I have called in here a few times in the last year. Each time I wonder how much longer it can stay…read moreafloat. It still has a Primark and a Dunnes stores and I guess if they go it's dead. I remember a thriving food hall here with 6 or 7 purveyors when Harry Ramsden's deservedly did a roaring trade and I was a fan. No more, it's down to just one; a BurgerKing that opens at noon. It had M&S food and a cafe but not now. Our world is changing and not for the better. It's a harder world and shopping malls like this one reflect what's hidden in plain sight - increased poverty, cuts after cuts killing people, killing trade, shutting shops, putting folk out of work, who for the most part are the working poor. It's political ideology behind it for the most part - nutters who wanted brexit ironically the richest and the poorest; the former know they will make shed loads more money atop what they already have amassed with no threat to pay fair tax and the latter in the vain hope they'll escape their grinding poverty caused by 15 years of frozen wages, diminished services and the transfer of manufacturing overseas. They have no chance. The working poor will start to realise they were lied to but rising fuel and food will leave them still more desperate every day and there's nothing they can do. Half empty shopping malls will become three quarters empty in the next few months, recession will hit hard as hell. It's not that there's no money about as there more of it than ever it's just that the richest are not passing as many crumbs to the poor as they used to. And politicians don't do real politics any more - they talk and they lie and steal all round them while high streets will become wastelands.

Bow Street Mall...it's a mall (shopping centre to you and I) and it's in Bow Street. Clever, eh? At…read moreleast there's no chance of you forgetting where it's located... In all seriousness, Bow Street Mall is probably one my favourite shopping centres. Here's why... 1) It has sixty shops. Sixty! I reckon that's pretty impressive for a central shopping centre. It's not just the number which is impressive, either. The range of stores, including Primark, Tempest, Dunnes Stores, Dorothy Perkins, TK Maxx and Hanna and Browne, is equally impressive, considering most of these are fairly huge. And it's all under one roof! 2) The food court is consistently busy, and offers the likes of Burger King, KFC, O'Briens, Shanghai Express, Harry Ramsden's and Barnams. Located on the first floor, the food court is the only part of the mall which is not on the ground floor. Yes, I rather like this mall on Bow Street. Innovative name and all...

Gosh, the memories I have of being trailed through this place when I was younger. Yep, right…read morethrough: The household department, with everything from kitchen cutlery to refrigerators (and a particular favourite of my mum's, who at one stage decided everything in our kitchen should be green...even the bin) or... The furniture department, covering every aspect of your furnishing needs, or... The carpet department (where we spent many a boring hour choosing a floor covering. I'm scarred for life) or... The bedding department (the 'rents were on the look-out for Stag furniture) or... The giftware section, with the china and glassware (yet another favourite of my mum's - we have everything from Royal Dalton to Waterford Crystal on display in our house). You can understand why my parents loved it, and my sister and I didn't. It was "boring", to put it in our words. Oh, but wait! I almost forgot... The bright light at the end of a very long, mundane tunnel. That little 'something' which kept us going and gave us an element of hope. The toy section! That's better...

Smith patterson has been our family shop for years even when our parents where alive, they took us…read morealong .. only shop in our city you can visit with so much to offer for your home, great for anyone wanting wedding gifts etc.from furniture ,'bedding , kitchen ,gardens hardware, toys and even jewellery. It wasn't for the lockdown we would also enjoy cup coffee or lunch in their cafe. Staff very helpful and friendly if you need anything, Colin the manager is most helpful and very patient with his customers if you need advise or any questions, Its no problem. Our family have enjoyed our visits to Symith Patterson each time we visit. We look forward to lock down being over so we can see more of this great store and enjoy what's to offer. Thankyou for all your help in past and look forward to more visits soon. great shop lots to see and buy , so next time you're in lisburn visit this great store you won't be disappointed Sid & Eunice

Holy hannah!! What a gold mine!!! This department store reminds me of a cross between the Bay and…read moreWinners in Canada. The discounts are deep, and the brand names arent New York high end, but they do include some of the european funky high end stuff such as Desigual (http://www.desigual.com). The second floor has rows of deeply discounted treasures, and I had the worst time pulling myself away. If you are looking for a deal on ladies clothing or accessories, this place is by far my favorite department store in Lisburn!

People know Next primarily for their fashionable, if a little bit bland, line of clothing. So…read moreimagine my surprise if you will when I stumbled across a Next store with no clothes in it but rather a series of furniture and decorating materials. After coming round, I went in and immediately it confused me. I'm not a major fan of Next in the first place. I always found their clothes to be a tad too big for me and slightly too expensive. Their furniture store did not change my opinion. If anything, it confirmed my original perceptions. The furniture is more expensive than world-famous IKEA. It's all a little bit boring in fact. My girlfriend and I took a walk around just to see what it was like, and to be honest it there was a few nice pieces but nothing stood out and struck me as being particularly interesting. Perhaps it was because I was not in the furniture-buying mode, but I really didn't have any interest in anything there. It was all very general, nice tables, nice chairs, big mirrors, small mirrors, wallpaper etc. All just very bland and boring. With the clothes shop, you always find something you would wear, and if not, you can try on the hats and glasses for a bit of craic. This shop is not particularly exciting. Very run-of-the-mill. Very boring. Very Next.

Being positioned in Bow Street Mall, Gems is handy to get to. There are large display windows…read moreoutside, in fact there seems to be more displayed outside than inside the shop. The staff quality varies from very friendly and helpful members to just the average non-fussed type. I would say Gems was best for buying cheaper items out of, I don't know if I would have confidence in buying anything too expensive out of there. We had bought something fairly dear out of there and it took forever for it to come back from getting sized. A better member of staff got it sorted in the end.

I love the jewellery in this shop! My boyfriend has bought me a few pieces of jewellery from here…read more The jewellery is fashionable, modern and beautiful. Prices are reasonable for the quality of the product. The selection is good, especially the frontal window displays. I found the last time i was in this shop the staff were a little pushy but i suppose it is part of their job to sell!! Will have to send boyfriend here again for valentines day!

A good old family department store! In a world of 'cloned' national stores that could be on any…read morehigh street, it's a breath of fresh air. Smyth Pattersons is a department store stocking just about everything you could need for house and home. The shop is spread over several (haphazard!) floors and covers departments such as cookware, furniture, lighting, gardening, electrical, toys and anything else you can imagine. It's a favourite for those with wedding lists. Although it is a large shop it still has a family run feel to it and I have to say that the customer service is the best in any place I've encountered in a long time. The staff are genuinely friendly with good attention to detail.

Be prepared to get lost. Really, this store is huge. It looks fairly small and unassuming from the…read morefront, but it stretches back a fair distance once you get inside. It can get rather busy in the main entrance area on a Saturday, so be prepared for a few elbows digging in. Don't forget to venture to the upstairs floors too. And if you are shopping with family, tell each other which section you are heading to or agree to meet at the entrance by a certain time as it is possible to miss each other (I know from experience!).

One of the newest editions to Bow Street Mall, having only opened its doors in April, Pink is a new…read moreladies 'boutique' (not exactly what I would've called it, but hey). It's geared towards women in their teens and twenties, with much of the stock consisting of floral dresses, leggings, fancy tops, unusual jackets and skinny jeans. Think a cross between Streetlife and NV, and you'll not be far wrong. There are quite a lot of random little shops like Pink popping up all over the place, and to be honest, most of their clothes are all a bit samey. While Pink did have a good sale on (£5 rail was an instant winner), their clothes weren't really all that different to what I've seen elsewhere. In saying that, I did spot a couple of pretty tops for £7.50, but their delicate embellishment around the collar put me off ever so slightly. I also spotted a pretty black floral blouse, but since I'm a bit miserable when it comes to spending money on clothes and really rather enjoy a bargain, I felt £20 was a bit too much to spend on a see-through top (naturally I'd wear something underneath, but the fact that it was so thin meant that its value somewhat deteriorated in my mind). I did like most of the clothes though, and although some of them did come across as a wee bit tacky, most of the garments were quite pretty. So, I wasn't exactly left tickled Pink, but then again, pretty in Pink was never exactly my look...