Love Wilko's!! My personal 'go to' place for any home essentials at a bargain price!…read more There's always an offer to be had on cleaning products which understandably no one likes to pay a hefty price for, and there is a pretty sizeable interior decoration section upstairs with all the basics you might need to decorate your bathroom, living room, kitchen, bedroom or garden! Yes it's cheap but actually a lot of it is pretty decent quality too. If your home is in need of a refurb without breaking the bank balance then Wilko's is your store! If you're a sucker for pick n mix at the cinema I'd recommend getting yourself here as they sell Candy King sweets at much cheaper prices. Sometimes a flashback to childhood is just medicine! The only downsides to Wilko's are that the staff always seem irritated if you ask them anything and you will normally have to queue for a fair bit at the tills even when it's quiet.

Hands down I am a huge Wilkinsons fan! After four years of depriving myself from Wilko goodies, I…read moream happy to say that Wilkinsons is still the cheap, reliable place I remember it to be. This is the type of store great for bargain hunters wanting to add some flourish and essentials to their house. This store is huge so I haven't explored it much beyond the pet and stationery sections (the most important bits!) YET, but I can say that these departments are well stocked with a wide selection. As you enter, there's escalators going upstairs to the home department and a cafe, to the right are back-to-school deals and food with 5 till points beyond that. Deeper into the store on the right is the stationery section (which has a good range off DIY and card making goodies) and the pet section is further in with another entrance/exit at the back of the store. The pet aisle is quite big with a good range of own brand treats and branded treats that don't come with the supermarket price tags. The only reason why I'm giving a four-star rating is that there are definitely not enough staff on the tills so the queue was quite long. Also I noticed a lot of dust around and on products... a few more staff members wouldn't go amiss.

I absolutely love this shop but only visit at certain times of the year as I often get carried…read moreaway! For anyone who has never visited, Dunelm Mill is a large shops which sells all sort of marvellous homeware, bed linen, furniture, kitchenware - basically anything you could possibly need for your home! As well as things you don't need but buy anyway just because they are pretty ;) In general the prices are reasonable even when there is not a sale on. The quality of the items which I have purchased has always been excellent, and on the rare occassion that I have had a problem, the staff have handled it well and issued a refund or replacement. Dunelm Mill often have some very good promotions on their bedding, which incidentally is the thing that I tend to shop there for most. They cater for all tastes - whether your home is contemporary or vintage inspired there's bound to be something that you need (or more often just want in my case!). Recently they have also started to sell online. Their web site is http://www.dunelm-mill.com . They do charge for delivery, though it is fairly reasonable at £3.95 for standard delivery or £5.95 for the next day service. They do have quite a lot of their products online; however, it is best to visit instore as they have more variety, and also the best end-of-line bargains tend not to appear on the website. Overall, Dunelm Mill is miles ahead of the more expensive homeware shops - great value, as well as offering durable and desirable homeware!

Dunelm mill in sunderland is located on pallion retail park, just by the metro station. It is a…read morevery popular shop for students and families as you can buy very reasonable items, or slightly more expensive, depending on your budget. It has all homewear items such as bedding, curtains, cushions, material, pictures, furniture and lighting as well as many kitchen utensils, rugs and ornaments. It is a great shop and i have kitted my home out with alot of items from this shop. Worth a visit if you are after anything for the home. A website is also available for you to browse around before you go to the shop.

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.

nice little shop,caters for most of your needs,since it has been refurbished it now has alot more…read moreitems instore all pretty reasonably priced,if u ever need to buy someone a gift this is the place to go.

This store stocks a large range of homewares, fancy good and now food and toiletries. Prices are…read morevery competitive and the staff are friendly and helpful. Now Woolies has gone they seem to be carrying more variety, especially good for stocking fillers at Xmas and practical things like lightbulbs, plastic storage boxes etc.

Yorkshire Trading is located nearer the Sainsbury's end of Manor Walks Shopping Centre mall in…read moreCramlington. It is easily accessed from either the Sainsbury's carpark or the central carpark outside of the Subway shop. The store has a large staircase outside of it but it can be accessed if you have a wheelchair or pushchair via a ramp that leads alongside the florist shop at the central entrance doors of the mall. The store has two windows which are always set up in an attractive display showing what products they sell. In actual fact it would be quicker to say what they DON'T sell! From gardening equipment, tools, pain, household furnishings, cards, clothes, pet accessories, cleaning products, vitamins, books, underwear, fabrics, toys, stationary, sweets, ornaments and everything else for the home - this is my first port of call when I'm looking for a specifc item at the cheapest price. The store is huge and the aisles are qite narrow. Paint, tools and garden stuff is on the left. Clothes are on the right. Staionary and clothing accessories are in the central aisles. Fabrics are at the back of the store. You can actually buy ready made curtains etc or buy your own length of fabric from rolls. Everything else the sell is located in the far right hand side of the store. It is usually quite messy inside as buyers tend to rummage through the stock and leave it on the floor. Staff are always to be found around the shop to help you. There are often high wall displays where you will need to ask a staff member to retrieve an item. There are usually queues at the tills (there are about 3 or 4 tills). The staff are very nice and friendly though.

The yorkshire trading company have been around for years in various locations, up until I moved…read moreinto the area I had only ever been in one when I was younger. Since moving into the area I am a regular visitor to browse around the store. Inside the store they sell a full range of items from clothes, to party bags, to fabrics and materials. I always love the back end of the store where all the crafty items are, including ribbons and craft items at a hevily reduced price to clear the stock! You can get pretty much anything in this store, a must for anyone!

Excellent service and very helpful staff. I particularly like being able to browse their products…read moreon their website at http://www.northerntools.co.uk . Always a great selection of tools available in store and online. They have a very good range of workwear which can be embroidered or printed with your company logo.

Mortons is another shops which has vanished from King street :( I used to love this shop it had…read morebeen there since I was a youngen'. I'm not sure whether it went into administration or if the owner decided to call it a day. Admittedly there premises were dated, and also difficult to access for those who were elderly/disabled/mothers with pushchairs, and there was a huge flight of stairs which even tired me out and I'm fairly young! However they were the only decent textile company in S Shields - they sold bedding, curtains, nets, all sort of stuff for your home, and there's no longer anything like that around here anymore so this shop will be sadly missed.

The place is full of handbags and the shiny shoulder bags silver jewellery Pandora Style Beads and…read moreBracelets. Liked the smell of those Yankee candles especially that coffee smelling one. Ladies clothes and knitted shrugs pashminas and jacquard scarves in every colour imaginable. This little shop is in the ancient part of Durham just before you get to the cathedral.

A really lovely, unusual gift shop, which is actually split into two shops with two separate…read moreentrances, near the cathedral in Durham. It sells a wide range of gifts and cards; pretty trinket boxes, jewellery, pashminas, scarves, unusual clothing and witty fridge magnets among other gifts. Many of the cards the shop sells are very pretty and rather unusual and you'd be hard pushed tofind them anywhere else. They're not overly expensive either. There's probably something to suit most people you know. Well worth a visit if you're looking for an unusual or unique present.