Apparently this is one of only a hand full of such stores in Scotland, and hence I thought it worth…read moreof a review, especially seeing as its located in the centre of Penicuik, a small town south of Edinburgh whose's shopping scene, quite frankly, has seen better days. Needless to say, the large blue exterior, with clear windows offering gazes into the wonders within, intrigued me. As I entered, I was surprised to see the extent of goods available in this shop. It certainly can be considered a miniature department store. Clothes, groceries, clothes, toys, DVDs, car accessories, camping accessories, DIY, stationary..... the list is seemingly endless. I first explored the DVD section and was amazed to see many familiar, popular titles included in a two for a fiver deal. I ended up purchasing two reasonably priced reporters notepads at two for £1.50. The reason I have put this under "reasonably priced" is that the paper quality isn't that fantastic, and I observed that this was probably the case which a lot of the stock available. However, is that not expected from such a discount store? The stock was very well presented and the staff offered a friendly mannerism. Overall, four stars due to the fact that a lot of the products available aren't of great quality which may leave some disappointed.

from anti-moth strips to cooking pots to Alarm clocks (yes some people still use them) watches,…read morebasins. they also replace batteries in certain kinds of watches. I cannot fault this store yet.

Great store with tons of fun items to choose for family and friends. Made a mistake on some t-shirt…read moresizes and they exchanged them, no problem, even though I did not have a receipt. Reasonably priced in comparison to other stores too.

Another baffling, huge monster of a pound store to be found in this area of Edinburgh…read more It sells everything. I could expand on everything that it sells, but we would be here for a while. I might invent an updated version of the Only Fools and Horses song that plays during the end credits, since they list off their many bargain wares. For a wide range of products, this place isn't bad. Aside from selling the tourist tat that most bargain stores in Edinburgh display, they've got some imitation brands, garden equipment and cheap as chips electrics, just to give you an idea of the broad spectrum. I wouldn't trust any electrics from a pound shop, but for things like earphones you can be pleasantly surprised for a short lived period of time. Needs must in these purse pinching days of the recession, but it's a bit too much of a tacky overload for me. I'm sure if you rake through this place with a fine toothed comb you'll find something of use, but mostly it's a bit much! But since they bear the Only Fools ethos of bargain selling, it's a guarantee you'll find "cut prices at a stroke!"

Certainly not the most glamorous shop, Pound Savers stocks all manner of tat and this place is so…read morebig it really does seem to have everything but the kitchen sink. I could have spent hours in here browsing at all the wares, finding bizarre reasons why I would ever need half of the stuff in here. I was tempted by the colourful clay as it's been so long that I've made any clay people but decided it wasn't a very wise purchase. This place does seem to have everything but to be honest, none of it seems all that useful but if you're looking for a tiny screwdriver, a crazy soap dish or a garden gnome you will be able to take your pick in here.

When categorising this shop you should consider it to be a fusion of a pound shop and a pound…read morestretcher with characteristics of both yet also and rather unexpectedly offering a range of Polish goods as well. You do get a decent amount of good deals from here especially on regular household items that you use on a regular basis making it ideal for those who are attempting to bring down the cost of their weekly shop without sacrificing anything from that shop. The shop itself is well stocked though offer little beyond items that are regularly bought, but as far as I'm concerned this goes in its favour rather than against it as it does enable it to be able to focus more on that one area helping it be able to offer great value in that area. All round a very good shop and it is worth considering as a place to pick up some of your weekly shopping.

Pound shops are really a British institution. This one is located on Edinburgh's Dalry Road…read more promises much, marketing it as a grocers as well as a bargain shop. Inside, the shelves are well stocked with all items being around £1 - there were many that I saw for £1.29 for example. It's the sort of things that I'd expect to see in a pound shop, together with a reasonable range of toiletries and household cleaning items. This is not the limit of this shop though. There is a whole part of the shop dedicated to Polish goods; something that will be valued by Edinburgh's large Polish population. Places selling Polish goods are scattered across the city, and leads to me to wonder about experimenting with some Polish cuisine some time. All told, this is a great bargain shop. It's always worth checking out their stock, as they sometimes can be cheaper than the supermarkets for some items.

Long before the Pound Shops came on the scene, the place students (and povos like me) went to for…read moretheir miscellaneous bits and bobs was Ali's Cave. It is basically an emporium of cheap tat (I mean that in the nicest possible way) on Lothian Road: the shop equivalent of that drawer full of crap in your house. There are cooking utensils, clothes, bathroom things, DIY stuff, stationary, cards, classy (*ahem*) ornaments.... the list goes on forever. I have actually done Christmas shopping in here before, and I think I got away with it! If this place doesn't have exactly what you're looking for, the friendly and helpful staff will probably find an alternative item that will suit instead.

For those items you don't get elsewhere this is a good place to come and it offers a good range…read moreencompassing electrical, DIY tools and stationary plus anything else they could think of that seemed reasonable to sell. It does this job of selling those items you can't get elsewhere fairly well and the prices are reasonable and don't take advantage of the fact that these are hard to find items. Not only this, but the staff are friendly and will advice you where to buy an item if they don't have it. If you want it and it can't be found in the usual places or here it probably can't be found and when hunting for specific items this is always a good place to start. Just try to avoid buying all the stuff you know you don't need.

Sometimes you want to buy an item that you know will be on sale somewhere, but you can't think…read morewhere. To buy such an item, this is probably one of the best places to come. You've probably seen these sorts of shops on your travels. It's quite hard to describe what they sell because of the apparantly random nature of their goods on offer. I'm sure there's some sort of system to what they stock, but I sure haven't discovered it. What they do sell is of decent value - enough to tempt you to buy instead of looking elsewhere, but not cheap either. For the goods you can't buy elsewhere look here and at Ali's Cave and buy at whichever is cheapest.

While Samuel is right on the money with regards to the stench emanating from Bargain Spot, the name…read morealone of the store should be enough to tell you that it's clientele are unlikely to be the types whom give any consideration to personal hygiene. It's sort of a mixture of stale urine, cheap plastic and vinegar, but when you're shopping somewhere that doesn't even bother pretending to be anything other than a dump, it adds to the atmosphere if anything. Usual mix of hardware, homeware and cheap novelty shite. Good but not quite as good as Ali's Cave nearby.

Boys seem to like Cash Generator. I think it's because Cash Generator has huge amounts of TV's,…read moreGames Consoles, Musical Instruments and other expensive goods. I don't like it. I can't get past the fact that everything seems to have a yellow tinge to it as a result of living in a smokey household which also means everything smells like cigarettes. Everything just looks dirty to me and I don't want to think about where most of it has come from. Yes I am an utter snob.

Now that I think about it, it's quite obvious cash generator is a second hand store, as they stock…read morethe most unrelated variety of products imagineable. From television sets, to toys, to guitars, Cash Generator is so well presented I just assumed a lot of their stock was brand new. Some of it is, as they tend to buy both used and brand new items of the public which they try to resell in their store. A friend and I bought a mandolin from them after agonizing over the practicality of such an investment for quite a while. The transaction was quite hilarious, because we soon realized the staff had little expert knowledge of musical instruments; no they couldn't place us a song, tune the mandolin, or offer any really helpful advice about it! It's a cool place to try and find a good bargain, and I did find out that what they do buy straight from their suppliers are their HUGE flatscreen tvs!

A discount shop that has some great deals in it. Better quality stuff than you get at cheapy…read morediscount or pound shops - lots of stock is was ex woolies stuff at the start. Has a range of stock from toiletries to food, household goods and a decent range of toys. Definitely still worth the trip to Bathgate even now I've moved away.

When I walk in the store I saw there was a massive queue and turned around to leave an employee…read moreliterally manhandled me to stop me from using to door I had just entered from. He physically forced me to go around the entire store go exit doors, which incidentally lead to the same foyer.

I am a fan of all things German and Lidl definitely is no exception, they have fabulous bargains,…read moregreat products and although it isn't super shiny or modern it does the job if you're looking for a bargain shop. I usually always pop in for some Kinder Bars as they are just so addictive and Lidl always have them on offer. I've also noticed that they pretty much always have multipack cans of Coke and Irn Bru at ridiculously cheap prices so is perfect if you're a little parched and heading to the park with a big group. Lidl is permanently full with students picking up bits and bobs for the weekly shop but you really can't complain with the bargain prices offered here.

Hi ,just want to tell People to not got to buy staff in cash converter dalry road, i buy some…read moreblurays dvd 3 box set ,back home try them on my bluray player nothing work,bring them back to shop they can do nothing for me ,i loose my money and my dvd ,thanks to all the staff to the,cash converter dary ,i Will Nevers go back on this shop it s rip off,

Normally I'm fairly critical of these places and tend to avoid them because I don't believe that…read moreyou get particularly good value for money. The ones in the centre of town are overpriced as far as I'm concerned and I very rarely pay them a visit beyond looking in the window and walking off tutting a little bit under my breath. This place, however, isn't like that and I'm a very big fan. All the items on sale here are not only very good and high quality items, but very well priced. For example, the selection of guitars do not contain the best brands, but are at prices I've rarely seen elsewhere and that includes on ebay and other usually very cheap places starting at only £20. Sure these aren't going to be the best, but at £20 its good value if they are able to play a tune and you are certainly getting what you are paying for. Elsewhere it has some great TVs and Hi-Fi systems starting from £250 and £30 respectively (for top of the range items I might add) and you cannot fault it for price.