This is a great wee convenience store selling everything from papers to milk to burgers to cakes…read moreand scotch eggs! Lots of home made produce here which is well worth a try, and good value too.

As is typical of Sainsburys locals, all the prices are much dearer than in your city centre store…read more That is to be expected for a local convenience store that opens early in the morning to late at night. The staff in Farm street are lovely. They are all very polite, pleasant and chatty. It does get quite busy in there at times and as it is only small, there is no space to queue but the staff are very competent and soon get through the queue. The shelves are always well stocked and if you can't find what you want you can always ask. Of course there isn't much choice on offer but the selling point is like I said the convenience. They do have a good reduced section though and you can usually get reduced priced bread and salads as well as meats and fish. Sainsburys local do still have some of the offers on from the big stores so it is always worth a look if you have one near you.

Sainsbury's local is a chain of convenience stores, average prices and a good range of everyday…read moreessentials. The staff can't do enough to help you, and whilst the store is only small it has car parking, atm, lottery and pay point. I also noticed they have flowers, cards and gift card, always handy for last minute presents! Unlike most convenience stores in the area they tend to have pretty good avalability, and if its not in stock the staff will find out when its back, or if a another store has it. Always a pleasure to shop there, even if it gets a bit busy!

AFTABS! What does that mean? Is it a name? Does it stand for something?…read more If I was commissioned to decide what it stood for, I'd say.... A Fine and Timely Auspiciously Beneficial Shop. Its Fine, not so much in the sense of selling finery and beautiful decorative products (for which it is not the place), but in the sense of there being nothing wrong with it. Its got all your basics, from bread and milk to a fine selection of confectionary and crisps. Its Timely, certainly, because there are no other shops in the area, and if you're walking from Deansgate or Trafford to Oxford Road, you'll find the journey bleak and woeful. As you battle through the barren wasteland that is Hulme, AFTABS will come to you as would an oasis in the Sahara, providing a much needed Boost (or Twix) to get you through the remainder of the journey. Auspicious, because auspicious implies success in the future while propitious means favourable conditions in the present; auspicious means promising or of good omen - not just special or memorable. Aftabs have a range of new deals on beers, ciders, wines and spirits, which I think will ensure future prosperity once the students from the surrounding area cotton on. Beneficial, because you will benefit from the products purchased there. The reason for this is that you have purchases the products that you want or need. Shop, because is it a shop. A place where money may be exchanged for goods approximately to the value of the money paid. This money is usually in paper form and until recently was backed up by gold reserves in national banks.

There's a Tesco, Sainsbury's, Co-op popping up on every corner of the city centre and it doesn't…read morestop at one branch of the supermarket giants' one stop city centre shops. The domination and battle of the supermarket giants are ever present in the city centre, you can find like four mini Tescos around the vicinity of Deansgate and Piccadilly areas. A lot anyway. So here's to the Xpress on Whitworth Street West, one of a few cornershop types springing up in the city, to balance the equilibrium of the chain store masses and inject a little local to the often impersonable, daunting city centre. Xpress Local has recently opened up on my route to university. I've watched it been transformed from an empty space, learnt what it takes for a cash machine to be installed whilst thinking damn, this is where my late night snacking will take it's higher form. Xpress stocks all your basic groceries, milk, cheese, bread and acts as your off license too. I've used it for the range of bad snacks on offer, which has been bad for the healthy eating regime plus the purse. It annoyingly does not display prices on a lot of things which I thought was because it was opening mid-finish but this isn't the case. Annoyingly so, one late night purge, I watched my tube of pringles being scanned to reveal £1.99. I knew I should have purchased the half price ones in Tesco. Xpress is one of those places you just pop in and get the things you want or crave or when you're under time pressure. There may not be an extensive range of fresh or organic what nots but you can expect a pleasant none lengthy queue if you do find yourself in here.

News Box is a tiny little newsagents at the end of the high street. As well as selling the famous…read moreBolton Evening News it sells all the daily papers and a few specialist racing ones as well. Like all good newsagents, they also have loads of sweets, crisps and magazines to tempt you in to parting with your precious pennies. They also sell international phone cards here - always cheaper calling Dubai via one of these than directly from your landline. The man serving in News Box is friendly too. Good newsagents all round.

This is your typical 'corner' shop aka local convenience store if you want the posher title! if you…read morelive in Breightmet up near Withins school. It's a fairly decent size and has a considerable amount of stock inside which is perfect should you be short of something that you need urgently. The prices are reasonable and the staff are lovely (they have been known to give my little boy lollypops!) and they take the time to recognise you and bid you hello and goodbye and if not too busy to have a little chat giving it that genuine community feel. Sweets, chocolate, milk, nappies, bread, alcohol, washing up liquid, cat litter..you name it and they probably either stock it or a good substitute.

Despite being a small store, this branch remains to be much better than the nearby store on Quay…read moreStreet, it is located on Deansgate just off Bridge Street. The staff seem friendly enough and they seem to have occasional sampling going on here pre-COVID times including Carabao who had a stall here - a Thai energy drink company which is pretty good. The store is small and in terms of overall selection I do prefer the Co-Op which is a couple of minutes away, but this isn't a bad alternative if you're going down Deansgate through the city centre or searching for some Sainsbury's own-brand products. 3*

In my continuing quest to find Sainsbury's own-brand fruit and fibre cereal in central Manchester…read morefor my girlfriend's breakfast I hit this Sainsbury's Local on Deansgate. I'm getting quite worried now. These Sainsbury's exploits could almost turn into a list, of me basically reviewing the same thing over and over again, all without the feted fruit and fibre ever appearing. Needless to say, this Sainsbury's Local doesn't have the fruit and fibre. It's just packed with city workers buying ready meals on their way home.

Shudehill Convenience Store is located on Shudehill, it is basically next to Shudehill, Shudehill /…read moreMayes St (Stop Nm) bus stop and around a minute or two on foot away from Shudehill, one of the main bus stations in the city to get around Greater Manchester. As suggested by the slightly unoriginal name, Shudehill Convenience Store it is a convenience style newsagents store, one of the many stores of its' type in Manchester city centre which includes one of four in the Shudehill area, including a Manchester Souvenirs and News and Spar across the way, and Arden News inside Shudehill Bus Station. Sadly, compared to the trio of extremely nearby neighbours this store ranks the worst. The store seems a bit confusing and hit and miss, and appears to do too many things at once, after entering the store through a step it is kind of cluttered to navigate as there is the main counter which includes MyHermes drop-offs, another counter which appears to be for mobile phones and/or cigarettes and then the rest of the shop floor. The overall look and feel of the store isn't fantastic, and in the case of essentials, the selection is kind of limited. The service didn't seem great, with staff not standing out as friendly. Once again, I'm struggling to see the need for this store with so many similar rivals nearby, on a plus side this is the only MyHermes drop off store in the Shudehill area with the Spar store across the way not offering the service, but this once again is seen as less as a bonus with many other stores nearby who offer the service just a short walk away. Due to a poor, confusing and cheap overall feel and the store not offering something you can't get just a stone's throw away and overall being quite disappointing from selection to staff and everything in-between, I sadly feel a one-star rating is in order here.

Excellent store that stocks everything you need from household to alcohol, mags and papers etc…read more Nice Staff and a very clean store too! Recommended

A very good little shop. You can buy a lot of different things here including food, alcohol and…read moretobaco. It is reasonably priced, not anything special. It does however have long opening times which comes in handy. Always seems to be clean and well maintained. It is just outside the city center.