No. 20 Frances Street has changed hands a great deal the past couple of years, and has a nice new…read morepaint job each time to go with it. Black, white, and now a lovely zingy blue. No prizes for guessing why that is... Lulu Blu is not my kinda shop, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. The clothes are electic, quirky and, well, interesting. Not the kind of thing I could carry off whatsoever. That, however, is not to its detriment, and these kinds of clothes shop are growing ever popular. You never know, maybe one day I'll deck that flowery coat with the colourful, yet random, buttons. Well, maybe not. With distinctive garments from the likes of Desigual and Custo, you know you'll be dishing out the dosh, but these designs are certainly unique. Plus, there's a fab sale on at the moment, up to 70% off! One final comment, this time on the customer service. The sales assistant was happily conversing with a customer (who was really into the clothes, might I add), when she noticed my sister and I making for the door, empty handed. She abruptly stopped mid convo with this other enthused customer, and dashed towards us, asking "Are you girls ok there?". Bless her cotton socks. Four stars for the lovely sales assistant alone.

Yeah, not really my kind of shop. It looks good from the outside and that is what always gets me in…read morethrough the doors. They have a sale on so I wanted to look and see if I could pick up some bargain jeans - as it turns out the sizes in jeans are all very small - something to do with the designer brand names. They sell a big range of Desigual clothing - mostly coats, skirts and tops - this is a brand I have never liked and actually find hard to wear. My friend got her now ex boyfriend to buy her one for a few hundred pounds and while it is nice on her retro body i would just look like I was trying to hard. The mismatch of colours and designs is not my thing at all and the price tag is phenomenal - £300+ for a coat! I've been to a shop in Italy stocking this brand for way way cheaper but I still didn't buy anything. Go buy something if you want something different looking and expensive. The staff are nice but the sale wasn't great and the sizes are smaller and the clothes are too expensive. Not for me.

This is a relatively new shop which can be found in the new Castlebawn shopping complex and unlike…read moresome of its kind I find this one quite good to shop in. There is a wide range of products from household to food ,pets ,toys ,gardening diy and of course seasonal. Their prices are very competitive and in most cases with this type of store you get what you pay for, but most of the products are of good quality. I went in to have a look for items suitable for filling a shoebox which is a charitable appeal at Christmas and I was pleasantly surprised because I was able to find almost everything that I needed to fill these boxes for a very reasonable price and the quality of the products was of a high standard. The layout of the shop is good with nice wide aisles to allow browsing space,and the shelves are of a suitable height to allow ease of reach. Staff are frindly and helpful and I noticed that everyone was greated personally by the staff on the tills . It was quite a pleasant experience shopping here and I really was delighted when I got the receipt as I expected to be paying an awful lot more.

No wonder my mum is always raving about this Tesco. I was in Ards yesterday completing the dreaded…read moreMOT and I needed to stop somewhere to grab a bite before the test but If you know this area of Ards you'll know there isn't a coffee shop in sight - so I had to pop in to Castlebawn Tesco. First up, this is a purpose build Tesco - by that I mean it was commissioned and built by Tesco. It has a Petrol Station on site and a good 500 car parking spaces. Inside there's a florist, butchers section, clothing area and of course a huge food area. From the outside it looks small but inside it's vast! I was only popping in for a sambo and luckily there they were right at the entrance. This would be a great place to complete the 'big shop' as there's not much they don't stock. A-OK in my book - nothing to complain about and it does it's job just fine!

I have to say that I have always been a fan of tesco ever since it arrived on our Northern Ireland…read moreshores all those years ago.I think that this store has to be my favourite .it's situation just on the outskirts of Newtownards makes it very accessible for the whole of Co Down . There is ample parking although the lay out I find a bit confusing. The store itself is spacious and has the usual good layout of all Tesco stores This is a Tesco direct so it has a range of bigger household and electrical items. The range of clothing is particularly good and there are always fantastic bargains to be had. It's the sort of store that you can rush in for that one essential item or spend a good time doing that big shop or just browsing around for ideas for a later date. It is always busy but not to the point where you feel exasperated so I think that's a good reason to give it a try if you haven't already done so.

For me, Ards Shopping Centre isn't the kind of shopping centre you go to for a premium shopping…read moreexperience - it's more of a Bon Marche and Claire's Accessories kind of place. There are a couple of redeeming shops - River Island and McGees Butchers are worth a visit as is Belleek Living which is upmarket and a little out of place. Looks like it's showing off a bit with its luxury ceramics. I am also a bit of a Primark bargain hunter and while the branch in Ards is small, it seems to have some of the better bits you find in the bigger stores, particularly PJs. For a Primark raid, park behind the centre rather than in the car park and nip in the back door. If you do, you'll pass a line of cafes which are dated and forlorn but seem to do good business nonetheless. There are a couple of nicer places to grab a sandwich like Esquires coffee shop and the juice bar next door. There is a really big branch of Asda which does a good range of ladies and kids clothes and I've picked up a couple of good bits and piece for the kids there. All in all, Ards is somewhere for a functional shopping trip rather than a leisurely browse. You'll get your groceries and maybe pick up something in River Island or Primark. Or a fancy ceramic vase in Belleek Living.

About time I updated my review for Ards Shopping Centre from 2010 - so, what's changed? Much like…read moreother shopping centre's this one has a whole load of vacant/closed shops which is always sad to see. But let's focus on the positives. Ards has a good amount of big brand stores - River Island, Asda, Primark and a Boots store. One class addition to this centre is a soft, FREE children's play area - a perfect place to leave the kids or appease them after shopping. One thing Ards has abundance is parking - you won't struggle to find a space. There's also a Burger King and a Movieland cinema on the grounds so if you want to make a day of it you can. I'm taking a star off Ards for the amount of empty stores - perhaps give the empty units to independent retailers - it would definitely take the bad look off the place.

Is there one of these awesome stores in every little town in Co. Down? There blooming well should…read morebe! How I wish I were a child again (I notice I'm saying that a lot these days) What a magical feeling it must be to climb the stairs of Stewart Miller's and know that you are basically going into Santa's grotto - have you ever seen so many toys shoved and stacked into one top floor - I haven't I can tell ye! Not only is it toy heaven upstairs but downstairs is like a child's dream - sweets, chocolate, crisps and wrapping paper - well, they ahve to stock something for adults! Seriously though, if you need a newspaper, your lotto, a card, a fine nibbed marker in florescent green, a book on horses or a tub of Roses then this is the place for you. Make sure you spend over a fiver if you want to use your debit card though as they won't take it unless you do. Stewart Miller I salute you.

One of my favourite shops in newtownards, all the childhood memories of getting a new subbuteo team…read moreor some sweets and the latest beano mag, then the dreaded stationary shop at the end of the summer holidays to the present day browsing books and looking at toys for my son and gifts for others. Its remained unchanged and that's because Stewart millers works so well and has got something to offer everyone. Christmas time is great in Stewart millers too and its one of the best shops in ards.

The large wooden Indian with the parrot and the hat/glasses/necklace will welcome you with open…read morewooden arms. He stands in the street marking the entrance tunnel to this mismatch of second hand goods. There are cabinets for £35, tea sets for £4, sofas for £50 and random pictures for a few pound each. The place extends right out and off to the side there are second hand beds and other used furniture. The place is ideal if you need a few cheap bits for your house or if you want to get rid of things in your home that are gathering dust - I hate ornaments and I'm going to take a bag of them down here very soon. My junk can be someone else's gems.

With a second premises now just a few doors down, The Link Furniture is getting better!…read more The initial shop is still a great place to grab a bargain, with new stuff coming in all the time. Now there's a second unit to showcase some of the higher quality items- it's a great layout! All this from a social economy project!

Blimey, Wardens should be renamed "The Never-Ending Store That Has Just About Everything"…read more Seriously. I have many fond (ahem) memories of being dragged, I mean brought, down to Wardens with my parents. Usually the visit was a long and tiresome, er, lengthy and informative one, consisting of mum and dad dandering round the furniture department, the decorating department, the gardening department, and the kitchenware / appliances department. Every ten year old's dream really. These days, I definitely appreciate Wardens much more than I used to. You could literally spend all day in the place, browsing the various departments. If you come in off High Street, you are greeted by a beautiful gift section, filled with ornamental goods, china, glassware and the like. You can find everything from Alice in Wonderland figurines to Goebel cats to Denby pottery to Tyrone Crystal. Seriously good stuff. Following on from this is the gardening / pets / kitchenware / decorating department (they sort of merge into one), in which I found a little jar of Jellybeans (considered purchased). Really goes to show the variety of goods Wardens has. The furniture etc department (you know what I mean...pictures / frames / carpets / rugs and all that jazz) lies beyond this, leading out towards the car park which is located off South Street. Parking here is advisable - Ards is an absolute madhouse when it comes to trying to find yourself a space. You just never know what you'll find in Wardens...there truly is something for everyone.

Warden's is, for me, the best bits and bobs shop in Newtownards. It's one of those huge big…read moredepartment stores with lots of different areas and slops and upstairs and downstairs areas and parts where tall people have to duck and fat people have to squeeze. It stocks everything from bespoke wedding hair pieces to hose pipes. It's a general store not unlike the department store on the popular BBC comedy of yesteryear 'Are You Being Served?' There is a section for wallpaper and paint, cookware, furniture, artwork, jewellery, screws and garden accessories to name only a small fraction. The only thing I will say is that it can be expensive and parking out the front is impossible. Go out the back to park, you will have to pay and display even if you are only nipping in as there is a traffic warden lingering somewhere all the time - don't risk it. Although the store is expensive it does stock a lot of bits and bobs and the sales are pretty good.

This place was absolutely jam-packed when I visited it today. Shoes strewn everywhere,…read moredisinterested children having their feet measured, irksome teenagers attempting to find school shoes, OAPs digging through the piles of sale shoes...it was crazy with a capital C. I used to come to Cordners to get my school shoes when I was younger (ah, those were the days), and usually managed to get a pair I liked since there was a decent choice. The best aspect of the shop is that the back section is dedicated entirely to children's footwear, and it even has its own entrance off Mary Street South. Perfect for those who don't want to be mobbed by a pile of screaming five year olds. The rest of the shop (entrance off Conway Square) is currently a mish-mash of sale items - women's on the left hand side, men's on the right. With customers and staff scuttling everywhere, I didn't get a great look at the shoes, but there really is a huge choice - everything from Ecco to Irregular Choice for the ladies, and everything from to Kickers to Wrangler for the men. I'll be back on a slightly less mad day, I told myself. As with most shoes shops, you have your insoles, balsams, polishes and the like, and I've often popped into Cordners for a pair of £1.99 insoles. I seem to be one of those people who try a pair of shoes on in the shop, they fit perfectly, and then I go home, and they're suddenly too big. Most annoying thing. Cordners has thus been something of a life saver for me in terms of shoes fitting properly. Perhaps avoid Cordners for a few weeks 'til the kids go back to school (unless that's your reason for going), and you'll find a range of good quality, reasonably priced shoes. What could be better?

My toddler was taken to the Newtownards store to have a pair of shoes fitted. After developing an…read moreextremely painful ingrown toenails, I had to take her to a podiatrist who told me that the shoes were too tight fitting. My 2 & 1/2 year old needed part of her toenail removed with a scalpel. She was in a great deal of pain & distress. She also required an antibiotic to deal with infection. The podiatrist a foot expert Informed me that the shoes were not appropriate & in fact too small, this was just 8 weeks after purchase from store, this visit to the podiatrist cost £45. When I visited the store for a refund I was met with a arrogant & aggressive employee who did not sympathise in any shape or form. Point blank refused a refund, also wouldn't accept any responsibility. So I have been left out of pocket for a child's pair of trainers that cost £35. A podiatry fee of £45 & have had the added distress of seeing my daughter distraught. From what I can tell these people don't care a jot about children's feet or their welfare. Avoid at all cost.

This is an offshoot of the success of the Bangor Focus Menswear but it still offers the same…read morequality and service. I would not tend to buy clothes from this shop but I have hired formal wear from this outlet. They are pretty lenient with the rules. I brought my suit back a day late covered in booze and god knows what else and they did not charge me an extra penny. I think they even uttered the phrase, "it happens!" It is refreshing to have a company being reasonable and human with it's customers. The price is really good too staring from £30 for formal wear hire.

I honestly didn't know there was a Focus Menswear store in Ards but after seeing a Facebook ad I…read moreheaded over. They are currently selling suits from £25,.good quality stuff too, to make room for a refurbishment. And it's in need of one too. Only one changing room, and the store - downstairs at least is quite cramped and coed with stock (although that could be because of the sale). The two sales staff were very helpful and attentive, as you would expect from a suit retailer). All in all I had a pleasant experience shopping here. They did try to upsell me more items, but that is also to be expected and they weren't pushy about it. I got a very nice, good quality grey suit for £31 (I'm paying the extra £6 to have the trousers altered) and I will definitely be back there to shop again!

This is a great shopping centre with both tesco and asda great place to do your shopping!read more

One of my favourite shopping centres. It has improved a lot in recent years! they have a new big…read moretesco & asda & brill shops lie the perfume shop. Loads of deals & offers & they decorate it lovely for christmas! Fab!