A 5 star newsagents? It does exist, and it's here in Glasgow…read more Thanks to Kelly R's tip the other day, I found out they sell Frankie magazine here (thanks again Kelly!). Frankie is an Australian magazine which I was totally addicted to, back in the day. I didn't know it was even sold in the UK so when I saw the tip I screamed (I'm not kidding), and visited Barrett as soon as I could. As I scanned the shelves, and scanned them some more, I came to the crushing realisation that they didn't seem to have it. The girl behind the counter was super helpful, looking it up on the system for me and chatting to me about the magazine. Sadly, it had sold out already but she offered to take my name so that for all future copies, they'll have one for me. How's that for customer service?! She was super helpful and friendly, and I really appreciate that she offered to go that extra mile for me. Even though I don't live close to Barrett, I'll be heading here for all my magazine needs in the future.

I love these places…read more Glasgow Convenience Stores You can tell when you enter one of these that you are back in Scotland. Askit powders by the register and Irn Bru in the fridge. This one is great and I used to drop by on my walk to work. It carries a variety papers, bottled waters, loads of gingers, and all of the miscellany that I would require during my day. Sometimes, it is not the big things that remind you of a place. You can take an immense amount of pleasure in the small things.

Okay, so it might seem a bit facetious to review a newsagent, but I used to live in the area nearby…read morefor 2-3 years, and it's really taken root in a special little place in my heart. Mostly I think from the shopkeeper who always greets with a cheeky grin and a friendly "How have you been?" or "A lot of chocolate today, eh?" or "Wow, you were only here half an hour ago!" Some may say he's just doing his job, but I feel we've become quite close over the years - he's the only one who understood and fuelled my chocolate addictions. It's got a well-stocked and ample magazine section for the size of the place, and the window is well known for letting - I actually found my most recent flat in that very window! How apt.

Hmm, ok so I'm reviewing the shop window rather than the shop itself. Let me explain...if you're…read morelooking for a flat to stay in the west end or a flat share situation, this is the place to go. Their window is literally covered with little handwritten post-it-style notes from people with rooms to rent or seeking flatmates. I found myself here last year when I quickly needed a place to stay in Glasgow and when I arrived a crowd of people were already there scribbling down phone numbers and phoning through them all. Not ideal, no, and probably best to be avoided at the beginning of a new term but very handy to have and so few places now do this kind of advertising which is so much-needed.

A bit more intelligent than the tits and telly of The Sun or The Daily Star, The Metro is fairly…read moredecent read, and enough to make you forget the depressing fact that you're travelling by bus. Their music / film sections concentrate on less mainstream releases, and some sections, particularly the letters, have a very "quirky" feel, for want of a better word, which I'm sure some people like but i just find a bit annoying. The sport section is far weaker than the other daily rags. Still, it's free though, so can't grumble.

The Metro is the highlight of any commuting experience in Glasgow. Indeed, when I step on a…read moretrain/bus/subway to find there are none left, I descend into a rage which never quite abates for the rest of the day. The news articles are nothing special; pretty much a rewrite of the wires. But it's the features where The Metro truly shines; as well as the daily "Guilty Pleasures" section, a celebrity gossip update which delivers pretty much what is says on the tin, the newspaper regularly publishes indepth and interesting interview with top film directors, writers and actors; recent interviewees have been Clint Eastwood, Christian Slater and Ricky Gervais. And whoever came up with the 60 Second Interview deserves a knighthood as far as I am concerned.

When working at tha ABC, this place does me well. I can be out the door, over there, buy some scran…read moreand be back to rip tickets/flyer in the space of 2-3 minutes (traffic pending). Another "they sell everything" stores, as they're aren't obviously enough in Glasgow/along Sauchiehall Street, it's smaller than most, but equally as stocked. Still semi-pricey, but I suppose, now adays you have to pay for convenience. Tut.

This shop came in really handy for me as one late night I was walking home and I had the sudden…read moreurge to buy a play toy Siberian tiger that is about the size of a small dog, low and behold Mr News had one in his shop window my luck was in! No that defiantly didn't happen and I doubt it ever has so why do they sell them in this shop is beyond me, guess you'd have to ask Mr News himself but it really cracks me up! I understand they want to sell as many things as they can and this is helpful as it is a late night convenience store but large soft toys? Really? Apart from that the shop isn't all that interesting but is a good stop off for a late night munch after a hard night on the ran-dan.

Found myself diving in here a few times before the cinema if I am struggling for time, where I…read morewould normally go to the Sainsburys round the corner. They have a great selection of sweets and crisps, with a relatively poor choice of soft drinks, by comparison. It's tight inside, with alot of other patrons also making a snappy purchase ahead of cinema time. A good shout for last-minute snacks and supplies you can stuff inside your coat pockets (after paying for them, of course).

Call me crazy for even having one, but this is by far my favourite Newsbox…read more And why, I hear you cry. Well... it's because it's right across the road from the Cineworld cinema. And, um, well... that's about as far as it goes. To its favour, though, it does have a smashing selection of sweets, crisps, and drinks. You even find the odd throwback sweetie showing up here. I don't know if they just find the odd old box out the bag or if they're on top of that sort of thing. All I know is that it's the only place I can find things like Squares (crisps), Vice Versas (Okay, that was 3 years ago, but still amazing!) and Crispy M&Ms. It's super convenient, it's very cheap, and they have everything I could ever want for my cinema-snacking needs. They also have a pretty good selection of magazines. Beautiful!

I can't quite make up my mind about Mr News…read more Yes, he provides me with Heat magazine, salt and vinegar sqaures, and endless packets of chewing gum, however, he also advocates the stuffed animal policy (see my other 24hr shop reviews for an insight), and the staff can be slightly creepy, i.e. watching you constantly, and can be a little sleazy (no, I don't want you to wink at me as you hand me my chewing gum with a toothy grin...*shudder*). Hmm... depending how much of a rush I'm in, or where I'm headed determines if I'll stop to talk or not.

What a store displays in their window says a lot about the entrepreneur that that runs the…read moreestablishment . If l was to describe in one word it would be to avoid, and spend your money in a respectable store unless you are like me and disparate for milk at 1am. Plenty of pipes and bongs on display for recitation activities, not to forget the filth on the top shelf and I'm not talking about the dust. What l do like about the store is that it is open 24 hours a day, and plenty of fake money on the wall.

This friendly little newsagents is a one man show: situated off the main drag, it is only busy…read morebefore nine, when the children go to school, and around three thirty, when they come home. Despite its size, it is well stocked, with food, sweets and milk- even if a simple request does send the owner scuttling off into his stock room. Although I don't use the shop daily, he seems to recognise me and remember both my milk and paper order. He has a few strange items on the shelves, the sort of thing that a larger shop would stock, perhaps, but there is no denying that this is a friendly, if cramped local newsagent. It isn't really that convenient for anywhere, except the local laundrette: that might account for the roaring trade he appears to do in magazines, especially puzzle ones. In an emergency, it doubles as a stationers, although it is best to avoid those times that the primacy kids turn up for their penny mixes.

A shop that reminds me of Arkwright's open all hours, a shop that literally sold everything from a…read morenewspaper to a hard hat. This may not be the best of shops with a window display that it looks like an after thought, but there are a few good things about this shop such as the free cash machine, that's well needed in this busy area especially when a few do charge for their use.

In most ways, the News Plus Newsagent is pretty much your average newsagent. You'll find a great…read moreselection of papers and magazines as well as sweets, crisps, chocolates and bottled drinks. So far, so average. BUT, a close look at this newsagent will show you that they actually sell quite a large range of toy cars. Now, they don't seem to sell any other type of toys - just matchbox type old fashioned toy cars. They have a pretty sizable range, including lorries, vans, etc etc. (Can you tell that I'm not an expert on toy cars?!) Now, I don't know whether the owner has a thing for matchbox cars, or if it's just something he inherited from the previous owners. Either way, it's worth having a little peer in the window and coming up with your own theory!

Despite their cringe-inducing, "Give it Aldi!" adverts, I really quite like Aldi. The German…read morediscount supermarket has improved considerably and has just been named supermarket of the year by consumer group, Which?. Aldi, like arch-rval, Lidl, stock a fairly limited range of mostly own-brand food, and weekly non-food special offers, such as DIY, motoring, outdoors, etc. By limited range, I mean that they tend to focus on a narrower spread of varieties of each product, I quite like this - because I tend to procrastinate... now which variety of houmous to choose? Regular, Peri-peri, red pepper, chilli-infused, etc. Keeping it simple speeds up my shopping no end! They now have a "deluxe" range too, like Tesco Extra Special or Sainsbury's Taste the Difference. For a city-centre supermarket, this is probably the best in Glasgow. Prices way cheaper than Asda, and a far wider range than the Tesco/Sainsbury's convenience stores. And with a proper fresh fruit and veg selection. This store is popular with students at the nearby halls, as well as Merchant City residents. Currently, twin pack red pointed sweet peppers are 79p - compared with around £1.80 in Tesco. 500ml Williams Bros beers are £1.60 or so, tinned tomatoes 30p, 6 large free-range eggs, 99p, cherry plum tomatoes 59p. The weekly super-six fruit and veg deals is epic, last week a bag of six oranges for 59p... amazing! A special mention has to be made for Aldi's Ribera del Duero red wine - this is absolutely one of the best budget (sub-£15) reds you can buy. Trust me on this, you'll impress the snobbiest of dinner guests with this one, it's awesome, and under £6. In summary, really good quality stuff, large range of fresh fruit and veg, good meat and chilled section, great booze, and who knows, you might pick up a bargain riding crop or air compressor!

Things I like about here:…read more It's really close to home The fruit/veg part is really well stocked and is of very good quality It has a random tat section You can get Williams Bros, Drygate and Brewdog beers for around £1.50 Overall, you get a lot of bang for your buck. Things I dont like: There's a tendency to wait until there are huge queues before opening another checkout - and then only having it open for 5mins. I wish it was bigger.