Eldon Square is the main shopping centre in Newcastle city centre, it opened on the site of Old…read moreEldon Square in 1976 and at the time of opening, it was the largest city-centre shopping centre in the UK. It was known as intu Eldon Square between 2013 and 2020 but following the collapse of intu, it has returned to its original name of Eldon Square. At the time of writing, Eldon Square is the 15th largest shopping centre in the country in terms of retail size, there is a much larger shopping centre, Metrocentre around a 10-15 minute drive away, but despite being smaller, I prefer Eldon Square, I still think the mall is a good size and it just seemed to have a better atmosphere, being in the city centre too rather than a soulless out of town mall. The mall has a great number of stores and brands including anchor retailers Fenwick, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer. Other brands located here include Apple, Boots, H&M, Next, Rituals and the major mobile phone/telecommunications networks. For food and drink, you have the likes of Starbucks, Nando's, Pizza Express, Ask Italian, Wagamama and TGI Fridays. The mall staff were friendly, and while there wasn't really anyone dotted around the mall, the help desk was easily to find so I could seek assistance finding a store. The layout of the mall is a little confusing and I think makes it seem bigger than it actually is - it can be quite a trek from the Bus Station to the Apple end of the mall. I do think the stores do shut a little early for the centre of a big city, between Monday and Saturday, the mall shuts at 7 pm, with some stores shutting as early as 6 pm including John Lewis. Thursday is an exception, where all stores tend to remain open until 8 pm, and Sunday is bound by Sunday trading laws so there's not much they can do there. 4* -

Incredible pizza service members are very nice and helpful great atmosphere. What might have been…read morethe waiter gave us complimentary food just because he wanted us to try which it was incredible

Located within the heart of Cramlington this is a popular place to shop with a good selection of…read morestores. I say good, not excellent, as there are a few gaps - it could do with a book/DVD/CD store as the selection in the supermarkets is limited to current hits and new releases. There are toilets in Sainsburys, by the exit near Johnsons the dry cleaners and down near Asda. Of the three, I recommend avoiding the ones near Asda as they often smell unpleasant! The car parking is free, with plenty of spaces at the Sainsbury and the Asda end, but the car parks are regularly patrolled and there is a three hour time limit and a no-return policy. Mind you don't get caught out as they do enforce it! ATMs are spread through the centre - Sainsburys, Barclays and the Co-op have machines outside and inside Northern Rock, HSBC, Halifax and Lloyds have them so you're never far from one. At the time of writing the centre is decorated for Christmas and Santas's postbox is popular with the children!

Mannor walks is a thriving local mall which is very popular amonst locals and the surrounding…read moreareas. There is a medium sized ASDA and Sainsburys store and due to be a M&S simply food opening in 2014. There is 80 shops overall in the mall. The shops are fairly good there is the usual Greggs, boots, HSBC, Barclays and other well known retailers. The mall has not been able to keep up with the times though. Unfortuntaly it feels rather dated, South mall is newer though and more modern. However it's encouraging that the old Focus/B&M store has been knocked down and going to be a large shopping complex, M&S, Dunlem mill, PCworld/Currys coming soon. So in conclusion, fairly good mall nothing like metro centre or Eldon square but perfectly adqate.

The Metrocentre is a large shopping centre in Gateshead, in terms of retail size, it is the…read moresecond-largest shopping centre in the UK. (As of October 2022) The mall offers free parking as well as having good public transportation links, it is around a 20-25 minute bus journey from Newcastle city centre, with an irregular train service, that pulls into the Metrocentre Interchange (attached to the shopping centre), which is even quicker. Anchor tenants include Marks and Spencer, Primark, Next, TK Maxx (featuring Homesense). There is also a large Odeon Cinema. Other stores include: Apple, Currys, WHSmith and many other large brands For a full list, you can check out their website: https://themetrocentre.co.uk/stores/category/shopping It is fairly easy to find your way around the mall, as the larger stores are signposted, if you're looking for a smaller store, it may be best to find out which of the larger stores is nearby, to make it easier to find though. There does tend to be a lack of staff around the mall to ask for help, which is disappointing. There is a good selection of food and drink options, mainly consisting of chains and fast food options, that have multiple outlets around the centre. For example, Costa and Starbucks have three stores, and Nando's have two. 4* - It may not be the prettiest mall in the world, with the centre surely showing its' age in the older parts of the mall, as it opened back in 1986, but it has a great selection of shops, in an indoor environment, well suited to a rainy, cold day.

The metro is a nice place in Gateshead were you can have a nice time at shops. It's also a good…read moreplace to hang about. 5 star!

the beacon is a small to medium size shopping mall or centre what ever you want to call them. It…read moredoes have a good selection of shops, big name include Wilkinson's, boots, the bakers oven, birthdays and new look amongst others, they also have some local traders and a shop of special notice and should be mentioned is moving image toys, which is a local run shop selling film memorabilia, toys from films and wrestling a big stopping point for star wars fans they have even had David prowse (the guy who played darth Vader)signing autographs there. The beacon isn't somewhere that you would come from miles around to go there like the metro centre but if shopping in north shields is defiantly worth a visit.

For a small retail centre they have a lot to offer although if you're a bit choosey you may find it…read morehard to find high end shopping here. But has all the basics covered. It is 100% pedestrainised and is easily reached using the Metro tram service North shields station. If you are looking for a bigger choice of goods seek out The Royal Quays about 2 miles west next to the DFDS Ferry Terminal.

The Nike factory outlet is located in the Royal Quays retail unit which is located in North shields…read morewhich is just 5 mins from the Tyne Tunnel. The shop although not the largest, has a wide rang of clothes and shoes direct from the Nike factory at a reduced cost compared to the normal RRP. The staff I have found to be very helpful and generally friendly, the stock they keep although not the latest designs are still of a high quality and a nice range and there is always a bargain to be found. The shop is def worth a visit if you are planning on going on holidaty and need some cheap half decent clothes.

If you like Nike gear, and you haven't discovered this place yet then you need a brain transplant!…read moreIts great and I love it! Nothing more to add really than have a look for yourself but don't forget your purse!

It's quality all the way. None of your Chinese or Mexican rubbish here. I got socks and tee shirts…read more My wife tells me the socks I chose looked horrible but I liked them. Once on my feet I won't see much of them. I toyed with buying yet another hat to go with the dozen or so I already have but rarely wear. I demurred. She on the other hand bought quite a lot including clothing for gifts. There were a lot of oriental customers with piles of clothing, hats, socks in their clutches.

The store is somewhat off the beaten path in an industrial area to the east of Newcastle. For…read morefolks without a car, the bus or Metro will literally drop you off next to the parking lot. The shop is like any factory store in the states. The front end is all first run merchandise at full UK MSRP pricing - zero bargains to be had there. The back portion is all outlet stuff that is discounted anywhere from 30% (most common) to 50% to 70%. You'll have to hunt through stuff in this section and it can be overwhelming. The sizing is well marked, but stuff tends to get jumbled up, hence the hunting. The staff are polite and try to help, but they seemed to be overwhelmed as well during our visit. You might want to take cash with you as the time we visited their card readers were down. They apparently aren't always good about warning to this and we spent an hour shopping and selecting things to buy before we were told cash only which was very frustrating!!! There is an off-site cash machine available that's a 10 minute walk away (and the staff is all too eager to direct you to it), but it's limited to £250 per transaction. Due to this we walked away from our experience at the store empty handed and unhappy. The bottom line is that unless you are a Barbour fanatic and are looking to make a pilgrimage, or you're looking for a recently discontinued item, there is little reason to visit this place unless you simply run out of other places to visit. You can get the first run items from legit Barbour retailers in the UK at the same price, (or less if you shop on-line.) For US customers, buying at a UK retailer can save you some money depending on the exchange rate, but keep in mind that a $400 jacket eats into your free customs declaration pretty fast. In addition, bulky wax coated jackets might push your luggage weights over the limits in which case the savings is lost due to baggage surcharges. Also, e-Bay retailers in the states can get you the exact same items for an equivalent value to or slightly better than UK pricing.

This branch of Primark is located in the Gateshead Metrocentre, I called in here while visting the…read moreTyne and Wear region, with this bus being around 10 minutes from the Gateshead Interchange, around half a mile from the Hilton hotel in Gateshead, I stayed at during my trip. In my opinion, when comparing this store and the branch in Newcastle, perhaps even adding the branches of Primark in both Oldham and Manchester city centre, closer to my home into the mix, this is one of my favourite stores. The sign is modern and it does have some slightly modern features, and it also seemed less busy than most other city centre stores such as Manchester on my trip. I found the staff to be friendly, we got chatting about technology and Apple pay, I was served quite quickly despite there being a queue, it seemed to be well-managed which was good. The product range was quite satisfactory but mainly summer-based, for example, I found it quite difficult to get long sleeve t-shirts away from their suits and smart range, which was a shame. For a clothes shop, this is probably slightly above average, some of the products in all honesty are just junk and things you would wear once and seem to be of the lower quality, but some things from here are okay, and I feel as one of the better Primark stores I have visited, this store deserves a three star rating.

Is it just me or is Primark expensive nowadays with the quality just the same as the cheaper days?…read moreNevertheless, Primark is a great place to get staples at a cheap-ish price. Can't really say it's all that different to the other branches: crowded, hot, clothes everywhere etc... but bigger. Still a great place to get PJs though!

This is full of interesting little shops my favourite by far being the cake baking/decorating shop…read morewhich has everthingvyou could possibly need to create beautiful cakes and buns including the largest range of edible dusts I've ever seen!

If you want a shopping experience with a difference then this is for you.For a start it's a little…read moreshopping center housed in a converted church and it's quirky name adds to it's appeal.You won't find the usual shops here but some very individual little shops that offer something different and more personal.There's a realy nice cafe worth a visit on it's own.Set in the lovely seaside village of Tynemouth it's well worth a visit.