Located just above New Street Station in the Pallasades shopping centre, Newsflow is a small,…read moreunassuming newsagent. However, despite its appearances, don't be fooled. If I'm every after a drink, snack, or something to read on the train, I always head here instead of the much larger Smiths down on the station concourse. Newsflow's main selling point is the surprisingly expansive selection of magazines that they have on offer, with more than their wall space seems capable of holding. The prices haven't been ramped up with the proximity to the station in mind, either (a sharing bag of sweets retails for less than £2, which is competitive for anywhere, even large supermarkets), and the staff are always friendly. Even better, there's rarely a queue, meaning it can often prove to faster to go upstairs to Newsflow and then come back down to catch your train than it is to go to the nearby Smiths and queue for five minutes.

The Craic is a free magazine that can be picked up in a variety of places - mostly churches,…read morecommunity centres, social centres and pubs - it's aim to provide articles and editorials on Irish issues for the local community in Birmingham and the West Midlands. I have to admit that this isn't the reason I always look for it in The Anchor or Spotted Dog - I love it for two things - firstly for the cover, which generally features a pretty Irish girl (and has in the past featured, gasp, people I actually know) and secondly - and perhaps most importantly for its listings. The listings are great. Where else can you find places with these sort of names - The Craic House (in West Brom), the Sacred Heart Club (Aston), Casey Joes (Acocks Green and home to a roof terrace and all the Gaelic football and hurling matches you could ever wish to see), Behans (Karaoke every Thursday) and of course Cleary's (Irish music bar, spirits plus dash for 2 quid).

Fused Magazine is a well-established independent culture magazine in Birmingham…read more A beautifully put together review of fashion, music, art, featuring interviews, competitions and much more. Expect to see gorgeous design layouts, amazing photography and great journalism. For any designer, band, DJ, artist or independent business in Brum being featured in Fused is definitely very high on the want list. Highly recommend any fan of arts or culture of any kind to get themselves a copy if they haven't already! Just ordered the new issue so I'll update this when I receive it.

Fused is somewhat of a Birmingham institution now, having been around for over a decade. It is an…read moreart/music/culture/fashion magazine that has beautiful layout and design, interviews and reviews. It's an innovative publication that prides itself on high quality content and artwork and boasts illustrated front covers for every edition. For years Fused was a free publication that also contained local listings and events but they have recently moved all that side of the mag over to Area Magazine (still free) and now Fused has more room for the other stuff. They have also shifted up a gear in terms of page count and paper stock making it well worth the cost.

For a hospital shop this is a great little gem…read more A friend recommended I visit this place just tucked inside the public entrance to Birmingham's Children's Hospital. I was a tiny bit sceptical, and I have to admit to feeling slightly uneasy at the prospect of a hospital trip even though I had no patient to visit. I needn't have worried. Yoo Shop is a short walk up the bright, glass panelled ramp and is perfectly accessible to passers by. My friend had told me this place was decent if you needed a quick snack or if you needed to make a few purchases for an up and coming celebration. As I entered I knew exactly what they meant. Yes, there are get-well cards aplenty but Yoo also stocks a huge range of wrapping papers and gift bags for any occasion. It's like a fully fledged card shop!!! In this way, Yoo makes a good alternative if you're trying to find something a little bit different from the high street. Incidentally, the range of colourful and wacky balloons on sale is really staggering. I love my balloons!

If, for whatever reason, you're only passing through Birmingham and want to quickly sample a bit of…read morethe local flavour, you could do a lot worse than News Express, a small, independent, locally owned newsagents about a five minute walk from New Street Station. I may be going out on a limb here, but in my opinion, in terms of service at least, the corner shops of Birmingham are the best in the country, and a part of its unique culture. News Express is emblematic of the Birmingham convenience store, with friendly staff, good choice, and, in classic Brum style, as much stuff crammed into a small space as possible. The prices aren't the cheapest, but in the centre of town you're not going to do an awful lot better anywhere else, and they do have regular deals on chocolate bars, which is never a bad thing.

This is a crazy little newsagent, located under the Big Peg in the main shopping parade…read more They have an ok selection of magazines, covering most genres; lots of porn, hair, gaming, dogs, women's weeklies, Asian weddings, tattoos...etc. I always judge a newsagent on their curation of the magazine shelves and whilst this place isn't amazing, it does have a large range. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that it sells office equipment, being under an office building and all but Supershop really does have the most random selection of stuff; from Pukka Pads to tights to WD-40 to dish drainers - it's not quite a supermarket but more like being in your grandad's garage. A real convenience store I guess as you will always find the things you don't expect they will have. They also do photocopies which has been useful to me in the past as there is always an astronomical queue at the post office round the corner.

I didn't even know the Big Peg had anything under it, let alone a newsagent with the back end of…read moreRyman attached to it. So I'm checking out the magazines they have when the shop keepers starts calling over, telling me he's closing soon and I need to pick a book to buy, then keeps asking me what book I'm going to buy in a hasty manner. "None" I reply in a cool well delivered retort. Truth is I was just killing time while my girlfriend looked at pencils or whatever but the shopkeeper was so crazy edgy it really put me off buying anything. The front of the shop was a normal city newsagent set up (lots of porn) all your favourite drinks and snacks, plenty of tobacco. But the odd thing round the back was a massive selection of stationary, almost a separate shops worth. Lots of postage bags and packages too. Not a bad place at all, just felt I caught the shopkeeper on a bad day.