Premier Convenience Store, also known as the Clifton Food Market, situated on the troubled Clifton…read moreStreet, is one of several convenience stores that are vying for diminishing trade since the one way system was implemented about a year ago. One of the ways that this store attempts to compete is by keeping its doors open as much as possible, and so it is open seven days a week from 8.00 in the morning to ten 'o' clock at night. It is also one of the few places that still stocks newspapers, and of course the discounted alcohol that it carries remains ever popular! Another thing that is impacting the smaller corner shops on the street is the fact that the council have granted permission for a Tesco Metro midway up the street. Although Premier Convenience Store is part of a chain, it is run as a family business, allowing the owner to make a reasonable profit for the responsibilities of running a complex shop of this kind. Conversely, Tescos employ people on minimum wage to work all hours, and then keep the profits for themselves. This means that huge sums of money leave the local economy, and end up in the pockets of the fat cats in London. This is really bad news for Clifton Street and Cardiff as well as Wales as a whole. What Cardiff and Clifton Street need more than anything else is for the council to stop making choices that will further entrench the recession, making it ever more difficult to turn these desperate times around. Cardiff needs a good flow of money within the local economy to endure the vicissitudes of the global slump. If this does not happen, the people of Cardiff can look forward to the prospect of working unsocial hours for an almost punitive wage, with all of the profits being siphoned out of the economy and shipped off to England! If this happens the people of Cardiff will not have the spending power to improve their lot over time!

This branch of Spar is a really small store on Queen Street in Cardiff city center, I came here…read morewith it being a 24 hour store to pick up some drinks to take back to my hotel. As mentioned even in the name of the store being an Express store, this store is really small, even considering the brand standards of Spar and that there branches seem tobl be small enough as it is. There were only two rows, one of which being the queue so it means at peak times you can be restricted from browsing due to having to queue at the same time as the store, this was inconvenient and in a way felt like you were being rushed out, due to a lack of things to look at and everything being really small and narrow. There were two members of staff on the till, they both seemed unwelcoming and not very friendly and didn't seem to be doing anything. To conclude, there are loads of similar places in Cardiff center, even close to my Hilton hotel so it would be worth taking a look at Tesco Express or Little Waitrose in lieu of this store, so sadly I feel it deserves a single one star.

No matter what you think of the Spar company, there's one thing you can't deny; Spar know how to do…read morebusiness. There's no doubt that our fair city is a lovely cosmopolitan shopalooza, but on top of this it is also a rapidly developing residential area, filled with a series of high rise apartment buildings where the executive earners of Cardiff are massing. Whilst the city could once have gotten away with the small town vibe it used to carry, Cardiff is no longer a place that can close its doors at 6pm every night; it has residents to think of. On top of this, you have the drunks who are attracted to any establishment still shining its lights at 5am, especially if they're selling Ginster's pasties to the masses. This is the market Spar have tapped into. Where Tesco and Sainsbury's close their doors at 8pm, Spar caters to everyone all night long. Admittedly, it's irksome having to shout orders through a waist high letterbox after 10pm, but it is a price people are willing to pay if that's the only place they're going to get a 4am cigarette refill.

Albany Convenience Store is one of several in this immediate area. It sells all of the usual…read moreproducts from fresh, tinned, snack and frozen food through to newspapers and magazines, booze, soft drinks and tobacco. Ice creams and confection are also available. Services include being a 'payzone'. So nothing too exceptional there! It is somewhat extraordinary in one respect however. Instead of leading with discounted alcohol, with the accompanying posters pasted all over the windows, Albany Convenience Store has a blackboard by the door where the latest offers are displayed. During my most recent visit they were offering two loafs of bread for £1.40, and Kingsmill Value at £0.89. Bread is a long way away from Special Brew or Dr. Carlsberg as it also known, and I commend this store for its more family orientated focus! You could also get two pints of milk for £0.89 on the day that I called in recently, although this price is pretty standard for this shop, and so it's not likely to have changed in the meantime.

Albany Convenience Store is one of your standard mini-market establishments. You walk in and you've…read moregot the papers and the magazines, you have a bit of fruit and veg, plenty of biscuits (though the cracker selection could do with some work) and so on and so forth but make your way to the back of the store. Here you'll find the booze section, stocking all the usual suspects. So what I hear you cry? Delve deeper and you'll find something of pure evil. It comes in black and red striped can. It costs £1.20. It has the potential to destroy everything in Roath / Cathays. I'm talking about Oranjeboom Extra Strong. That's right the student standby is now going for the trampy jugular with a brew weighing at a mighty 8.5%. You have been warned. At least if you do partake in a bout of total liver destruction, you can pick up a box Sugar Puffs on the way out for a comforting final meal. Albany Convenience Store is handy like that.

I couldn't disagree more really, I find this one of the most irritating petrol stations in Cardiff…read more Its got the most annoying layout i've seen and there always seems to be at least one pump not working. They just have one pump instead of the more common 2 pump lay out, and there are always cues because people fill up their cars and then spend 20 minutes in the bloody shop while you sit and wait!! Yes there are car parking spaces for people who need to pick up some bits but you always get those who don't! Price wise it used to be the cheapest in town, its not anymore. I guess they have finally realised that being the first station off the M4 or the last before the M4 rip off stations they are going to get people in. Finally its on a busy crossroads and even getting in and out is a hassle! Oh yeah and there are none of those nice easy pay at pump points to make it quicker either!

I feel slightly weird reviewing a petrol station, however I can honestly say that the Tesco express…read morefilling station on Tyn-Y-Parc Road is the best petrol station in Cardiff (so surely that in itself means it's worthy of a review). There are plenty of pumps, and the petrol is not usually too expensive (in comparison to other stations in Cardiff) and very rarely runs out. On the downside though, there are very often queues, due no doubt to this stations prime location. What really impresses me though about this place is the Tesco express attached to it. For a filling station this grocery store is rather large (much bigger than my local Tescos), and has a massive selection of magazines, fresh, and frozen food. It wouldn't surprise me if people were able to do their weekly shop here (a slight exaggeration perhaps, but you never know).

I love this newsagents on Whitchurch Road in Heath, not because it is in any way outstanding when…read morecompared to other newsagents, but because it doesn't have a name! Or perhaps it does? Perhaps it's called Newsagent! Well, it is actually called Newsagent, now that I come to think about it...! How random is all this!? Whatever the case, it was a smart move to name the business in this way. Not only is there no confusion around what they do, but you can see their sign from Pembrokeshire! With such a large competitor in Newslodge just a few doors up the road, Newsagent has to employ al of the tactics that it can to compete! In terms of what they stock, there's fewer surprises! They have all the nationals and local papers and a reasonable number of magazines. They also carry greetings cards and stationary, both of which are of a reasonable quality. They also do a fair amount of food, and household products... and they do two rolls of loo roll for a quid... always useful to know! So they are not only handy, they are definitely worthwhile. Big up the little guy!!

This is a great little Spar store. It sells food and coffee to go (lattes are £1.50), as well as…read morehaving a bakery and lots of cooked meats and sandwich fillings if you are looking to put together your own picnic. It's also an off-license. Perhaps best of all it has a free ATM as well a sbeing a Paypoint. As with so many of the Spar shops it has free off-road parking. What more could you want? I love Spar stores for a whole host of reasons, the main one being that Spar is a franchise like Londis and the Life Style convenience stores, and so they are owned as independent businesses, and are not to be confused with supermarket chains. The essential and important difference is that supermarkets make their profits for the organisation, whereas shops like Spar are profitable for the individual owners. A friend told me an interesting statistic the other day... apparently 80% of the money spent at supermarkets leaves the local economy whereas 80% of the money spent at independent stores remains within circulation locally, which is great if it's true! If high percentages of money leave a localised area, then impoverishment will eventually ensue. So, to retain 80% of the money you spend within the area in which you live means the opposite! I can often buy things cheaper here than I can at bigger supermarkets. I find it interesting that we have all bought into the fallacy that supermarkets sell things cheaper. It's just not true in many instances! There's no denying that the massive supermarket chains indulged in a price war to kill off their smaller competitors, but when they felt that they had done as much damage as possible, they allowed their prices to steadily rise, allowing them to make more profit per customer. Perhaps what they didn't reckon with is that shops like Spar and Londis were going to preserve a lot more independently owned convenience stores than they thought. Not only is this competition essential to keep the larger stores in line, but it also means that local convenience stores have access to larger bulk buying discounts, thus often making them more able to undercut the big boys! Because Spar shops are all franchises, they can, if they want, participate in national promotions, and offer discounted items for a limited period. Not every Spar shop is the same. Being independently owned means that the proprietor of each shop can buy in stock that is culturally relevant to the local area in which they trade. This has to be seen as a distinct advantage Spar has over its larger rivals, but the main benefit to the local communities which they serve is that when locals shop at Spar they are making an investment in the future!

This is a good little Spar store. It sells food and coffee to go (lattes are £1.50), as well as…read morehaving a bakery. It's also an off-license and sells lottery tickets. Perhaps best of all it has a free ATM. As with so many of the Spar shops it has free off-road parking. What more could you want? I love Spar stores for a whole host of reasons, the main one being that Spar is a franchise like Londis and the Life Style convenience stores, and so they are owned as independent businesses, and are not to be confused with supermarket chains. The essential and important difference is that supermarkets make their profits for the organisation, whereas shops like Spar are profitable for the individual owners. A friend told me an interesting statistic the other day... apparently 80% of the money spent at supermarkets leaves the local economy whereas 80% of the money spent at independent stores remains within circulation locally, which is great if it's true! If high percentages of money leave a localised area, then impoverishment will eventually ensue. So, to retain 80% of the money you spend within the area in which you live means the opposite! I can often buy things cheaper here than I can at bigger supermarkets. I find it interesting that we have all bought into the fallacy that supermarkets sell things cheaper. It's just not true in many instances! There's no denying that the massive supermarket chains indulged in a price war to kill off their smaller competitors, but when they felt that they had done as much damage as possible, they allowed their prices to steadily rise, allowing them to make more profit per customer. Perhaps what they didn't reckon with is that shops like Spar and Londis were going to preserve a lot more independently owned convenience stores than they thought. Not only is this competition essential to keep the larger stores in line, but it also means that local convenience stores have access to larger bulk buying discounts, thus often making them more able to undercut the big boys! Because Spar shops are all franchises, they can, if they want, participate in national promotions, and offer discounted items for a limited period. Not every Spar shop is the same. Being independently owned means that the proprietor of each shop can buy in stock that is culturally relevant to the local area in which they trade. This has to be seen as a distinct advantage Spar has over its larger rivals, but the main benefit to the local communities which they serve is that when locals shop at Spar they are making an investment in the future!

There are a huge amount of Spar shops in Cardiff... too many to count in fact! And, whilst I prefer…read moreto shop at independent convenience stores wherever possible, it is sometimes easier and cheaper to use Spar. The fresh produce is always in good condition, with a reasonable selection on offer. The fresh meat section is again always well stocked, and they sometimes do great seasoned selection boxes of mixed meats that are great for the BBQ, and really cheap by comparison to buying the same cuts individually. £6.00 will buy you about eight pieces of meat including lamb, pork and chicken. I really like the takeaway coffee service that Spar offer that works out a lot cheaper than going to a café. I paid £2.50 for a dreadful takeaway latte recently on City Road, and would have saved myself a quid if I'd made the effort to walk another two minutes up the road to Spar, where the standards are consistently maintained. One of the best things about this branch is that its open twenty four seven. There's something really decadent about buying all of your ingredients for Sunday lunch after a night out on the town... I derive some kind of perverse pleasure out of doing it. This branch also has an ATM.

Spar is another convenience store in a area that is so jam packed with every type of shopping…read moreexperience it's hard to get any reaction to the usefulness of a shop. Spar creates a clean shopping experience that is a mini supermarket feel with a selection of all the standard produce. It's main attraction are the hot food rissoles and the convenience of a standard shopping experience devoid of any human interaction. The food items are not cheap but they are kept low by the ever vigilance of the chains owners. Spar takes over where others fail and it's interesting that most people want to shop in a Spar where you don't interact with the staff than a local shop where you may actually speak to the shop owner.