Everything a corner shop could need, plus alcohol…read more If you're an avid reader of my reviews, you will recall an Italian Bistro I used to work at which used to send me out for pizza because it was on the menu but we didn't cook it. The same bistro used to send me running out to the 10 til 10 to get Amaretto for the occasional late night regular who'd prop up the bar and regale us all with the week's gossip. So it has always been the place for me where you can get emergency alcohol. And there's a decent selection. I do miss the way it used to be with a wooden frame separating you from the drink and grubby windows which students and tramps alike pressed their noses against whilst picking their drink of choice. These days they're a lot more trusting and let you get the majority of stuff yourself, but then they've obviously come under new management too, if the gaudy new shop sign is anything to go by. I have before and after pictures for comparison...

10 til 10 is a small convenience market that is actually open from 9am to whenever they feel like…read moreshutting, which is sometimes as late as 2 or 3 in the morning. I guess by lowering the expectations about when the shop was going to actually be open they expected that people walking past at midnight would be pleasantly surprised and would venture in and but Snack-a-Jacks and Blossom Hill rose aplenty. This is a particular gem if you have a friend, or indeed if you are a friend, who lives around the area. In which case a few six packs of export strength lager and a bag of minstrels procured at just-above-supermarket prices mean that the party can keep on going long after the last orders at the Pilgrim has been rung. Oh hells yeah.

Fantastic new Mace shop and off licence in Pentrefoelas. Just down the road from Ysbyty Ifan on the…read moreA5 They have just about everything you need in one place. Their new Welsh Pantry is Just fantastic. Wonderful Welsh made products and a great selection of Welsh Ales and Lagers (including Purple Moose Brewery and Tomos Watkins). The freshly baked bread is just amazing and the eccles cakes are even better.

I have come to this shop multiple times a day every single day as I work close by. Best selection…read morearound and I always had nice chats with the workers. That is until they hired a new man behind the till. Yesterday he told me word for word to "hurry the f* up and come to the other till". Then when the item wouldn't scan he told me to "get my sh*t and go". Shocked and will not come back anymore.

Spar has recently moved from a nearby location to the corner of Dale Street (where there once lay a…read moreHSBC). This Spar definitely has the most futuristic look about it with its glossy, glass-panelled and chrome finish on the exterior. I don't often shop at Spar because prices are generally expensive compared to competitive stores and of course it isn't really the place you'd go to do your weekly shopping; it's more of an emergency shop for locals and business folks nearby. Spar is located in a prime location for office workers in the area and has ideal products for people on-the-go. This makes it a great place to grab a quick lunch and newspaper or magazine. Let's say that this is your super mini-mart!

This is a very conveniently located store located on busy Dale Street. As you would expect it's…read moregreat for essentials like bread, milk etc and also good for picking up a bottle of wine on your way home from work to the train station :) They also sell a wide selection of magazines and newspapers plus lottery tickets and scratchcards and there is a food to go counter at the rear of the store for freshly prepared sandwiches and pizza. I think its open from 7am til late. There is also a cash machine in store too but it charges £1.50 for withdrawals.

This is a small grocery stores with lots of sale items! This was a fun store to browse. There was a…read moredecent selection of items considering this was a small store in the countryside. We were staying a few blocks away, and needed a few items for dinner. We were traveling in December, and it was late and not many places were open due to the upcoming holidays. We picked up a few local beers and ciders, and some noshables to take to our room. Thank goodness this place was open because it was the only place in town open besides the liquor store! We were happy with our purchases!

This is a great local store, recently refurbished and has a really good variety of goods available…read more Ok, so it's expensive, but that's to be expected in a local convenience store. It's not as bad as a Mace, which really wants to stitch you up! The ready meals are of good quality and it even has a walk in beer fridge! I would give it 4 stars, but must strongly protest at the cost of the birthday cards. They're not priced, so you take them to the cash desk kind of guessing what you would think they are worth. You would be wrong.... £4.00 for a basic birthday card? £4.00? Really? This smacks of a scam to stick it to the unfortunate sod who has left it to the last minute. We'll pay anything to get out of a fix right? Wrong. My local village shop came up with the goods for £1.10 I know this is only a few quid, but £4.00 for a birthday card. Not even a fancy one at that. Come on Co-op there's no need for this kind of thing!

There's a Tesco, Sainsbury's, Co-op popping up on every corner of the city centre and it doesn't…read morestop at one branch of the supermarket giants' one stop city centre shops. The domination and battle of the supermarket giants are ever present in the city centre, you can find like four mini Tescos around the vicinity of Deansgate and Piccadilly areas. A lot anyway. So here's to the Xpress on Whitworth Street West, one of a few cornershop types springing up in the city, to balance the equilibrium of the chain store masses and inject a little local to the often impersonable, daunting city centre. Xpress Local has recently opened up on my route to university. I've watched it been transformed from an empty space, learnt what it takes for a cash machine to be installed whilst thinking damn, this is where my late night snacking will take it's higher form. Xpress stocks all your basic groceries, milk, cheese, bread and acts as your off license too. I've used it for the range of bad snacks on offer, which has been bad for the healthy eating regime plus the purse. It annoyingly does not display prices on a lot of things which I thought was because it was opening mid-finish but this isn't the case. Annoyingly so, one late night purge, I watched my tube of pringles being scanned to reveal £1.99. I knew I should have purchased the half price ones in Tesco. Xpress is one of those places you just pop in and get the things you want or crave or when you're under time pressure. There may not be an extensive range of fresh or organic what nots but you can expect a pleasant none lengthy queue if you do find yourself in here.

Every single time I use this shop theirs a problem, calming he has no change, arguing with…read morecustomers about paying by card not cash - whats that about?. They also always claim the "Collect +" system is down 3 times over the past 2 weeks even though I could see parcels on the shelf.....

The guy who runs this shop is a total ar*ewhole. Argues everytime with customers called me a "white…read morepiece of trash" for going in to look for something which turned out they didn't sell and asked "why come in if you're not buying anything" Told him the reason and that what does it matter if I come in and don't buy anything. He refuses to do Walrus cards saying he doesn't have to do them even though he's operating Pay Point. Doesn't want you to pay by card and if you do he tries to charge you £1 extra. Very arrogant and would never shop there even if he gave me stuff for free.

Excellent service and good selection of newspapers, magazines and confectionery in this busy little…read moreshop. Owners are really friendly and always willing to help. Nice greetings card section. Newapaper delivery available. Parking available outside the shop on the main road.