With its tasteful displays outside, wide aisles and several bargain baskets on offer, this small…read morehardware store appears very enticing as you're passing by. Don't be fooled. Once inside, the prices aren't half as great as you'd expect them to be (Small hammers were on display for £8.99! I have a similar one at home that cost me £3.50!), most of the stock inside is covered in thick layers of dust and the floors look as if they haven't been cleaned in years. The cut-price items outside the store may look attractive, but again, be warned! The staff leave their products outside even in awful weather (I saw this with my own eyes on my wet and windy visit) and you'd be hard put to find anything amongst this lot that doesn't look as if it originally came from a pound shop. Staff are grumpy and ignorant towards customers unless directly prompted, most items are overpriced and the whole atmosphere inside is very unpleasant. I'd definitely recommend buying your household and hardware products elsewhere.

This shop has an extensive range of lighting solutions and accessories. Whatever your lighting…read morerequirement the staff here assure me that they either have it stock or can get it within 48hours. This shop is a showroom to a much larger operation, an online shop called lightsaver. Their warehouse is in Birmingham and they offer to deliver for free. Browsing their online shop, it offers up to 50% off what I'm looking for. The member of staff dealing with me at the shop was friendly and very knowledgeable about the products. The online shop is easy to navigate and to order from.

Selling a range of decent toiletries and household products, mostly for either £1 or less, this…read moremini budget store is a great place to stop by to pick up a few bargains when you're passing through Erdington. The aisles inside are cramped and the staff are a little ignorant and unfriendly, but the store's stock is surprisingly diverse for its size and it's usually nice and quiet inside. Nails, screws and bolts are all available for £1, which is great when similar products costs double that at Erdington Hardware down the road, and many products are less than 70p! This no-frills, multi-purpose store is definitely worth a visit if ever you're passing.

On a recent trip to Erdington to browse the shops, this unusual little niche store really caught my…read moreeye. Vevo specialises in selling handbags, suitcases and carpets; a very odd combination indeed. Inside, everything is spotlessly clean and the store is spacious considering its size, mainly due to the fact that there aren't any makeshift wooden aisles or displays; everything is simply either on shelves on the walls, or in the middle of the room. Prices here are remarkably low, especially for the suitcases and holdalls, meaning that this is a great place to stop by if you're planning a weekend away, but need a new case. On my visit, I purchased a large pull-along suitcase for just £14.99. It's sturdy, spacious and feels well made, and I'm sure it'll last me a good while. The staff here are friendly, the stock is impressive for such a small shop and I'd most definitely visit again.

More of a convenience store-come-supermarket than a household haven, the products sold at this…read morelarge local shop include almost anything from shampoos and washing powder to crisps, biscuits and chocolate. Lots of items are on great 2 for £1 offers and H&S Household is a lot larger, friendlier and more pleasant than your average high street convenience store. It's impressive to see branded products at low prices and it's clear to anyone who visits that the items on sale here are of greater quality than you'd find at a pound shop or budget store. Unfortunately though, the store isn't the cleanest of places inside and it's difficult to wonder around without stepping on scattered stock along the way. The shelves are organised into logical, easy-to-find sections, but many displays are inconveniently positioned, meaning that you have to push past people to get around whenever the shop gets busy. Additionally, though the store's selection of food is very diverse when it comes to snacks and junk-food, there is no refrigerated section offering the essentials and no frozen foods are on offer either.

You can spend a fortune on stuff for your house or you can visit this shop. Okay, it's not exactly…read moreLaura Ashley or Habitat but you can get all sorts of perfectly decent housey stuff at very low prices. It makes you wonder just how larger chains can get away with charging so much for shampoos, furniture polish, washing up liquids, washing powders and so on when places like this exist for 2 for £1.00 offers. This store is very well stocked with branded products, it also offers food stuffs, mainly snacks and junk food but again these treats are at lower than supermarket prices. I'd best describe this place as a cross between Ikea and Aldi with a little bit of Lidal thrown in.

Offering two storeys of chandeliers, lamp accessories, light fittings and interior oddments, this…read morehighly unusual, niche furniture store is a great place to check out when visiting Erdington. The displays, floors and pretty much everything else inside is spotlessly clean and the low-volume music and spacious showrooms make for a pleasant shopping experience. Staff are in abundance inside and willing to offer help and advice, but they don't pounce on you the second you walk through the door as they may do in other furniture stores, and Lite Craft also benefits from its own off-road car park. Many exciting and unusual designs of light fixtures, fittings and shades are on display inside and the store also sells a wide variety of quirky mirrors. This pleasant, offbeat furniture is definitely worth a visit. If you're currently decorating and looking to add some unique touches to your home, you'll be in your element here.