Manchester Souvenirs & News have had locations popping up all over the city of late as the…read morenewsagents' chain look to expand - this is probably one of my favourite stores they have in the city, and I do like it much more than their newer locations at Arndale Centre Exchange Square, Shudehill and Deansgate, as well as their other location at the other side of Piccadilly Gardens. Refurbished of late to include a Post Office, this is one of the latest opening Post Offices in the area which is open from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening throughout the week, opening a couple of hours later on Sunday and 8 - 8 on Saturday. The Post Office inside this newsagents is all the more important especially with the Town Hall's refurbishment meaning the Post Office there is out of action for now, and this one does seem a little quieter with less queuing compared to the other Post Office in their other store at Piccadilly Plaza. Despite being located in an older building on Mosley Street, close to Primark and Metrolink services, the inside of the store is pretty modern including multiple friendly staff working the store and Post Office checkouts as well as a pretty decent drinks/news selection, although I do find the prices to be a tad higher compared to nearby. 4* - A very innovative idea to add a Post Office into this store after the Town Hall's closer for refurbishment was announced which meant there would still be a Post Office on Mosley Street, while still being a useful store in a good and central location too.

Euronews is a huge newsagents right on Piccadilly Gardens…read more It also doubles up as a mobile phone shop that is a convenient place to come and get your mobile phone unlocked if that's what you need. That's it basically. It's a newsagents. Crisps, magazines, papers, sweets, fags, gum and polo's are its thing (as well as phones, obviously).

Yeah Euronews! Nothing to do with Europe. I thought it was an absolute find, because I always come…read moreback from holiday with somewhere between 7 and 30 Euros knocking about in my wallet. You can imagine my joy when I saw this shop, and imagined myself redeeming my Euros against a large pile of newspapers, fizzy pop and sweets. It was terrible news then, when I discovered that you are expected to pay in British Sterling. Jokes aside, it's a good little newsagents. Especially worth a look at is all the Haribo style sweets, that are not Haribo branded, but taste the same, and are about half the price. The selection is great. Plus its got some strange random items that tourists might be interested in. This is just speculation though, as I don't know any tourists.

Obviously the Northern Quarter is all about cool record shops, trendy vintage clothes and kitsch…read moreaccessories. However, all of the cool people around still need to buy gum, cigarettes and a can of pop every now and then. Just like the rest of us. That's where Walia News comes in. It's located just around the corner from Piccadilly Records, sandwiched in between an exclusive t-shirt shop and a drugs accessories shop, appropriately enough. Walia News has an almost ridiculous number of filthy magazines on its top shelf. It's a long top shelf. But for the less filthy-minded amongst us (me), there are plenty of normal magazines and papers on offer too. The guy serving at Walia News is kind of stern. We're not going to best friends. Apart from these things, Walia News is just a newsagents innit.

Newsagents in the middle of a very vintage lane! It is surrounded by vinyl record stores, vintage…read moreclothing and accessories. It is a typical newsagents but the amount of magazines it has stocked up is kind of the first thing you would notice! Every kind one could ever think of! (For the very clean slated minds as well as the perverted kinds) Apart from the magazines, think chewing gum, cigarettes, food and anything a newsagents could have. It comes in aid of the needs for all the vintage loving people dwelling in here!

I called in at Waterstones in the Arndale at lunchtime looking for a particular game - I wasn't…read moreable to find it and didn't have much time as I was on lunch break. The lovely assistant promised to locate the game for me and when I returned after work it was there waiting for me to pick up behind the desk with my name on it. THIS IS GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE - VERY IMPRESSED! Thanks so much Ann

This branch of Waterstones - along with all of its other branches - is now closed temporarily, due…read moreto the coronavirus situation.

WHSmith at Manchester Piccadilly is a pretty good branch, especially for a travel store, the prices…read moremight be really high, to the point I can't understand why as there are multiple rivals nearby selling many of their items or similar items for less, but they do have a pretty good selection if you're in a rush, ahead of getting a train. I do like the special events they seem to have on here, they sell Airpods and more recently they brought the Carabao Cup here ahead of 2020, giving supporters the chance to get a selfie with the trophy, this was a pretty cool experience to lift the trophy right before Manchester City defeated Aston Villa to retain the trophy for the third year in a row at Wembley back in 2020. (This was an experience offered by Carabao as part of their trophy store, but it is nice to see the store arranging experiences like that) They do also sell the IRN-BRU Energy drink range here, they are one of the few stores outside of Scotland to do so, I think it tastes terrible and at 2.5x the price of Carabao, it isn't worth it, but if you do love IRN-Bru, you'll probably like it. 4* - For a travel location, this branch of WHSmith is good, although I do prefer grabbing my drinks and travel stuff from the Co-Op just outside the station as the store looks a little better inside and is much cheaper.

The Observer? Tick Sunday Times? Tick…read moreTelegraph? Tick Mojo magazine? Tick Elle magazine? Tick Food and Travel? Out of stock. Thanks WH Smith for almost making my Sunday afternoon.

They are selling fake cigarettes from under the counter, the man took out the cigarettes from…read morethe cabinet behind him, then looks like he swapped it from under the counter, flimzy box and packaging, cigarettes harsh on throat and feels flimsy also, but charged as if selling me originals

This newsagents is on Piccadilly, and sells a few international newspapers outside which I always a…read morefind to be a nice touch. It reminds me of being on holiday in France and trying to find an English newspaper to read up on the football. They have loads and loads of magazines in here, all the major titles as well as seemingly most of the obscure ones as well. And for what we all use newsagents most for, they have a truly excellent selection of sweets, chocolates, crisps and cigarettes.

The gentleman who operates the shop is always welcoming and helpful when I send or collect parcels…read morewith Yodel or FedEx. The shop is well presented and very clean.

When I came into Mirage News I thought it was just a bog standard newsagents. Crisps, sweets,…read morecigarettes, bottles of fizzy pop and few newspapers. That kind of thing. That's certainly what it looks like from the outside. And it does sell all of those things. But what it also does is tobacco. So what I'm talking about is cigars. In fact a couple of cabinets full of the things, with a wide range of types. They also sell tobacco, in flavours such as apple, banana and toffee, all weighed out to the amount you would like. They also sell paraphernalia like pipes and lighters. The guy serving is nice enough too. What Mirage News is really great for is its tobacco though.

Amazing place that accepts you for being you. *Warning* @ Social Refuge where they treat you…read moredifferently if your not like them. I visited this coffee shop recently and left feeling pretty uncomfortable with how I was treated. From the moment I ordered, the staff came across as dismissive and noticeably colder toward me compared to other customers around me. There were a few interactions that felt unnecessarily sharp, and it gave the impression that I wasn't particularly welcome there. I want to be fair, but as a straight customer, the difference in tone and attitude didn't go unnoticed. Whether intentional or not, it made the experience feel exclusionary rather than inclusive. It's a shame because the space itself has a lot of personality, but the service made it hard to enjoy. I'd hope they work on creating a more welcoming environment for everyone.

I get the irony by starting with the quote "don't judge a book by its cover" but tbh this is…read moreexactly what I've been doing every time I've walked past this place in the past few months... Whether it was because the area of town is a bit random, the building a bit unattractive and me thinking it was more of a bookshop - something just seemed to be putting me off. But today in my meeting with Matt F we decided to give it a go and what a great decision it was! First off this place is huge and a labyrinth once inside - one half hipster bookshop, the other half cool cafe with a real nod to health (check out the menu on my pics). A really lovely environment with working fountain and a variety of places to sit. The food was excellent too - my breakfast pancakes were probably the best I've had in Manchester so far which is saying something. Quick note that they don't do sides - at one stage I thought I was going to turn into Jack Nicholson in '5 Easy Pieces' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8 but thankfully the guy sorted us out with a side of toast after I asked nicely...repeatedly... Very friendly staff, great venue. I'll be back soon to work/eat/drink coffee/read a book - or all at the same time!