Merrion Shopping Centre is my favourite place to do my weekly shopping. The Tesco there is huge…read moreand nice to stroll unhurriedly around. The newsagents is open on Sundays, has all the papers, cards and old-fashioned sweets at the till. It also has a hardware shop (perfect for that random DIY thing you need) and a chemist. One of the chemists also has lovely gift things. It has a zumo in case you're doing your shopping a little hungover and sometimes there's a health-food/nut stall at the door. There's also a hairdressers. Merrion Centre covers all the bases and all of the "just-in-case" things that might occur to you that you need while doing your weekly shop. Parkings free with a maximum stay of 2 hours.

A quick addition to Natalies review…read more... again it is a fine place to shop and the opening hours of the Tesco are designed to make sure you are rarely if ever stuck (I have had several emergency nappy / calpol / milupa / formula drives at 11pm to prove it). However if you are driving into the carpark take heed - the first speed bump at the bottom of the ramp means business - I go over it at snails pace and it still jars the car something rotten!

I love health food shops, and the Health Store in Blackrock is my newest find…read more They have all the usual health shop staples here - dried fruits and nuts, cereal bars, giant tubs of Aloe Vera gel, multi vitamins and minerals of all forms, cod liver oils and herbal tinctures for every ailment. The shop is bright and attractive, and the prices are pretty keen too. You can also order online from their website, www.thehealthstore.ie.

Very good selection of what is needed for the body in an alternative way. Nice bright shop and the…read morestaff are very helpful.

I'm not really a shopping centre person but when it's 8 o'clock on a Thursday night and I need hair…read moredye, a new outfit for the weekend, dog food and the weekly food shop there's really only one place to go. And in fairness where else can you do hours of shopping see a movie and have dinner without paying a cent for parking ?? The food side of the centre has improved massively in the last year - it used to just be fast food but now they have Wagamana, Captain Americas, Milano, Nandos amongst others.

Look, I'm not the biggest proponent of shopping centres. They're too packed, too bright, too hot,…read moretoo packed, not enough independent shops, and eh, they're too packed. So Blanch is no different. It's always rammed. It has the usual mix of high street shops and cheap eats. It does have an added benefit (depending on your perspective!) of being surrounded by outlets and bigger retail parks as well, so you can do your clothes shopping in the centre, then get your house-y stuff in the bigger ones on the outskirts. If you're into getting all your shopping done at once, and don't mind shopping centres, to be honest, it's not half bad. It does seem to have a greater selection of more 'value' shops than Liffey Valley and Dundrum if you're on more of a budget, which is good. Pro Tip: I have found on two occasions that all the carparks were full except the multi-story one on the Debenhams / M&S side, so if you're having problems finding somewhere to park, give that area a goo.

Popped into Lidl in Baldoyle tonight…read more I've been in Lidl stores in Spain and in Ireland and they all look the same and the products are Im guessing all the same around the world too. I've been in this particular store many times over the past few years as its close to my parents. The staff havent changed over the years and neither has their manners. Besides the fact that not one of the staff is irish doesn't lend itself to familiarity. They never smile, never pass the time of day nor do they seem to care or value your return. The queues are never less than ten persons in line and although there are 5 checkouts there is never more than two open at any one time. When scanning items they dont seem to care that you are trying to pack at the same speed they scan which is impossible as we are not programmed like they are to be robots. Its dreadful customer service but I suppose you get what you pay for. Some of the deals can be good if you happen to be in the market for that particular item at the time. (Car accessories for example, jump leads, bulbs, etc can be much cheaper than the likes of specialist stores like Halfords) Thats the only positive. Lidl are the Ryanair of the Supermarket world. You only use them because they are no frills and cheap.

This is my local Lidl. As someone who's moved here from Canada this has become my go to grocery…read morestore because of the location and the prices. Everything here is pretty inexpensive, which has become really important since I'm still looking for a job. I mean I need to eat, but I can't afford to pay Marks & Spencer prices for basic groceries. So 18 cent ramen noodles from Lidl it is. Actually, I got three shopping bags full of groceries and it was only 16E. This Lidl, which not as big as say the Tesco over at Clarehall is bigger than some of the others I've seen around the city. The have a decent selection of some houseware stuff as well like pots and pans. The staff aren't super friendly, but Lidl isn't the kind of place where you're going to go and have a 10 minute conversation with the staff about your dog (I've seen that happen at other grocery stores back in Canada). They are quick and efficient, and I haven't had any issues here yet. The one thing I find odd here is how short the lanes are at the end of the til to repack your groceries. You basically have to stuff everything into your bags and then reorganize them on the table/ledge at the windows. It causes a bit of a panic attack, but the prices are so cheap it's worth it.

Terrible customer service!…read more My mother purchased a Samsung fridge/freezer from Power City. Size is far too big for her kitchen. Although no seals have been opened or removed from the fridge, and she has the sales receipt, Power City are refusing to offer a refund/exchange as the unit has been removed from the box. Punch line....Power City took the box back with them after delivering the unit! Have been emailing back and forth the customer service desk, with absolutely no real customer service provided. Have even attempted to contact Samsung as the manufacturers to see if they could provide us an empty box....to which Power City replied our 'contact is with Power City and not Samsung'. In addition, Power City have not offered to check with their own suppliers for a box, or to check their own warehouse for said box seeing as their couriers took back the box!! Although I have very clearly explained the situation to Power City and that my mother is not in a financial position to be out of pocket €1929.95 with a fridge that is basically the size of her entire kitchen...Power City's response has consistently been a one liner email saying 'sorry we can't refund' Absolutely disgraceful behaviour from a reputable company...

This retail park is a little off the beaten track by itself so it's not such an easy location to…read moreget to unless you have a car. There are always crowds here using the retail park but for me it lacks variety, there is a currys, next homeware, 53 Degrees North, Halfords, Smyths, TK Maxx, Harvey Normans, Petshop, Heatons and a few others, I would describe it more as a designation when you're looking for something particular as opposed to a browse where you could to be inspired :-) They have extended it further with a mc donalds and kfc drive thru and a power city has opened up recently so it's clearly bringing business in for me highlight is a crepes and coffee stall that can be found at Halfords area.

The aroma in this shop is instantly calming…read more The sales assistants make you feel like you have lots of time, and although they are out for the hard sell, they are very accommodating and full of knowledge on their products. L'Occitane products are pricey enough (€10 for a small handcream, although some face creams are €18 which is not too bad) but probably worth it given that they claim to be quite natural. I got a few samples from the sales assistant and a handcream for my mum which she wrapped up absolutely lovely for mother's day. I don't think the products suit my skin type but I will be going back for presents.

Needed luggage fast and cheap. Perfect for a duffel bag. Staff was friendly and gave me a little…read morediscount

Right, so the know the way that TK Maxx is great idea (cheap clothes and low prices and all that…read morelark). But, you'll also not have failed to notice that it doesn't work out that well in practice - a scrum of people rifling through aisles and aisles of clothing, everyone getting all sweaty and bothered before they try on the t-shirt that you were thinking of buying. Eew. And the TK Maxx in the Pavilions in Swords was no different to the other ones all the other times that I've been there, except that you can't go to a nice coffee shop to recuperate afterwards, as you are in the hell that is a gargantuan suburban shopping centre, and you have to make do with a shitty and soulless Kay's Kitchen. Double eew. All of that changed earlier on today, however. For this morning (Monday) I went to TK Maxx in Swords and hardly recognised the place. There were literally only about another twenty or thirty in this vast shop, so there wasn't the usual feverish mill that one associates with the chain. I was there a little over an hour, and in that time, I managed to pick out and purchase 4 jumpers (in the summer, I know, I'm a tool. And they were all knitwear into the bargain.) Within this relatively small window, I also tried on but rejected about six t-shirts. You know when you have one of those days with the TK Maxx t-shirt aisle? Yeah, it was one of those days. This sparseness of shoppers makes sense, though: people would tend to be in town during the week, and so might stop off at TK Maxx and make it all horrible and crowded and sweaty. Whereas people only go to horrible retail monstrosities like the Pavilions at the weekends. So, if you want to stock up on your cheap designer labels, head out to 'burbs on a weekday morning and escape a little of the drudgery.

I've been shopping in Jervis since I moved here back in 1999…read more Its had a few changes over the years, such as losing Debenhams and Waterstones and many other little shops changing. All in all its got the basics though. Food, clothing, chemist, electronics, gadgets, nik knacks, food court, a couple cafes etc. Its always fairly clean, well maintained, bright and cheery.

Fun vibe and nice selection of stores. Enjoyed walkign thru at Christmas time - was super busy and…read morefestive. Check it out!