Walking into this store is like walking into Aladdin's Cave with the huge amount of stock to…read morenavigate around. This department store is no where near as nice as Myers with its appearance but the prices are so cheap that its almost a discount store. There seems to be regular sales on everything from bedding, shoes, clothes and kitchenwares. I went looking for flat white shoes and I did find them in an orderly size pile, and yes they were on sale. In fact I ended up with 3 new pairs of shoes as a woman never has enough. I enjoyed walking around the store surveying products and will be back soon enough for another bargain. The line up for purchase was a bit long and frustrating, and interesting to note that they no longer have a dedicated returns/query counter and one must wait in the purchase line.

Mystic Moon is an Adelaide based business with two stores, one in Tea Tree Plaza and the second in…read moreMarion Shopping Centre (called Alternative U). The two names sum up the contents of the store and its aims. As a fan of 'alternative clothing' (which I usually call my hippie-wear) I see this shop as a generic, trashier version of a truly alternative store. It sells all the usual items - like dream catchers, sterling silver jewelry with plenty of fairies and dragons, and lots of long skirts and large, flowing dresses. However, Mystic Moon makes this cheap. The dream catchers are tastelessness personified, an array of pink, sparkling feathers. The clothing is poor quality, in both make and material (just have a look at any seam to work this out), and this is supported by the price tag. Well, at least it's not poor quality and expensive. Their range of clothing is dramatically varied. You can find everything from attractive summer dresses to fisherman's pants to white crinkle cotton maid-of-the-mountains outfits. You can also but one-size-fits-all rayon ponchos in coloured animal prints. Wait, how did animal prints get into an hippie shop?! Especially PINK animal prints! The clothing brand sold in the store is called Funky U. That was when my first realisation arose - this is the consumer version of alternative. Then I spotted the super short, frilly tie-dyed dresses, and the crocheted tops, and I was certain. There are some gorgeous long skirts though, both the silken, multi-layered variety and cotton floor-length wrap-arounds. The jewelry here is standard - mystic silver, and plenty for non-standard piercings - yet there are some nice wooden bead necklaces. Their 'costume jewelry' section is slightly confusing, because it doesn't look any different to the rest of the jewelry range. They have some long chains of colourful stones that I would wear when I'm in that sort of mood. They also sell Indian-themed decorative statues, lots of Buddhas and elephants, along with those tiled bowls you see in all decor stores at the moment. And of course, there's incense, which the whole shop smells of (though not as badly as most such stores). If you could be alternative and generic at the same time, this shop would achieve it.

Mystic Moon is the staple for Christmas, Mothers Day and my Wife's Birthday, with the kids and…read moremyself guaranteed to find a necklace or two here that will suit her style right down to the ground. Beads, stones, wood, shells abound in the offerings. Prices are low enough that we frequently pick up several pieces for her and can still shop around the rest of TTP for some other items. The kids have also picked up wooden flutes each, that they still merrily squawk out tunes on once in a while. There's probably something here for everyone. Tucked away down at the far left hand corner of the store you'll find a rack with a stack of necklaces marked down. Seriously down - some from $20 down to $5... it's worth having a look through there - it may be old stock but I'm not sure this kind of stuff really goes 'out of style' like clothing :)

I have to be honest and say that I sort of used to be a mall rat down here. Well, not really…read moreconsidering that I generally hung around the city as opposed to one of the regional shopping centres. However, this is a pretty decent sized shopping centre, probably the largest in the Northern Suburbs of Adelaide. There is a pretty decent variety of shops, and they have also spruced the entrance up a bit as well, including moving the cinema entrance outside of the shopping centre. Oh, and there is also a bus station that sends buses directly to the city along the O-Bahn, which actually makes the journey pretty quick (when some idiot doesn't decide to drive down it that is). Anyway, this shopping centre certainly isn't bad.

Back in the days of Happy Pants, flourescent sunglasses and talking your fat mate into doing the…read moreTruffle Shuffle, there was really only one decent shopping option other than Rundle Mall, and that was Tea Tree Plaza, or TTP for those in the know. Back in those days it was a fair bit smaller than the the multi-hall extravaganza it is today. With a number of extensions and the odd facelift, TTP has been surpassed by Marion as the city's second shopping destination, but it will always be higher on the list to me! Living north of the city sees me visiting TTP more often than I used to, and although I still prefer the trek into Rundle Mall, I find that almost all I need can be found out there. Plenty of shops on offer, plus a pretty decent food court with a number of options, keeps me entertained and fulfilled on each visit. Because it is spread over a fair distance (not to mention the mini-plaza that houses Toys R Us and a number of other major shopping sites), you can find yourself copping some pretty sore quads on a shopping excursion, especially if you are comparing prices, deals or are just indecisive like me! In reality, Town is by far a better choice, but if you live out that way and can't be stuffed with the hassle and the parking (not to mention save a bit of petrol money) then TTP is just fine.

The Book Boys have 8 stores in Adelaide and are a South Australian company that started in 2005…read more Similar to QBD, they stock large numbers of heavily discounted books, and much more non fiction than fiction. By shopping here you are supporting local business which is good, but The Book Boys aren't really supporting high quality literature which is bad. The shelves are largely sci fi, vampire porn, poor quality chick lit and cook books. Sorry dudes, but it's like you're picking your stock from the Women's Weekly Top Ten lists. Like QBD they have a small 'literature' section next to the equally disrespected poetry shelves. This area is the only place in the whole store I would actually find a good novel that I'd like to buy, but unfortunately recent releases don't seem to be stocked by this chain. This is another book store that I try to avoid: clinical, mostly badly written novels, but at low low prices.

Book boys is great for finding gifts for those people you have no idea what to buy and don't want…read moreto spend a lot. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has some of these on their list? I know that chances are I can find something for almost anyone in here (yes I know these gifts will probably end up in the back of a wardrobe, or re-gifted the following year-hopefully not back to me though! That would be awkward!). There are a lot of these discount type bookstores around, and book boys isn't that much different to the rest.

Appalling! Why do they spend thousands on advertising a specific product then keep it hidden away…read moreso the customers can't find it? Several times I've gone into this store just to buy a "Clean step mat", but couldn't find one - even in the door mat section. And the only obvious signs (everwhere!) are ones saying "Charging" or Chasing" or something equally meaningless. What's the point of that? And they obviously don't employ people to walk around answering customers' questions. The only way you can make an enquiry is to wait in the checkout queue, pester the check out chick, then re-enter the store! Oh yes, and the BigW website is designed to avoid them getting your feedback. It refuses to process your message until you've selected the particular store from a pull down list - but there aren't any names in the pull down list!! How does this company stay in business?

Very helpful staff and the quality of cooking utensils now are getting so much better…read more The crockery looks fantastic for a photo shoot.

I have so many memories of this Spotlight and coming here as a kid with my mum and sister…read more We would come after school to pick up material (when mum used to actually make things) and choose craft items. Spotlight has such a large range from cushions, bedding, material in every shape and color and texture, craft, curtains, decorations, bathroom items, sewing machines to storage. The ladies were always lovely, little, old and experienced, you could tell they'd been sewing for decades. I used to love trawling through the mountains of material, picking out what colour I'd like my clothes and touching everything! Even though it's located within the ugliest shopping centre around (in my opinion), Spotlight will always have a fond place in my heart and be the only attraction to Clovercrest shops.

This spotlight has EVERYTHING, if you can find it in their perpetual mess and if you can get a…read morestaff member to help you. Spotlight always look like the first day of after Christmas sales have just ended and the staff look just as frazzled. I have to give them some credit, people coming into this shop are always looking for something specific and always seem to hijack staff for long periods of time to fulfil whatever craft idea they have. Spotlight has a huge range of textiles, crafts, art supplies and household goods at very low and reasonable prices. They also host classes and workshops for different craft ideas and children during the holidays. It can just be a bit frustrating getting through the experience.

QBD stands for Queensland Book Depot, and not surprisingly, started in Queensland. South Australia…read morecurrently has three locations and I have had the odd and unsatisfying browse in the Tea Tree Plaza store. Why is this place thriving when Borders and Angus and Robertson struggled? This chain store looks like a doctor's waiting room and the reading material is somewhat similar. QBD has very little in the way of quality new releases, and the staff look bored and don't seem to know much about the books they're selling. Seems to me that QBD are buying whatever the wholesalers have a lot of, ergo: whatever vampire teen novels are being flat packed that day. QBD don't actually even have a literature section, they just have a small 'classics' shelf with a random collection of authors from Joanne Harris to Marcus Zusack. I get why people like it, you can grab discounted cook books and teen novels very cheap for gifts. But this fluoro ode to discounts leaves me cold.

Super friendly staff that will search the store and the far corners of the Internet to find you…read morethat book you're looking for. They also have a good range of hard to find pop culture books like 'goodnight iPad' & 'go the f*** to sleep' They are also faster than amazon by an average of 3 weeks. Viva the return of the bookshop! Death to the Internet stores!

This Games World is strikingly different from its Adelaide Arcade counterpart. This store caters…read moremuch more to children and model car collectors. They have a large range of expensive model cars, as well as many kids' card and board games and play sets for molding or making craft. They also have lots of little toys like hand puppets and small animal figurines. For the boys, there are all kinds of moving object games and things to fiddle, squish or throw. Their range of adults games is quite a bit smaller than the city shop. They keep the favourites, but if you're looking for something interesting and obscure, you'll need to go into town. They have a wall of puzzles here, catering from children to adults. There is also a lovely display of chess sets down the back of the store, which the other shop doesn't sell. The staff in here are always lovely and friendly, but since the store stocks such a mix of products, they can't recommend games as well as the boys in the city can.

This store has a wide variety of games for children both fun and educational good range of chess…read moresets and mahjong, stocks on puzzles are usually good but if you can't find what your looking for the staff are happy to let you look through their catalogues and place an order. If your looking for Schleich this is the shop for you. I'll definitely shop there again

Diamonds are a girl's best friend right?…read more Well every time I've tried to buy diamonds, or any piece of jewellery, from this shop I never get served! I used to work in the same shopping centre, so the ladies pretty much new me for just being in the same centre, but they are always busy inside and in always manage to be looked over. Maybe it's because I am fairly young and can't seem to afford all their items, but when I am standing there with an impatient look and my wallet out, you would thing they'd get the idea! But no, I have to source staff members, who always seem to be out the back, busy with others customers of gossiping with each other or friends. Even then they are rude and don't give me much information on the items I am looking at. When I ask a question, the answer is more of a drag and seems like I should have already known. It's a shame they always have the best sales and the best products I am looking for, so I always have to end up coming back and buying, which means I need to find another staff member to pay. But that's ok, I will go spend my thousands of dollars on my future engagement ring elsewhere!

When my Fiance went in to buy me my engagement ring they were lovely, very helpful, even offered…read morefree resizing of the ring (as if it shouldnt be when you buy the ring from there). When he came home with it, although very excited, I simply asked him for the diamond certificate (to ensure he got a good deal, as I know more about diamonds than him) Onlt to be told that the piece of paper that read: Purchase price $, 9ct band, solitare diamond, was the only info they gave him regarding the ring. No cut info, No carat info, No colour info, No weight info NOTHING. When I returned to the shop to request what is rightfully my info they simply told me that head office doesnt release that info in writing !!!! Dodgy, i think so! Furious, I wanted to refund my ring just out of principle, I kept it as it was all we could afford at the time. Then to the FREE resizing, no no $35 to re- something or other the band once resized, ....but the resizing is free she said. Horrible unprofessional crooks, they are new to the market, and I guarantee they will not be around for long, or recognised for the costume jewellery that they are !