Reasonably priced mens & women's quality vintage clothing…read more Top Banana and many of the shops on York Road share the ethos of the old-fashioned shop keeper. The staff like to have a natter with the customers, offer them a hot drink if they're having a good mooch and often give discounts if you buy more than one item. There aren't many places to buy quality vintage clothing for men so Top Banana has an edge over most other shops. The focus is mainly American vintage from the 60s-70s and the majority of the stock reflects this, but they have everything from 40s to 90s - you just need to have a good rummage! Fans of converse and vans if you haven't heard of Top Banana where have you been?! They have LOADS and prices range from £15-£25. Prices are very reasonable but don't expect bargain basement prices like £1 etc.. this is quality merchandise which would set you back a pretty penny down south! Grab it while you can before someone else does! While you're here pop next door to Cherry Reds for some yummy food or two doors down to Polar Bear Records,

Vintage gold converse, weathered denim shirts and an abundance of classic pieces from yesteryear -…read moreTop Banana offers something that few clothing stores do these days - and that's authenticity. They have some really nice stuff, some of it I imagine would make you look like Tony Soprano, a 70s mobster or Dirk Diggler. Their range is enormous for a small shop - from vintage varsity, leather and demin jackets to knitwear, polos and an array of slick shirts. All of the items I have bought from Top Banana have a timeless quality about them that only get better with age. With Top Banana you're guaranteed to get some fine clothing for a fair price that even a young Jean-Paul Belmondo would give a nod of approval to.You will leave a (fashion) law unto yourself, swaggering like a don, whistling 'ain't no stopping us now' and ready to share your new-found slickness with the world. At least I did.

This is a strange little place, but it's worth popping your head around the door to have a look…read more Essentially it's a dress repair and alterations business, as the window display and name of the shop would suggest. You can see a seamstress or two working away at the back of the shop. I've never had a dress altered there since I don't own or wear dresses, but what makes this shop interesting to visit is that recently it has started doubling up as an self-titled 'Indoor Car Boot Sale'. There is a baffling array of bric-a-brac, toys, books and clothes for sale that make it look like the store room of a charity shop. You'll need to dig amongst the organised chaos to find anything, but it's a nice place to go hunting for an oddity. My son likes to mooch about in here and often finds a small toy or some other thing that he likes the look of, and these can be picked up for a few pence.

At first glance the dress shop is exactly what you would expect, a shop which deals with the…read moreselling of and alteration of beautiful women's dresses. However, on closer inspection of this Raddlebarn road business there is far more than meets the eye. Inside there are all sorts of strange knick knacks which appear to be the kind of things more akin to a charity shop or perhaps some sort of bric a brac sale. If you look hard enough there's always something pleasing and the novelty of the whole experience makes a visit to the dress shop quite unforgettable. There can't be too many stores around doubling up in this manner so for that reason alone this place is worth a look.

Sue Ryder is a charity shop on Kings Heath High Street in Birmingham…read more This is definitely the largest charity shop in the area and one of the biggest ones I've ever been to. Good job really because it's jam-packed full of goodies! Expect to find a large selection of the usual charity shop fare such as videos, CDs, tapes, records, DVDs, clothes, shoes, handbags, ornaments and toys. As if this wasn't reason enough to shop here there is also a large selection of vintage furniture such as tables, chairs, wardrobes, sideboards, cabinets not to mention framed pictures, mirrors, tea sets and crockery. This isn't the cheapest charity shop I've been to but it's by no means expensive. Definitely worth checking out or adding to your normal charity shop run.

This is a fairly new addition to the Kings Heath high street charity shop run. Until fairly…read morerecently it was a Halfords, but like many of the 'brand' outlets on this busy high street this has disappeared. In their place comes a pretty smart Sue Ryder outlet that specialises in mostly in furniture. The furniture is obviously a mishmash of stuff that has been donated, but the staff do a pretty good job of selecting the better and more interesting stuff for display. They also sell a range of musical instruments for kids that are brand new and come direct from the manufacturers so they are mostly half the retail price. There was a half-size electric guitar for sale a few weeks ago for £30 - boxed and brand-new - that normally retails for closer to £60. Well worth a look if you want either of the above, and of course it's all for a good cause!

This was a real find - I popped in after seeing it's rather seductive window display from the…read morenumber 11 (Kings Heath to Selly Oak). I think its may be a new addition to the High Street, although I don't pop in to Cotteridge very often these days so I could be wrong. Either way, they have masses of high quality stock - a lot of it wasn't really my thing (loads of summer dresses and smock tops) but I did manage to come away with - and I really do have to list these items because I felt chuffed for days - a Monsoon bag (real leather, blue) for 5 quid, a pair of Clarks sandals for just under 4 quid (fawn, never warn) and bargain of the day - a real Filofax (also fawn and okay I won't ever use it but it looks lovely) for 99p! In fact I was so impressed by the latter that I asked the lady behind the counter if it was a mistake - she was very sweet and said no mistake and to 'enjoy it'. The shop itself was packed with lots of people rushing up to their mates/partners/Moms clutching other similar bargains with slightly mad expressions - a great shop.

A lovely variety of vintage apparel at reasonable prices. A small store, but so many products if…read moreyou don't mind taking the time to look! The staff are really friendly and helpful. Easy to find as it's in the centre of the city!

I recently visited Yo-Yo for the first time and was amazed. A small independant business who's…read morestaff are really passionate about what they do. When I looked through the clothes, bags etc it was obvious they take care in choosing the right vintage items for the shop. There are also new clothes available and I muct say the pricing is very good. Perfect if you do not want to follow the masses and see 5 people with the same bag etc in one day.

I'm not ashamed to admit it - I'm a fan of Bargain Hunt - but I do sometimes find myself shouting…read moreat the screen as a nice man in a red fleece spends way over the odds for a 1970's pouffe - I mean why hand over 50 quid to a grumpy lady at an antiques fair (who refuses to barter) when you can head somewhere like the BHF furniture shop in Northfield and pick up something similar for about a fiver? This is a great place for 'pre-loved' items - in recent years I've picked up a coffee table, a plant stand thing and a couple of magazine racks for really daft prices. They also offer a pick up service - so if you have an unwanted sofa or are chucking out an old armchair, its definitely worth giving them a call.

I wasted two weeks of my life trying to organise what should have been a simple purchase of a chest…read moreof drawers from this shower of incompetents. I handed over the cash and organised delivery for the following week. However, my delivery window came and went, not a word from the shop to let me know what was going on. I rang and was told I would be given a call back. It didn't happen so I rang again, fobbed off again with the call back. On the third occasion, I insisted on speaking to the manager, who - after a lengthy wait - told me they had tried to get in touch with the driver but his mobile was switched off. I called again an hour later, by which time I was getting incredibly impatient, and was this time informed that the driver had returned to the store with my item still on the lorry. No explanation or apology was given for this complete and utter fail. I was then given an alternative delivery date and insisted that I had the first delivery time of the day to avoid another wasted hanging about. Needless to say, mid-morning rolled around with no delivery and no contact from the shop so once again, I had to ring. This time the excuse was even better. Apparently, the chest of drawers had been stored in a "damp" area in the warehouse and had been ruined. They couldn't possibly now let me have it due to health and safety reasons. It all stank to me of someone cocking up the delivery in the first place and giving my furniture away to another customer. I would have preferred honesty rather than the increasingly pathetic excuses. So now I was £50 down and still no furniture. In the meantime, the store manager, who I was assured was taking charge of this whole debacle, promised me that he was reserving a chest of drawers of similar style and quality for me so that I could pop in the following week and decide if I wanted it. If I remember correctly, we even agreed on a day and approximate time, so I dutifully walked all the way back to the store again at this time and.... Yes, you guessed it, no store manager available, no details left with any other member of staff to assist me, blank looks all around. I had to explain the situation (again) to the woman at the till, who at least had the sense to look embarrassed, and asked for my money back in full. My overriding frustration of this entire experience highlighted to me that no one at this store has an interest in customer service and that communication, to customers and colleagues alike, is a dirty word. The last words I heard as I took back my money was "We do hope you will come back in the future". That will be about as likely as a call back from their manager.

This is a great charity shop - always nice and tidy inside (I know this makes me sound ancient but…read morepeople have such preconceptions about charity shops, that it makes me feel chuffed when they look sparkly and smell nice) with tasteful displays, it is a good place to come for...well, tea dresses weirdly. I've bought about three from this shop - I'm never quite sure if they make me look daft but they're a lot cheaper than the dresses you might find at one of the posher vintage shops and allow me to work my inner Dot Cotton so I'm grateful to Sense. They're also pretty good for handbags and have a decent selection of gents shirts and jackets. Best of all they have a ridiculously cheap bargain rail where you can pick up a nice cardigan for less than a couple of quid. Staff are nice and always make nice comments about your purchases - even when they are completely misguided (bat wing jumper anyone?)