mostly the familiar set of High Street names, although there were also some clearly local outlets, too, although a few of these looked perilously close to discount stores. But, overall, I was impressed - and surprised, because Derby isn't that large a city. Only 4 stars? Well, for such a huge place, their signposting and mapping wasn't that great, even with the hi-tech touch-sensitive store and location finder. (Nice technology, shame about the map). They have the usual range of services (toilets, parking for 2,000 cars, etc) as well as a cinema. It's slap bang in the middle of the city, so it's hard to miss.

I got a lesson yesterday in why Marks and Spencer is struggling. I arrived at the store at about…read more4.45pm yesterday to look for blue jeans. I had bought some before - last year (admittedly from their store in the East Midlands Designer Outlet mall). What I had bought, and loved, were Blue Harbour stretch jeans. So I went on line and ordered some more to be delivered. Sadly what I received were a totally different fit - "old man jeans" in my opinion - baggy around the crotch and waist area - so bad Mrs G INSISTED I sent them back (which I did for a full refund). Went to this store and was unable to find that brand but found some others which fit OK. Went to the cash register and there were 4 staff (FOUR) standing around, 2 talking to each other (it was 4:50pm on Thursday), one serving a customer who was talking forever to determine how she was going to pay for her item and the fourth lady just standing there. I guess that she eventually acquiesced to my looks slowly turning to a glare and logged into her register and nodded for me to come over. I made the mistake of mentioning that I ordered some jeans on line and that they were different to the ones I had bought in a brick and mortar store with a totally different fit. So then she gave me a lecture on how they were exactly the same (how she knew I have no idea!!!), so I assured her that they weren't and that others on line had reported the same disappointment. She fired back that they were the same and that I was mistaken, to which I responded how sad it was that the days of "the customer is always right" seem to have disappeared in her store. Yikes - with customer service like this no wonder they are struggling to keeps stores open :( Pity!! Review # 55 2018

This branch of Marks & Spencers is one of Burton's most well established and popular stores. In its…read moreprime location in Coopers Square, this is a fairly sizeable store. Downstairs is an expansive women's department, including a Per Una section, a shoe/handbag area and a jewellery section. The other major section downstairs is an M & S food department, small but with a good variety of products. Expensive yes, but most of the food is of the highest quality, some great meals deals too! Up the stairs or escalator if you prefer, is an extensive menswear department - good quality, but a little old fashioned. There is also a lingerie/nightwear section, as well as a small homewares department. There is an M & S cafe too, quite small but relentlessly popular. Worth waiting for a table though, the coffee is fantastic, strong and flavoursome but even I can't manage a large cup, it looks like you could swim lengths in it! Great breakfast muffins too!

Beatties is a small department store in the heart of the Octagon Centre, with the sub-moniker of…read moreThe House of Fraser. Open-fronted, Beatties is a welcoming place, with a small, but high quality range of items. There is an impressive range of men's and women's shoes, sandals and boots, which seem to be permanently on sale! There is the obligatory perfume counter and a small area selling gloves, scarves and umbrellas. The menswear section is dominated by formal shirts, suits, jumpers and high quality rugby shirts. There is also a small, but ever reducing homeware section to the rear of the store. Upstairs is the womenswear department, again quality clothes, but on the expensive side. On the whole, Beatties is a great place to go for that gift for someone special.