You can't go wrong with Blythes. A Manchester art student staple, this store has saved me countless…read moretimes. The staff in here are extremely knowledegable and will even order in special materials and papers if they're out of stock. They've got just about type of paint from Winsor to Newton and Rembrandt paints, brushes, chalks, gouaches, water colours and graphic supplies and a large range of papers and canvases. I've bought specialist 300gsm paper in here for a menu project and special mounting glue. I had help with the measuring and cutting free of charge and advice of mounting my images. I highly recommend this store.

Blyth Art Shop…read more Blyth's Art Shop seems like a serious sort of art shop for serious sort of artists. Everything is very ordered, neat and clinical. They've got great ranges of paints, pencils and pens, as well as a downstairs section with artist accessories like folders, paper and even natural light bulbs so you can paint in natural light late into the night. There's two or three staff around to help you with any queries you might have in my experience they've usually got the time and patience to help you out properly. I can't help feeling that Fred Aldous across Stevenson square isn't just lots more fun, more well stocked and generally more exciting though.

One of the best shops I have been to. A great selection of comics plus a continual supply of…read morespecial offers.

When I lived on Oldham Street many moons ago, I used to pop into Forbidden Planet on a weekly basis…read moreto pick up new copies of The Sandman, The Invisibles and other cool comics. These days, I only venture in now and again for something specific, like Reinhard Kleist's awesome graphic novel based on the life of Johnny Cash - I See A Darkness. For me, the layout and interior of Forbidden Planet lacks the ambience and wow factor of somewhere like Dave's Comics in Brighton but their range of comics, manga and graphic novels is faultless. For true fantatics and collectors, they also stock a massive range of cartoon, comic and pop culture memorabilia including tee-shirts, games, videos and toys. Personally, I have my eye on one of Frank Kozak's toy smoking rabbits complete with eye patch.

Apparently this is -the- place to go to get your collectible card game tournament action on as…read moreindicated by the tables full of people playing Magic: The Gathering one night and the (reportedly) preview version of Yu-Gi-Oh the following day. Just to be clear, I only know because I asked... Beyond that, Fanboy 3 has a pretty respectable assortment of various indie and adult games (no, not -those- kinds of games, perv). Whilst I didn't spot the specific boardgame I'd been looking for, a lot of classics were present, such as Risk and Settlers of Catan. Plus, if you're into roleplaying, it looks like they have a decent library of resources for many of those as well, with a whole wall dedicated to Warhammer. This kind of place isn't for Joe Schmoe, but if you've a penchant for geeky gaming and some pricier analogue entertainment options, it's worth popping in for a wee nosey.

It's 'FAN'boy! How can I not employ the 'Fan' number of stars?…read more Okay. So having geeked out on Game of Thrones and realising there's going to be A CARD GAME, and then watching my fiancé smash weird monsters in Dark Souls and getting really into it, having had enthusiastic and lovely roleplaying friends at uni and Role Models making roleplaying epically cool (who wouldn't want to go into fake-battle dressed as Kiss?) I thought I'd highlight the fact that a place of organised gaming exists in our quirky little Northern Quarter. Adding weight to the fact that this neighbourhood literally has something for everybody, good ol' Fanboy offers events like Friday Night Magic, Pokemon League tournaments, you name it. Admittedly you'll find more guys than gals, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles. When you wanna get your nerd on and make like the Big Bang Theory guys, do it. Hey, they're sexy. You can be too.

I always fall into the Gadget trap. It's all those items they display in the window, enticing you…read morein. I know deep down it's just a museum of useless artifacts, things you play with and then discard 2 weeks later, but for some reason I'm always brainwashed into thinking that at that particular moment they're an absolutely necessary purchase for you or your loved ones. So brainwashed I was. So far, my mini pool table has had a lot of wear. But I can't say the same for my brother's Desktop Henry Hoover.

A Christmas store if ever there was one and an absolute must on any manly shopping excursion!…read more Red 5 is crammed to bursting point with tons of unusual and innovative gadgets and gizmos that would make excellent stocking fillers. Full of things you'll want but never knew you needed, Red 5 is store that makes it difficult to stay on track when shopping for others by bringing on some serious techno greed! The company obviously scours the globe to find new stock as I've never seen half of the stuff they have before.......although I'm soon going to own it all.

Found on the 1st floor of counter culture epicentre Afflecks Palace, Panic Posters is the North…read moreWest's largest poster shop (in that it has lots of posters, not that it sells massive posters). Since opening in 1993 Panic Posters has built up an unrivalled selection of music, movie, celebrity posters, also stocking a huge selection of music T-shirts, badges, patches, stickers, belts, buckles and accessories. If your walls aren't holding up giant pictures of people holding their instruments right now then you are disgraceful excuse for a student. Get yourself down to Panic Posters today and all will be forgiven.

Lets face it being a student comes with many benefits but there are also pitfalls. One of the…read moredownsides to being a student is the distinct lack of dosh you have to spend on making your gaff look good. This is mainly due to the fact that if you do have money it goes on booze or ...beans. Fear not my friends Panic Posters will save the day. Get down to this unky little shop and splash your walls with colour, famous people and comedy. Posters ....lazyyyy interior design ....love it.

Cool shop the products are good quality but it's slightly more expensive then it should be would…read morerecommend asian supermarkets for the japanese snacks it's much cheaper

KENJI is a gift store specialising in Japanese style culture and items, they have beverages and…read moreother items associated with Japan, it is a pretty new store to the mall. I was drawn in by a post which claimed they sold hand sanitisers and due to the current situation regarding Coronavirus (CONVID-19) it seems every pharmacy, drug-store or anywhere which would sell hand gels have been sold out however - They were advertising a product they did not sell - They were overpricing them heavily at £2.50 for a small one, which although isn't as bad as merchants on online giants such as eBay it still is around double the price it would be usually, which Boots and Superdrug still charge nearby if you're lucky enough to get your hands on one. The store also is so narrow, they've crammed so much stuff in a small place meaning it's so hard to walk around the store or find a specific product or even stop to look at something, the store did look good but even if the store is quiet, it isn't really made with the customer experience and ease of getting around the store in mind. Looking good and delivering a good customer-experience should go hand in hand, not one or another. Strangely, they had a drink selection with writing in Japanese I struggled to read allergen information and they didn't seem ready to drink they were lukewarm, being in a hot mall location without refrigerating them which is a bad idea. A Japanese themed gift-shop is a really exciting concept and it's a shame this store is more dire than exciting and fails to live up to its' great potential. 1*