After being heckled by an Aston Villa supporter, who was campaigning for a charity in Birmingham,…read morewalking around with my Manchester City shirt, I noticed this store and as a football fan, had a walk in to see if Aston Villa's central Birmingham Shop was as bad as well... Aston Villa (Aston Villa fans stop reading now) With a 4-0 victory over Villa, around a month after my visit, I still felt I had bragging rights, when I walked into this store, but still for a club like Aston Villa, who seem to sack their managers everytime something goes wrong (I still don't know why Tim Sherwood went) I was quite surprised, in a good way. This is a pretty cool store, to me it looks quite new and modern, it is on New Street, quite close to both New Street Station, Grand Central and The Bullring, and did have a good selection of jerseys. It also had a good selection of merchandise for Aston Villa fans, and even a ticket office on the top floor. If you're an Aston Villa fan, this is actually quite a good club shop for a soon to be Championship Club and actually can compete with the larger clubs stores in city centers such as Manchester City, and even beating Stoke City's club shop by far. I'm not an Aston Villa fan, but I found this store to be great for Aston Villa supporters to warrant a solid 3 star rating.

I'm not a footie fan myself but have been raised in a household of devout 'Villains', hardcore AVFC…read morefans who don't seem to realise that more often than not their team is a bit rubbish. However, despite my ignorance on the subject of football, every annual Brummy Christmas shopping trip with my mom means a brief visit to the Villa football shop to ensure Santa brings my brother various Villa-shaped goodies. It's a great little shop and sure to please any dedicated fan, with everything from the latest home and away shirts to mugs, pens and fun but throwaway merchandise. At any other time of year, my mom would think it ridiculous to splurge on some of the stuff she's bought here - but, hey, everyone goes a bit mad at Christmas. Ever in need of Villa-branded sweets? I'll try not to judge you if you are. Just know that this place can sort you out if so. The stock is spread over two floors and staff are positioned across the space to help out anyone like me who has zero knowledge of the 'beautiful' game. It's all-encompassing, with items for blokes and ladies - as well as cute little garments for babs, which led to my mom shelling out on some kit for a newborn in the family. Definitely one for Villa devotees, but Birmingham City fans might want to steer clear.

Used to wear caps a lot in past. I still do ocassionally but not as much. New Era is the perfect…read moreand only store you need if you want caps. They have everything and every design/style. I want buy everything when I go in I get caps with simple design or logo. I hate the ones with so much designs and writing all over the cap. For me simple is good and I love muted colours. I wear to match what I wear not to draw attention to my head. :) Not cheap but quality is the best

New Era is a really attractive store. It kinda looks like a really posh trainer shop but without…read morethe trainers! The staff look super cool but without being intimidating or pushy and the hats are high quality and well displayed with great colour ways and designs. I haven't purchased a cap here yet but I definitely would. My boyfriend wears them and this would probably be my first port of call if he wanted a new one as there is so much choice and the quality is clearly second to none. Prices are around the £30 mark, about the same as a decent t-shirt but you'll get more wear out of it and they come in different sizes too.

Rather like Maurice Robinson in Kings Heath, this is a Sports Store from a bygone era. In the days…read morebefore retail parks, online shopping and massive emporiums like JJB Sports and the like, this is the sort of shop where you would have come to get anything sport related, whether your chosen game was cricket, football, swimming, running, tennis, or anything else for that matter. Dr Sports stocks a little bit of everything, so given the size of the place the stock of each sporting item is limited compared to what you might find in a larger outlet, but what they do have on offer here is reasonably competitive in terms price. As usual with a shop such as this, they will attempt to order in anything that they don't have in stock.

This is a standard sports shop. I came in here to see if they sold sports bras and unfortunately…read morefor me, they did not. However, whilst I was in there I had a browse around and they do sell a variety of other clothes, such as sports vests, shorts and trainers. They also have a variety of sports equipment, such as tennis rackets and footballs. I did find it quite uncomfortable in there as the man at the counter just stared at me as I walked around the store, which is not ideal when you're looking for a bra. There was also no one else in there when I was there, which is a shame as I think it may be the only one on Harborne High Street, although it may not have been a busy day for the store! The prices are not too bad and the sportswear consists of a variety of brands. I would go in again if I needed some more sportswear, but not just for a browse.

This is a relatively large Sports Direct store, in the Bullring in Birmingham city centre, it is…read morepretty much your typical Sports Direct store, relatively cheap sports clothing in a claustrophobic atmosphere, where they always seem to unnecessarily make the store as narrow as possible, resulting in a not so great overall shopping experience. There are entrances through the mall and on street level which is handy. They did have a pretty good selection, many of the items were competitively priced. They did seem to have a good number of employees working to satisfy demand, which is rather efficient and can be hit or miss at these types of stores, more so in the current climate - although queuing at the checkouts could have again be improved. 3* - Large store with a good product selection, I just wish they thought more about their own layout making it more welcoming and accessible, rather than appearing to be more of a mess than anything else.

This place provides a truly awful shopping experience…read more A discount sports clothing chain that sells a small amount of sporting equipment also. The staff here seem to hate the place. I don't blame them as the clientele seem to be mostly rude with little consideration for other shoppers or staff. You'll also find plenty of pushchairs in the aisles blocking your way, or people having conversations unwilling to step aside to let you through. There's always a queue at the tills, and you'll always be asked if you want to buy a branded plastic bag. After a second "no thank you" persuasion techniques became annoying. This place's saving grace comes in the form that it's cheap branded specialist sports clothing. Also in its location in the bullring- if like me you needed some sports leggings and are in this area, there's not many other places where you can pick up good quality ones fairly cheap. (Let me know if there are please!) Be warned though, they have an in store no refunds just store credit policy which can be inconvenient.

Everything about this shop screams it's not for me and yet I'm a mild sneaker freak. I'm not a mega…read morecollector, I don't have the cash or the time to queue outside shops for days on end, but I do like my trainers and try to keep an awareness of what's going on. This shop from it's limited, exclusive descriptor feels like it's should be a sneaker freak's shop but it's not quite there. A closer look at the decor and the middle of the road urban brands tells you this. Don't get me wrong, they have some decent Nike's in there and they stock Adidas originals, maybe I'm sounding like a snob but 55DSL and WeSC aren't the Supreme's and Hundreds of the world (not that I'm a fan of these, but I know a thing or two). Despite my grumblings, fair play to them for having such a big expanse of prime real estate, being independent and selling some decent brands. Check them out if it's your cuppa tea.

The Stadium Megastore has been refurbished in recent times. In here you can find West Bromwich…read moreAlbion's home and away shirts for children and adults, Albion training shirts, beanies etc. Everything Albion will be in here! The Club will also have Players visiting the Club Shop to meet and greet fans. This will probably take place during the school half-term. I had the privilege of meeting both Peter Odemwingie and Youssouf Mulumbu this year at the Club Shop. Keep an eye out on the Club website and attend the Stadium Megastore to see what offers are available for Baggies fans. The Stadium Megastore is situated right next to the East Stand and is open on Matchdays. The opening times can be found above.

Embarking on a weeks worth of work experience with West Bromwich Albion, I spent a day in the…read morestore, dealing with customers and helping out with stock etc. Of all the days, this was probably the most tedious due to the repetitive stream of tasks I had to do. Despite this, the staff there made it fairly enjoyable, as otherwise I can imagine the day to have turned out quite differently. The store was fairly empty, although being close to the end of the season, it did have its outbursts of customers who made the most of the great offers to snap up some merchandise. I may be an Aston Villa fan, but the day spent in the megastore at West Brom was still a relatively good day, with a well ran shop and great staff to boot.

Worst customer service!!…read more My friend ordered a dress made to measure from this boutique. She ordered the dress 7weeks in advance and was told it will be ready in time. When we went to the shop the man who owns the shop showed us the dress which was the same dress she saw on the mannequin 7weeks ago. The dress had marks and few beading missing. The dress which she wanted hadn't arrived and the owner lied saying the dress in front of us was the new one she ordered. The owner lied so much he had no idea after a while what he was saying. The owner is the rudest person I have come across screaming at the customers. Customers needs did not come first. Owner didn't want to listen to the customer and lied over and over again!! Do NOT shop from this boutique. You won't get what you pay for. BEWARE!!