I visited this store the other day with friends who needed to stock up on supplies for their…read moreanimals. It's situated just off the M4 on the outskirts of Bridgend and has ahuge range of pet food, country clothing and equestrian goods. They are a stockist of the Joules range of clothes which I always love as well as Hunter wellies, Barbour jackets etc. The store also has a garden centre with a wide range of plants/shrubs etc and a recently opened reptile centre. They offer a repair service for garden machinery and there is ample parking available which is handy if you need to transport a lawn mower there eg for servicing. They have a good range of homeware, as well as toys with an agricultural theme for any little budding farmers in the family as well as books on how to look after your dog, horse etc If you live in the country or want to embrace the country life then this is the place for you!!!!

This is one very big Clinton's store. If you can't find a card for someone here then you probably…read morehave very unusual friends! The price you pay is of course more than most other card shops and I pretty much fail to find anything under £2. It's so big that the range of gifts and decorations is more than the average shop and you can pretty much guarantee that when a special day is coming up, like valentines day, you will find all the related tat to go alone with it. Really is a good selection of cards for any occasion, and I like that they do Welsh cards as well.

The Card Shop is a reasonably conventional greetings card and gift shop on Clifton Street, stocking…read morea good range of cards, gift wrap and associated decorations including a good selection of sparkly bags with tags and boxes as well as balloons. Gifts are of the mass produced, 'candy coated' variety and come in the form of cuddly toys and ornaments that generally come under the heading of 'cute'. You have probably guessed by now that 'cute' is not exactly what I go for when considering buying presents for a friend, and so in general I give the gift selection a pretty wide birth. Nevertheless, this is a large shop that carries a broad selection of cards, some of which I really quite like. I prefer to receive handmade cards of the artsy variety, but I don't like to impose my tastes on others, and so instead I opt to buy cards that I think the recipient will like. Here I can buy all manner of cards to suit every occasion and person. There's everything from bawdy and comical to touching and floral.

huge selection of cards, but all in english and with text on them, i just wanted a neutral event…read morecard, and preferably in welsh or with no text. but the service was friendly, it was a nice quiet little place on a busy street. good covid regulations, lots of space, hand sanitizer.

I hadn't been in the Welsh shop for a while, having been put off by the buckets and spades and…read moreother plastic toys and postcards outside. There are a few cheap shops selling these tourist bits and bobs in Porthcawl, and I would always avoid them. However when I went inside I was impressed with the selection of goods on offer. I wanted to get a love spoon, and was pleased with the decent size range of styles and prices. They also had other traditional Welsh items, and locally produced crafts and gifts. The staff were really slow - but very friendly, and did offer me a discount, even though I didn't ask for one. All in all this is a good shop to pop into if you are looking for a nice Welsh gift, or if you are visiting Porthcawl and fancy a memento - or just a bucket and spade for the beach.

Perhaps I've not seen this shop at it's best. The lovely Tiffany seems to have liked the seasonal…read morewindow displays, but I've not been lucky enough to be privy to them yet. As it stands during the rest of the year, La Brouette seems a little, dare I say it, dull? There is an abundance of shops in Penarth catering for an older generation of ladies than myself (I think I put that rather nicely), and La Brouette seems to fit into this category. While they stock some items which may appeal to a wider audience, in general their items are flowery and impractical to tempt a regular buyer. But this place will be good for gifts and such, I'm sure. It's just that it's a little bit old fashioned and needing. But if you're in trouble for your mother-in-law's birthday, this is the place, for sure.

This sort of place really isn't up my alley, but it's cute and kitchy and reminiscent of small-town…read moreBritain (or what I would consider it to be) - best of all, it sells Yankee Candles! Admittedly, they don't smell as nice as the Jo Malone variety, but delicious all the same). For me, shops like these are always worth a browse, because I'm a self-confessed stationery geek and love anything you can't find in Paperchase. Anyway, it's more of a home wares and handbag sort of place, offering the likes of Cath Kidston and other girlie-looking ranges. Most of the time when I visit places like these, I bail before I break something! Like the ladies before me who reviewed it, La Brouette offers a range of chotchkies more suitable for your mother in law than anyone else, but I don't think that means passing it by - go and buy a Yankee Candle - it blows those IKEA ones outta the water!

A small, friendly gift shop specialising in guys and homewares, with an emphasis on items made in…read moreWales. A good place for unique and interesting presents. They also sell greetings cards and books.

Only open between Thursday and Saturday, Jacob's Market (aka Jacob's Antiques) is a collection of…read morevery small specialist collectors' shops under one roof. Mostly it's second-hand stuff though there is also brand new furniture to be had. There's a certain novelty to it- such as the stuffed badgers in the entrance (will anyone ever buy those?) and the sci-fi stall upstairs with its sort-of-full-sized TARDIS. All kinds and eras of 'retro' are covered, old clothes (a bit dusty), old signs, old kitchen appliances, old military memorabilia (there's quite a bit of this and some of it's quite scary). It's worth a browse round, though I would say you could have done it all in less than 2 hours, it won't take all day. Prices vary but some things are not as cheap as you'd like them to be, as some sellers are adamant that there is an 'antique' value. The cafe is a small anteroom, seating about 20 people, where one person will knock up cooked brunches on demand using a little oven and grill. The prices are dirt-cheap and the portions very very generous, the only problem is that since it's cooked from scratch when you order you may have to wait a while, not too good if you've just popped there for lunch.

This indoor market sprawls across several floors in an old red brick building at West Canal Wharf,…read morenear Cardiff Central Station, and for the last couple of decades it has been creating a welcome distraction for Cardiff's lovers of antiques, vintage and novelty goods. It is a great place to spend a lazy few hours browsing around aimlessly. The 50 or so different stalls sell a huge array of different wares, including antiques and collectors' items, vintage household goods, second hand clothes and books, jewellery, and all sorts of other knick knacks. When you walk in through the entrance, for example, you're faced with some rather alarming and fusty-looking stuffed badgers; carry on and you might stumble across vintage Bakelite phones, military memorabilia, or leather jackets - while an exploration upstairs will offer you an encounter with a full-sized Dr Who tardis. Some stalls have more reasonable prices than others, but for vintage and antique items with a higher price tag you really need a bit of knowledge to know whether it's good value. The café, on the other hand, has very reasonably priced food and HUGE portions!

I first became aware of Ushi's when I lived in St Hilary, a couple of miles away from Cowbridge. I…read moreused to shop at Ushi's on the High Street in Cowbridge quite regularly back then, but still had no idea that they had two other outlets in Cardiff! These days I am to be found closer to the city centre, and so have realised that Ushi's is a small homegrown chain. The brand now supports three outlets, with a concession in the ill-fated Morgan Arcade off St Mary's Street in the centre of town, and another in Roath in the pretty shopping area of Wellfield Road. Stocking things for home and garden as well as jewellery and accessories it makes an ideal place to shop for presents, or for yourself if you are feeling frivolous! They carry many products that you won't find anywhere else, as well as some you will. Prices are not the cheapest in town, but the quality of what you are buying is generally superior. We get what we pay for these days!

This boutique-style gift shop is part of a small local chain with shops in Cardiff's Albany Road…read moreand the city centre. This Cowbridge location probably suits it best, being in the midst of a wealthy town with plenty of ladies of leisure looking to treat themselves. Some of the clothes in the window are a bit frilly and frou-frou for my liking, but inside there are plenty of lovely things that catch my eye, including some homeware, jewellery, knick knacks, and items for your garden - all in a similar vein to Vinegar Hill for those who are familiar with that chain. If you're visiting Cowbridge from Cardiff, you're probably in the mood for a treat - and this shop has lots of bright and pretty things to choose from. It's not cheap, but then few gift shops in Cowbridge are, and at least all the stuff's good quality.