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!

I started taking my two girls to Specsavers back in December. We had previously gone to a smaller…read moreoptician so when we arrived at Specsavers we weren't sure what to make of it. It is an extremely busy place with lots of people walking about with clipboards- slightly daunting for the kids, felt like a bit of an interview too in the consultation area. Very professional thorough service but. Opticians are all very competent and great with the kids. On Monday my daughter stood on her glasses, I automatically saw pounds signs but we called in yesterday on passing and spoke to one of the girls with the clip boards. She told us to take a seat in the waiting area, and within a few minutes a young man came and looked at the glasses. He had them fixed for free within 5 minutes. Delighted with the service. We'll definitely be back to Specsavers!

For a while I worked in a bank and spent most of my time staring at computers in illuminous…read morelighting and after not too long I developed sore heads and had to go get my eyes tested and get glasses to work at computers. On a family recommendation I headed to Specsavers and was really pleased with the professionalism and service I got from both the sales staff and the optometrist. This is despite me offending her when attempting to flirt by asking 'do you need a degree to do this job?'. The prices are pretty good, especially as you can get two pairs of glasses for the price of one. The staff, as I said were excellent and I felt the level of service was of the hightest standard. Its located in Bloomfield Shopping Centre which means there is plenty of parking, ATMs near by and lots of other shops around which means you can pop in here while you are shopping. Very Good.

For a florist in the middle of town this place is hard to beat…read more Walk in from the main street passed lots of pots and even huge urns at over 200 quid. The plants and flowers are stored under a massive glass roof which gives it a hothouse effect - it was scorching the last day I was in. There is a large selection of real flowers as well as fake plants. The garden ornaments, wind chimes and decorations are beautiful but quite expensive. Anything you need for your garden, I could almost swear you would find it here. Out the front there is a gift store filled with toys and jewels and candles. At Christmas it is like a little Santa's grotto filled with internal and external ornaments for the home. I love it at Christmas time.

I like funny stories. Funny haha or funny peculiar - either will do. Of course, the unparalled…read morefunny story contains these two aspects; the best of both worlds. The funny haha bit of this story is really that I know nothing about art or framing. I'd like to think I'd know a good frame when I see one, but that really couldn't be guaranteed. The actual painting or photograph is an entirely different story. I really haven't got a clue. This story one circles around a painting of a building in Toronto, which apparently is quite a good one. Of course, I wouldn't know. This painting came to us through a friend of my dad's. He'd picked it up in a charity shop and thought of us as he did so. It replaced a dodgy old picture of something-or-other (having not really had an interest in art, I'd never really paid attention you see), and looked quite well in our hall. Until (cue the funny peculiar part), it fell off the wall, completely randomly, and the glass cover smashed. Thankfully, someone who knows a great deal more about art and frames are Sheldon. The exceptionally friendly lady told my dad and I that she could have the glass replaced with 3 hours (at a very good price, might I add), as well as providing us with a new cord to hang the picture with. There was me thinking we'd need a new frame and everything, but thankfully not. Interestingly, the lady didn't believe there to be anything wrong with the original cord. Mmm, strange. Less than 3 hours later, a phonecall came through, alerting us to the fact that our picture was ready. They had even stayed open slightly later than usual to accomodate us. What nice people. The new glass looked...sturdy, and the picture has remained in tact for 2 months, so we're pretty hopeful. If, by any chance, you should have any picture issues, the lovely people at Sheldon will happily get you sorted. Despite my lack of knowledge of art etc, I never doubted the expertise of this lot.

Sheldon gallery is based in Newtownards and I have used this shop on several occasions. As a…read morepainter who likes to give away my attempts at art I often use the shop to frame my pieces. They have a wide selection of different frames, in different colours, thicknesses and materials. The ladies who work there are all very experienced and they will sit with you to help you choose just the right frame. They do a very clean neat frame, which doesn't cover up the edges of the work - sometimes this happens in other places. The job they do is well worth the price, which I find is reasonable for good service. Sheldon's also sell art by local artists as well as prints, cards and other decorative items. I enjoy calling in for a browse, to pick up ideas and have previously purchased artwork for a good price in their excellent sale, which seems to be on all year round.