Blue Banana moved from it's former home in the Pallasades Centre last year. When it first popped up…read morea few years ago, I let out a huge sigh of relief. Birmingham is the home of metal, and as such has a wide and varied alternative scene who obviously need a good piercers and clothing emporium. Blue Banana delivers this service with gusto! Stocking a large range with everything from your skater hoodies, retro inspired dresses to the useful band themed wallets with large chains (great for making sure you don't lose your money in a mosh pit); it's a small shop that offers a comprehensive range of stock. It's just a shame they don't have more "out there makes" (like some of the Industrial/Cyber clothing names), but they do stock plenty of "Hell Bunny", "Poizon Industries" and skater clothing makes. As well as clothing, it also does body piercing. It regularly has offers (for those "spur of the moment" piercing decisions) from as little as £10. Obviously, this has exclusions, but it's good to know there is a place in the heart of the City (on New Street) which offers this service. The staff are always friendly and helpful. When the new store opened, they had a bit of a mega sale. All dresses, £10 you say? Yes Please. For the life of me, I couldn't find a particular dress I wanted in my size - but the lovely ladies of Blue Banana scoured the shop floor and located what I wanted in record time. With this prime location, it's definitely worth a visit. Being 2 minutes walk from New Street train station and on the main shopping street in Birmingham, if you just have 5 minutes; have a little look around. They also stock plenty of Marvel and quirky themed gifts (mugs and accessories), so a good little place to look for Birthday presents. In summary, I would like MORE varied stock (like goth boots); but they are doing a bang up job catering for the discerning alternative crowd in Birmingham.

I had my very first tattoo today at Blue Banana and I did not leave disappointed. I went with two…read morefriends who also had tattoos done, however as a newbie I was quite nervous and apprehensive about it, but Darren (tattooist) made me feel relaxed and secured as soon as I walked in. He has a lot of experience and he was very attentive and funny. He helped me out with my tattoo idea, and I could not have asked for more. Thank You and keep up the great work!

I love Roys Toys in Rubery, I'll always remember my nan bringing me here on a Saturday to buy me a…read moretreat - and the shop hasn't really changed much since then! It's a much better shop than chain toy shops like Toys R Us and places like that because it doesn't stock the latest bestselling toy, concentrating more on tried and tested toys and games. I would definitely rather browse Roys Toys than any massive multi storey toy store. It's almost old fashioned inside with metal shelving, beautifully laid out in a higgledy piggledy way which adds so much charm to the shop it's untrue! Here you can buy Barbie, Hot Wheels, Furby, Sylvanian Families, Top Trumps and everything really that has been loved in years gone by for a new generation to discover. I love this aspect of the shop because it means that not everything takes a multitude of batteries to use, also I love the fact that my daughters' can play with similar toys that I knew and loved as a little girl. The prices in Roys Toys are what you would pay in any other toy shop, which surprised me actually as it has such a quirky feel that I had assumed I would be paying a premium to shop in an out of the way toy shop like this. They cater for people with a variety of hobbies and much of the shop is dedicated towards people who collect model trains, use art and craft materials and there is even a section selling Scoobies to get young children into artsy hobbies. The more expensive models are situated in glass cabinets, which is only reasonable as some of the trains in particular are worth a lot of money. The staff are excellent; they obviously have a love for the toys and are comfortable with children which enhances the shopping experience for the kids. They are happy with kids playing with the display models and I didn't feel that my children were being nuisances when they asked to see specific toys, there was never any pressure to buy anything and the gentleman who served us made sure my kids' were 100% certain they were choosing the right things. I will continue to shop at Roys Toys and will definitely be doing quite a bit of my Christmas shopping here this year, the service is fantastic and all of toys are of the highest quality. I can't fault the shop at all.

I used the services of Tailor Made last year when I lost some weight, in my wisdom I decided to get…read moremy clothes altered rather than buy new ones, I took Jeans and trousers mainly, they did a brilliant job, you'd never know they've been tailored, we also took a jacket that i'd bought my fella which was too big and they also did a fantastic job on that. I find that tailorong services are few and far between so I was really chuffed to find this place, the staff were really pleasant, they're well set up and also do dry cleaning, well worth remembering.

A great place to shop for all your baby needs. What they don't have in the store they will order in…read morefor you. They even offered to match a sale price elsewhere! One of the many things I bought was a changing bag for my Oyster pushchair, unfortunately the stitching on one strap came undone meaning the bag could no longer hang on the pushchair. A very lovely lady called Rebecca sorted it all out for me without me having to go all the way to the store. She called the manufacturers (a couple of times in fact as they took their time responding!) and got a new one sent out to me. The after sales service is just brilliant and I vow to never spend any more of my hard earned money at Mothercare when I can help support a local business that works tirelessly to please their customers.

Very friendly and helpful staff and you can find everything you need for children and for much…read morecheaper too. We bought almost everything for our first daughter when she was born and to be honest we saved a fortune. Would recommend to anyone.

I cannot thank Neela enough for transforming my hair back to blonde! My hair is very tricky to…read morework with and she done an amazing job. Very friendly and would 100% recommend and i am very fussy :) Maria

Being situated on the Bristol Road, if you work locally this salon is great for fitting in…read moretreatments on your lunch break. Be warned as this place gets really busy so you will need to book your appointment in advance. When you first walk in you'll be greeted by the receptionist who will book you in and seat you whilst you wait. You'll notice a shelf full of products which you can purchase. They sell a lot of the beauty products that they use to do some of the treatments so if you find something that you like it's definitely worth asking if they have them in stock and available to buy.

It's nice to know that you can still go to a few remaining independent clothes shops; especially…read moresomewhere where you can always pick up unique t-shirts that nobody else will have. I personally hate seeing everybody wearing the very same garment that you bought a month ago from the very same chain store! Little Italy is full of one off men's clothing (or batches made specifically for the shop), so you never have to worry about blending in with everybody else. Although, I have to say, other than a few unusual patterned t-shirts, the type of fashion is not really to my taste. The shop would be perfect for the trendier men out there though! Prices are average, and most t-shirts cost around £10, which is general to most chain retailers; So you're getting something unique for the same price. It's a shame that shops such as this are hidden away in shopping centres outside of the city centre. I can see this store being very popular if it were located in central Brum.

wow!! this shop will make a man feel in heaven and will make him want to shop til he drops my…read morefriends if you want to get your man shopping this is the place to come

I got my wedding dress from here, and they were brilliant. They had a really great selection of…read moredresses incorporating many different styles - which was great, as often you tend to get the same sort of thing in a lot of bridal shops. The service was really personal, and I really felt like the staff cared about me and my big day. Previously I had been in Berketex Brides and just felt like I was shooed in and shooed out, with the sales assistant just saying the same thing about every dress (which was basically: 'Yeah it looks great - buy it." Which wasn't particularly helpful). Here I felt like I could really take my time, received useful advice and feedback and did feel like a million dollars. The dress I chose I actually tried on as a bit of a laugh, as it was a very dramatic-looking thing with bits of black lace on it - not generally what you'd think of on a wedding dress! The style of the dress wasn't really what I'd have naturally gone for, but when I put it on, it looked amazing! So I ended up with that one - it's always good to have someone suggest different things to you, as you can't always predict what's going to look good. Their service was really efficient, the dress and alterations were all ready in time and everything fitted perfectly. It was also a really good price - much more reasonable than a lot of the places we went to. I was really really pleased with the dress, the service, the price, the whole experience.

this shop is amazing i got my prom dress from here and they was lovely full of compliments and…read moreincredibly helpful i would recomend it.