Hawkins is a little shop tuck away in the heart of the High Chelmer shopping arcade…read more It is a small but friendly shop selling usually gifts, toys, book, silly sexy bits and pocket money toys. The shop window is always well presented and the children and adults seem to love it in here. The staff are really helpful and play with the children using bubbles (and if you are lucky you get showered in bubbles too!) this is one of the few shops where the staff really seem to love their jobs and dealing with the public. The cheaper toys are great for kids to buy with pocket money or us adults to stock up on for party bags or stocking fillers. The shop has lots of intersting things to see, play with and buy if you want! Well worth a visit.

This shop can be found in High Chelmer shopping centre towards the market end. A gem of a shop…read moregreat for stocking fillers, party bag bits and even big boys/girls toys. I especially love the nostalgia toys. Sometimes a bit difficult to see everything as crammed full on every self, but they offer a brochure to take away. Great also for pocket money toys.

The works is the Meadows is a reasonalbe size siuated opposite BHS and the cookie makers…read more The works has lots of interesting books for young and old at reasonable prices. It is a great place to pick up some book bargins and worth searching around to see what they have. You can pick up great little colouring sets and sticker books children as well as large carboard character toy boxes (football ones too). It generally is fairly busy in there so be prepared to queue in peek times.

The staff in this branch are always really helpful and know where everything is even when they move…read moreeverything round and hide stuff. The is a largish store selling things that are hard to get in town centres nowadays such as paint, bird food, garden items in the spring and summer, tools, cleaning products, curtain rails and loads more. I really like the bird food range it is very good value and includes peanuts, fat balls and sunflower seeds. Recently it has started to sell food which I find a bit strange as they only have room for a limited range.

This is a great store in the meadows, the staff are friendly and they cater for many people…read more The pet food isle is great for dogs, cats and birds. It is brilliant. If you know your prices the personal care section is great. This is a place tp by cheap cards and wrapping paper, look for Christmas lights and decorations as well as presents. The queues are quick and the staff are helpful. This is a great place to have a look around.

Clinton cards must be one of the biggest names in cards, the Chelmsford store is a big shop with a…read moregood position on the high street, it is often busy with long queues. Today they had got out a few Christmas card already and were making way for more so some of the displays were empty. I find their prices very expensive especially for wrapping paper and big cards (I would much rather buy a smaller card but they seem to be making less and less of those). There are no steps in the shop so access is easy but the counter is really high, being a bit on the short side I find this annoying but it must be very hard if you are in a wheel chair. The staff are not the most helpful or polite people and do not look after the stock very well. I often find too many cards shoved into the display and ruined. The shop seems a bit drab and old fashioned. I never to seem to find cards I like in it, I tried again today but came away empty handed. They did have lots of cute soft toys and also sell gift boxes and bows.

This store is a great size with plenty of cards for all different occasions. The cards are always…read moregreat quality, but quite expensive. Also what anoys me is the cards dont have the price on them, you have to check the code on the back of the card then try to find a code display that tells you the prices. They do have some lovely teddy's and small gifts, which are also a little pricey too.