Now called the House of Fraiser, this is a good department store.There is about 3 or 4 levels to…read morethe store. On the top level is the cafe, which always serves lovely food at reasonable prices, there is quite a big seating area so it is quite easy to get a table. They stock well know brands for men, women and children, also they sell shoes and homeware items.

A great old style department store where you can lose a few hours. The handbag ranges include…read moreRadley and the prices are in line with others. the cosemtic counters are always happy to give free advice and make overs. There are a number of designer type clothing bits, with Mexx and Oasis for the younger lady and some more older type womenswear upstairs. the cafe is ok. There cards and stationary is good and there is a good selection of jewellery - although mainly costume

Went for first time in four years today and luckily not too many customers. The shop assistants…read moreprobably outnumbered paying customers, but they were all so helpful and obliging, everyone we met showed tremendous knowledge of the items in the store and ideas. We could have stayed there for hours. The cafe is just that, a standard snack serving cafe, nothing outstanding but the service was exceptional. But the greatest benefit is the massive selection of women's and men's clothes, from the ordinary to top quality. Something for everyone. It might have been an 80mile round journey, but worth it and we will go again before Christmas to get a few more bargains.

This one goes out to all the senior citizens... boy, I get cooler by the day :P…read more Be warned this place can be terrifying. It's so big when you enter that you can't even see the far walls beyond the vast sea of clothing stands in front of you, all arranged in a grid that forces you to move pac-man style through the aisles whilst dodging slow-moving pensioners on all sides. I think it's my uber-cool little sister's idea of hell. Not exactly my idea of a good time, and I'm not about to suggest it should be yours! But they do have a huge range of middle-aged-to-elderly mens and womenswear, much of it from branded labels at outlet prices (think Austin Reed, Moss Bros, Jaeger, Hobbs etc), plus things like bed linen, books, perfumes and stationery. Whilst I may have turned 30, I haven't grannyfied my wardrobe just yet - I'm actually suggesting you earn some good grandkid brownie points by bringing your nan here to browse and bargain-hunt. Yes it'll be two hours of your life you won't get back but it's well organised, saves them the stresses of the big malls, and the pensioners love it (there's always plenty of them enjoying the cafe at the back!). As well as doing something nice out of the goodness of your heart, you might just strike it lucky as I did and find one of the handful of things in the store that someone under 40 might actually wear (and my little sis approved of!). In my case, a gorge Adrianna Papell work dress reduced from its £139 RRP to a £30 outlet bargain, that I'm proudly wearing to the office to combat the back-to-work blues today. Boom :)

This is a really cool shopping mall with all the stores you would expect and some wicked ones on…read morethe walkway that you wouldn't - I stumbled across a wooden stand which had some fabulous items! As you would expect, its all clean, well maintained but unless you are used to it, it was a bit confusing, signs weren't brilliant in large crowds. Theres plenty of parking and entrances taking you into the lovely market town of Banbury. Recommended for your weekend browsing!!!

Debenhams Browns of Chester is the only Debenhams store to retain its' original branding, Browns of…read moreChester. It has been owned by Debenhams since 1976, yet the store is fairly old being founded in 1780, while it doesn't seem to compare to the older department stores in London, it still is a fairly nice branch, you can enter the store through street-level or through the Grosvenor Shopping Centre. The store is pretty old and you can tell that through shopping inside, they have random sets of steps and ramps all over, so it isn't just one straight/flat level, so do be careful where you're walking to avoid tripping. They had a huge clearance sale on my visit, due to Debenhams' facing difficulties and having to close many of their stores, including this one, I still found many of their prices to be high even after the discount, I found the promotional offers to be inconsistent and it was hard to tell what item costs what as each part of the store/product range would have a different % off. The store did seem a little messy, but it did have some good products overall and it is nice to see they haven't ignored the history, it's a shame to see this store earmarked for closure as although it isn't perfect, it is and remains a nice addition to the town centre. 3*

This is a large department store where you can find really gorgeous bags, shoes, make up and…read moreperfume on the first floor and loads and loads of clothes on the second floor. This place really is fantastic for womens clothes - like debenhams it has all the usual brands such as Jane Norman and Oasis, and it has a great underwear section with huge variety of pretty knickers. It also has a wedding section with loads of higher quality dresses. Of course these come with a higher price tag that the high street stuff that can be found there but this is where I would come to look for something to wear for a special occasion.

This is one of the smaller branches of a quality chain of department stores…read more Beatties has recently been taken over by House of Frasier, but I don't know if this store has yet been re-branded. Layout, selection, displays etc are the high standard you'd expect of a quality department store; unfortunately selection is very limited due to it's size Has the best stocked habidashery department in the whole of Northampton

Beatties is a really nice department store that sells good quality items and has a really good…read morerange of products. They sell similar ranges to BHS and Marks and Spencers such as clothing and accessories, homewares and soft furnishings, gifts and seasonal items, but they also have fantastic cosmetics and perfume counters where you can get advice on skin care and make up and I believe that they do some demonstrations too. They often sell gift sets that are unavailable in other stores. The clothing ranges are split into departments for differnent ranges and designers and they offer clothing designers suitable for all age ranges. The store is a large one which has two floors accessible by an escalator. There is free parking in the Grosvenor centre where it is situated and the store can be accessed through two separate entrances. The store is nicely laid out and although some of the items may be a bit more expensive than smaller stores, they often sell things that you cannot get in other stores and it is a great place to pick up a variety of goods, so fantastic for Christmas shopping.

The cafe upstairs in Fred Winter has really loveely food (and that includes the vegetarien…read moreoptions). the man and lady that run the show are lovely! They really make you feel welcome. But beware if one of the young 'n's serves you! They forgot our order meaning we had to wait over half an hour for a sandwich and when they brought it it was the wrong stuff as they had obviously just made it up to cover us the fact they forgot the write it down! Nice food though.

A History of Fred Winter Ltd (https://sites.google.com/site/fredwinterltd)…read more Fred Winter was a 23 year old Suffolk man who described himself as a draper and auctioneer when he opened his first store on the 25th June 1858. The store was located at 17 and 18 High Street Stratford Upon Avon, and sold general drapery, haberdashery and high quality outfitting for gentlemen. By 1881 Frederick, his wife and a family of five daughters and three sons, shop assistants Clara Cowles, Frank Gibbons, William Potter and James Thornber, and two servants Mary Lively and May Morris, lived above the shop in what is today Marlow's restaurant. This was to be Stratford first real department store [the Shipston sheep farmer JC smith didn't open his store, now Debenhams, until 1870] and was a huge success not only with the towns growing population but also with customers from far and wide as is the case today. Frederick Winter died in 1897 aged 62 leaving the running of the business to his 31 year old son Fred. Fred was a skilful retailer and businessman who by 1908 had incorporated the spacious premises at 14 High Street and turned it into a thriving business. In March 1917 Fred bought the freehold to Reynolds grocery store at 30 and 31 High Street and for the next seven years the company operated from both sides of the street selling everything from reels of cotton, luggage, straw boaters to Aquascutum coats. The lease holds of 14, 16, 17 and 18 High Street were relinquished in 1924 and the Fred Winter store operating solely from 30-31 High Street, became a limited company. By this time Mr Fred Winter had become a local dignitary serving as Mayor on more than one occasion and was responsible with 'Marie Corelli' in uncovering and restoring many of the famous half timbered buildings in Stratford. He died aged 71 in 1941. The business then passed to his 43 year old son Frederick Charles [Eric] Winter who instigated many innovative retailing changes plus the modernisation and enlargement of the store with the building of Bell Court in the 1970's including a large modern extension on the back of the existing Fred Winter Ltd Frontage in High Street. Frederick Brian Winter, the great grandson of the founder took over the business in 1973 and under his skilful guidance achieved unrivalled success over the next 25 years. By the early 1990's Brian's son Guy Winter was in the business and the store became renowned for selling an ever increasing range of merchandise that included furniture, carpets, furnishing fabrics, dress fabrics haberdashery ladies fashion, bed linen, gifts, china and glass. By the late 1990's Bell Court had become run down and a decision was made to build a brand new store behind an existing building in Henley Street. The large and stylish building was completed in 1999 and has undoubtedly become Stratford's premier store. After Brian Winter's retirement a few years ago the company is now under the overall direction of Guy Winter. Steve Newman

Beatties is now House of Fraizer....but will always be Beatties to me!…read moreGreat department store with loads to choose from. I'm always a little skint so only go when sales are on. Oh my god the sales are awesome! £50-70% off if you time it right. I love the old deco of the building and it's been there before I was born lol

It used to be the hotspot for top clothes/brands in Wolverhampton. It still has a lot of brands in…read morethere in the Makeup / Jewellery departments. Sadly it's quite empty to what it used to be. Shame to see such a great store go downhill!

Clean store, carries women's, men's and kids clothing - plus home goods and a decent coffee shop…read more Smaller than a Debenhams of old. I guess another victim of Amazon etc!

A good old traditional department store, part of the House of fraser chain, which specialises in…read morequality items. Everything from Homeware, to menswear, ladies wear, perfume, make-up, shoes etc. Also benefits from a busy coffee shop. The restaurant is however a dissapointment being dated and dull

I haven't been to Cavendish House for about 20 years and nor will I ever again. Let me explain why…read more I used to visit when I was home on leave from the Forces but on one occasion I was prevented from entering by a very pompous and unpleasant Doorman. I'd smiled at him and said 'Good morning', as I always did - perhaps this one was new, as I didn't recognize him. He simply looked down his nose at me as though I'd made a bad smell and stepped in front of me as I was about to enter. I asked him what was wrong and, rather than replying, he just gave me the most disdainful stare. I had no idea what the problem was. I wasn't in my Sunday Best but I was certainly presentable - clean clothes, clean shaven, smart hair cut as you'd expect from a military type. He looked old enough to have done National Service himself. I politely asked him again what the problem was and again he said nothing, just continuing to look at me with utter contempt. When I wrote to Store Management, I received no reply. I was utterly disgusted and can only put it down to snobbery.