Sadly more and more units have closed down here. But it still has the adidas shop. This means I…read morecan get my trainer fix and coffee fix at either Starbucks or Costa. So a win win for me.

About 12 years ago, Antrim's town planners stumbled across an empty space on the outskirts of town…read moreand thought "Hey! This is the perfect spot for a cheap and nasty retail park! Let's build it here, next to the derelict Kerr's Tyres building to improve the area!" The end result created Junction One, a retail park with outlet stores. So think Next Clearance, M&S Outlet (2 levels), Nike Factory Store, Adidas, Antler and Toytown. All of those are located here. The layout is a bit weird, as it is two triangles of shops back to back which is a bit inconvenient if you are trying to find a shop only to find that it is on the other side of the triangle. In a way, it reminds me of Glasgow Fort but on a much smaller scale and with shops that are dire. Don't get me wrong, I do love a bargain but with the amount of empty units and the fashion actually in the outlet stores, it does feel slightly limited. It does have its positives like a Starbucks, a big Asda and a cinema with an "IMAX" screen. (Screen 1 of the Omniplex is 23m wide and is the largest cinema screen in Ireland.) I do miss the café that was in M&S, and there was a decent little ice cream parlour at the back but both have sadly gone to make way for more emptiness. The former M&S Café is now the extended lingerie department. But M&S here doesn't even have a food hall so what is the point of calling it M&S! But Starbucks, Asda and the cinema do keep me coming back when I'm over in Antrim and Redz, Moe's Grill and the Antrim Park at the edge of the place are also pretty good.

Junction 1 is all about managing your expectations. The first time I visited, I had just been to…read morethe US and been on a serious spree in one of the outlet malls there. I went to Junction 1 expecting the same kind of unbelievable bargains there, especially as Belfast's first Ralph Lauren store had just opened there. Big mistake. You just don't get those kind of crazy prices anywhere but in the states. So, with my expectations of bargains managed right down, I made a second visit and was very impressed with both the range of shops and the prices. The best buys are to be found in M&S and the Next outlets, as well as Gap, Levis and Mexx. You'll get prices which are about half of what you would pay in the high street shops, but you may be buying goods that are a season or two old. As long as you're not looking for high fashion, there are savings to be made. M&S underwear, Next shoes, Gap clothes for children and jeans are all good choices and sadly the Ralph Lauren store has closed down. Maybe it was too expensive to do any business? The whole environment at Junction 1 is really pleasant, beautifully landscaped 'streets' and lots of open space, very much in the style of my beloved US outlet malls. There are plenty of places to bolster your energy reserves for round two of shopping - M&S café, Starbucks, Subway and Moe's Cafe which does very good scones. It's not really a place to take the kids, although if you have to, you could bribe them with a visit to Adventure Island, an indoor play area. Sadly you can't drop them off there and collect them 3 hours later, you have to actually stay with them. Now there's a niche in the market if ever I saw one.

Junction One is my kinda shopping experience...cheap, easy to get around, and tons of wonderful…read moreshops all in the same area. Heaven for most girls, and even for some guys (my dad's a huge fan, but he doesn't like to openly admit it). This place has really taken off since its opening in six years ago. Us poor Norn Ironers now wonder what the heck we were doing paying full price for all those clothes / shoes / accessories / cosmetics / other bits and bobs when you can get up to 60% off such things in Junction One. I've gotten so many things here over the years, many from shops which are long since gone (RIP Logo...darn that recession), and for really genuinely good prices. Ones to definitely check out are Next Clearance (no changing rooms is the only let down here), All Wellan Good (*really* cheap makeup and toiletries), Cosmetics Company (top brands such as Bobby Brown and Elizabeth Arden feature here, but you'll get them for a good bit cheaper than on the high street), Mexx and Tom Tailor. Unfortunately, as I previously mentioned, a few shops have closed over the years, including the awesome Ralph Lauren store and Pilot. One other slightly negative note is that the cafes are really quite expensive...no 60% bargains to be had in these! All in all, a tremendous shopping experience, and one which you won't regret.

Two or three? Two or three? Two...or...three?!…read more Fine, it's three. Just. Multi-faceted, capacious and, well, just plain random, Castle Mall has the makings of a fantastic shopping centre. With plenty of decent shops, such as Dorothy Perkins and Burton, New Look, Dunnes Stores, Pound Stretcher Extra, Clinton Cards, and even a Post Office, it sounds good on paper. It's well-located, situated right smack bang in the town centre. So what's the problem? Castle Mall is tired, lacking in fervor, and it just hasn't managed to materialize its potential quite yet. There's the old problem of too many empty shop units, and despite one entrance of the centre looking fantastic, the other entrance leaves a lot to be desired...I think the mall has a few identity issues. There are worse, but there are definitely better. Three stars = piggy in the middle.

The Castle Centre has really gone downhill over the last few years. Dunnes Stores has closed and I…read moreheard a rumour that New Look was moving out to Junction One. There aren't really any places to eat and the number of shops has gone down a lot. Right now, Poundstrecher, Poundland and New Look are managing to keep everything together. I remember that they spent loads of money getting Woolworths and Adams to come to the centre only for them to fade out after a few months. If I'm in the area, I only use this place if I have to use the loo as the toilets in here are very clean. It has been really sad to see names like Dorothy Perkins, Woolworths and now Dunnes leave the centre and I fear for what will happen to it. Ballymena has really stolen all the trade from Antrim and I'm not happy.

This is a fantastic shop! Cotton Traders is a well known quality brand but in here there are some…read morefantastic discounts. They cater for men and women. You can often find men's rugby team polo shirts (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales etc) for as little as £5. They also sell shoes and trainers in here at very low prices. If you like the Guinness brand of clothing (yes the merchandise from Guinness beer/stout) then you will find plenty of it in here at fantastic prices. If you like high quality cotton goods then this is the place to go. Located at Junction One Outlet Retail Park.

This is my favourite shop in the whole of Junction one - why? Because i love the quality of next…read moreclothes and you can get big discounts in here - some of which are in the current catalogue. When there is a sale you can get tops from as little as £2 and jeans for £3. This is a great shop for me as they do the petite sizes here. They also have men's clothes and you can often get homeware goods cheap. Occasionally you will get designer brand clothes and shoes at low prices such as Firetrap, Amplified and FlyFlot etc. The staff are always nice and helpful. Located at Junction One Retail park so free easy access parking.

M&S say they have something for all the family, but I say what they have here is bargains for all…read morethe family. Everything in store is at 30% off High Street prices, at least. That's just passe! I'm talking 50, 70 percent and even more! You just got to be patient and wait for the big price cuts. Mens suits under £30, jackets £8.99, shirts £2.49, these prices may not be available everyday but they happen often enough! I've never had so many suits in my life and i've at least two good quality jackets that cost less tha £10 each.

I don't tend to shop in Marks & Spencer in Ballymena as I find it too expensive, but I do like…read morepopping into this outlet as you can often pick up a good bargain (as I have done in the past). Carries past season/ old stock with prices reduced to various levels (including some very high reductions). A small children's section, and good size ladies and gents sections, plus some seasonal giftware items. I like the checkout area as it is a one queue snake system and usually moves reasonably quickly.

Fast, clean and excellent service. Lots of variety of snacks. Kids enjoying the store. Highly…read morerecommend

On the way out of the 24 hour Tesco store and my first gripe is that the station isnt 24 hour as…read morewell, Prices are standard with other filling stations in the town but gripe number 2 is they should be lower. Pumps have a habit of being out of order but the plus side is the pay at pump system. Very handy if theres a queue and you are in a hurry. Little shop carries basics like newspapers, milk, crisps, bread etc and staff are always friendly also theres an airline on the forcourt. DONT rely on this station being open to exactly midnight as the sign says but lucky enough theres a 24 hour station with 800 yards.

This is a fantastic shop especially if you love leather handbags - and especially RADLEY handbags…read moreat discount prices. They often have radley and tula handbags with a great mark down and often these are only last seasons handbags. They do a wide range of bags from Fiorelli, Ri2K, Hidesign and their own lakeland leather range - they often do purses, accessories and luggage. They also sell quality womens and mens clothes in here and sometimes gorgeous leather jackets at low prices. Located in the Junction One retail park so easy free parking - can be found just beside Marks and Spencers.

This is my favourite shop in the whole of Junction one - why? Because i love the quality of next…read moreclothes and you can get big discounts in here - some of which are in the current catalogue. When there is a sale you can get tops from as little as £2 and jeans for £3. This is a great shop for me as they do the petite sizes here. They also have men's clothes and you can often get homeware goods cheap. Occasionally you will get designer brand clothes and shoes at low prices such as Firetrap, Amplified and FlyFlot etc. The staff are always nice and helpful. Located at Junction One Retail park so free easy access parking.

Not the biggest of asdas but it has a good range in store and when I was there it was that busy…read more(it's was early in the morning) but there was still good lot of staff about, I had to purchase some stationary and they had everything that I wanted and its wasn't to expensive, never been a massive fans of asda because seem to que at every tin of the day