The gentleman who operates the shop is always welcoming and helpful when I send or collect parcels…read morewith Yodel or FedEx. The shop is well presented and very clean.

When I came into Mirage News I thought it was just a bog standard newsagents. Crisps, sweets,…read morecigarettes, bottles of fizzy pop and few newspapers. That kind of thing. That's certainly what it looks like from the outside. And it does sell all of those things. But what it also does is tobacco. So what I'm talking about is cigars. In fact a couple of cabinets full of the things, with a wide range of types. They also sell tobacco, in flavours such as apple, banana and toffee, all weighed out to the amount you would like. They also sell paraphernalia like pipes and lighters. The guy serving is nice enough too. What Mirage News is really great for is its tobacco though.

Great shop ,amazing service, great products great prices very good atmosphere at Christmas time…read moreregards Baroness von Kuchler Francis kray Winchester Mcgladdery Gallagher

I'm not massively too sure how much of a brisk trade this place does when smoking seems to be the…read moreultimate sin in 21st century life... But for the 5 mins I was in here it definitely seemed to be busy enough with fans of the old brown weed. Needing to pop in and buy some Havana cigars for our friends wedding, the staff were very helpful, knowledgable and friendly - helping me choose the 3 pack of Bolivar's (£48 for 3) that went down a treat once all the service and speeches were complete. Personally myself, I have no probs with people choosing what they do with their life and bodies as long as they're not blowing smoke in mine or my kids face and these sorts of places used to maybe be ten a penny back in the old days, but it's nice to see something so traditional as a classic, artisan tobacconist on the high street still. When the next big wedding is on, I'll now know where to go to get my zig-a-zig'ar on!

It's simple. If you like weed a lot, you will like Dr Herman's a lot…read more If, like me, you don't really like weed, then the existence of Dr Herman's will be totally inconsequential to you. It is to me. In Dr Herman's there are loads and loads and loads of bongs, pipes, papers and other accessories to help you smoke the green stuff in all kind of ways. The whole shop is dedicated to the weed. Apparently there are enough people in Manchester that like weed that much to fund its existence. Fair enough, I guess.

Kratom Chacruna San…read morePedro Blue Lotus Jurema Yopo If you're already familiar with some of the above, chances are you already shop at Dr. Hermans! For those folks who draw a blank, Dr. Hermans specialises in a wide range of smoking paraphernalia from tobacco seeds to seed banks, grow bags, grinders, pollinators, vapourisers, roaches and blunts. The reason I've only given them three stars isn't because their shit isn't good - it's because the shop looks and feels like a hippy tardis. Everywhere you look, there's horrible flashing lights, crappy lava lamps and cheap looking bongs. I know most customers are probably too high to notice but the decor makes me think of migraines! Personally, I'd also be extremely reluctant to smoke something called Fly Agaric but hey, it's your lungs!

Euronews is a huge newsagents right on Piccadilly Gardens…read more It also doubles up as a mobile phone shop that is a convenient place to come and get your mobile phone unlocked if that's what you need. That's it basically. It's a newsagents. Crisps, magazines, papers, sweets, fags, gum and polo's are its thing (as well as phones, obviously).

Yeah Euronews! Nothing to do with Europe. I thought it was an absolute find, because I always come…read moreback from holiday with somewhere between 7 and 30 Euros knocking about in my wallet. You can imagine my joy when I saw this shop, and imagined myself redeeming my Euros against a large pile of newspapers, fizzy pop and sweets. It was terrible news then, when I discovered that you are expected to pay in British Sterling. Jokes aside, it's a good little newsagents. Especially worth a look at is all the Haribo style sweets, that are not Haribo branded, but taste the same, and are about half the price. The selection is great. Plus its got some strange random items that tourists might be interested in. This is just speculation though, as I don't know any tourists.

I don't know when it started but there seems to be a bit of an on-going turf war between Govind's…read moreNewsagents and their neighbour newsagent Metro Convenience Store. To the best of my knowledge there's been no fist fights or smashed windows involved, just a competition over which business can offer customers the lowest prices. So far, Govind's News seems to be winning with 2p for photocopies and Half Price on all the daily and weekends tabloids and broadsheets. Handily, they also sell beer, milk, bread, soup, crisps, baked beans, spaghetti hoops, toilet roll and chocolate bars - making it a bit of a one-stop shop for students and locals on a budget.

This place has recently changed its name from Govind's to Govin News Agents. Where did the 'd'…read moredisappear to? I really don't understand. Is it a typo? Absolutely similar to Metro Convenience Store next door, Govin seems to have slightly less stock, with a basic slection of bread, eggs, milk and the like. It gets a point for offering photocopying at an incredibly cheap 2p per page. If you're a student with a handing-in deadline and you fancy beating the library queues and saving a few pennies whilst you're at it, Govin is the place to go. Govin News Agents, just like Metro, also sells odd items. Coloured drinking straws? A football? People must be buying this stuff I guess...

As I mentioned in my review of Govind's News, there's a bit of a War of The Roses going on between…read morethem and the Metro Convenience Store with both businesses competing for customers. The reason Metro Convenience gets an extra star is because the shop is about twice the size of their rival store and sells a wider range of groceries, store cupboard essentials and magazines. They also have two or three photocopying machines on the go - which makes copying essays and dissertations that bit quicker than waiting next door. On the downside, the strip lighting is harsh and the staff tend to be ultra friendly or ultra cool and reserved. Who cares when it costs £4.50 - instead of £8.50 - for all the weekend papers and a Wispa Gold?

Metro and Govin news agents sit right next to each other on the Oxford Road. Why don't they just…read morejoin together to form one might news agents beast that can rule the news agent world? They don't, but amazingly both still seem to stay in business. Metro Convenience Store seems more well stocked, with a fair selection of all your basic corner shop products. They also sell random tat like woolly hats and dustpan and brushes. Do people really buy that stuff from a corner shop?