Ryman is a cheap stationers based in the Northfield Shopping Centre and a good place to head if you…read moreneed reams of printer paper, tippex, pens, pencil cases, glue etc. Generally either frequented by sad stationery geeks like me (I once had a job where I was responsible for ordering all the stationery for our office - it was heavenly although 15 years on I still suspect they are working their way through the job lot of gel pens in neon colours I ordered...what can I say? They were pretty) or schoolkids on the hunt for that latest back-to-school purchase this is a reliably cheap place, staffed by a friendly team. Although you can probably buy things like index files and plastic folders for a better price at Wilkinsons they are difficult to beat for toner and ink.

Partners has been in the Grosvenor Shopping Centre for years, I've shopped there more or less ever…read moresince it first opened and I still think it's brilliant. It specialises in stationery of all kinds and has moved with the times now selling a good range of computer stationery such as photo paper, ink and plain printing paper. There is a wide range of products available, and plenty of choice within the ranges. To name a few items you can expect to find pencil cases and everything to fill them, notebooks, folders, paper of every size imaginable, filing cases and oh, lots and lots of other things related to all things scribbling. I took my daughters there during the Christmas holidays and they bought everything they needed for their new term at school, now any other year we'd have popped into Woolies for a lot of this stuff but they obviously weren't available this year and I'm so glad I had this chance to requaint myself with Partners. My girls' are the bees knees in school with only the trendiest pens and pencils; Partners keep their finger on the pulse and this year have Hannah Montana and HSM goodies for my American loving nine year old and a very cool skull and crossbones range for the gothy twelve year old. Sometimes this branch of Partners will have child sized stools or desks for sale, this seems to be as and when they can get them and they're nice enough but personally I think you could find them cheaper elsewhere. Prices overall aren't too bad, some people find them expensive but I think they're fine. There are some items which can be found cheaper in other shops but the majority of stuff is very reasonably priced. This one of those shops that I don't mind a mark up of prices on some things because the convenience of doing all my stationery shopping in one place AND having such a lovely choice makes up for an extra few pence on the bill.

You can't beat The Card Shop in Northfield for your greetings cards needs through the year. It's…read moredown towards the Grosvenor Shopping Centre and you can't miss it because they fill the pavement outside with baskets of stuff for sale. The shop inside is filled more or less completely with greetings cards, mainly birthday cards which are sectioned off depending on recipient. They also sell plenty of plain birthday cards which can be sent to anyone. The cards I think are brilliant quality for the price, obviously when you're buying 5 cards for £1 you can't expect Hallmark card quality but these are typically of a quality that you wouldn't be embarressed to send to anyone. In fact my mums birthday card came from this shop last year and she was so impressed she asked me where it had come from, she now uses this shop for all her greetings cards. About a month before Christmas the shop is taken over by Christmas cards as you'd expect and at this time of year the choice of cards is fantastic. Christmas just gone I bought all our 'special' cards from here and it cost me a grand total of £4.25, to have gone to any other shop which sells cards the same selection would have come to at least £10. As well as cards there are always some cheap bits and pieces for sale in The Card Shop. My favourite was on Christmas Eve when they were selling sets of four coffee mugs with matching spoons for just £2.50, I bought a couple to make up my sisters Christmas present and no way in the world would she guess they were so cheap. Outside in the baskets you will find such items as beachballs, hen night stuff, diaries, soft toys and things like that. These are usually priced at £1 or less so it's worth having a look, especially if you've got the kids with you as you can treat them to something unusual without breaking the bank. The only downfall to The Card Shop is the fact that it's so cramped inside. The shop is narrow and sectioned off down the middle so the two aisles are not wide enough for a wheelchair, you can get a pushchair down there but not easily and if someone tries to get past you then it's all over and one of you will have to reverse back down the aisle.

This branch of WH Smith is very small compared to some of their other stores, it seems a bit poky…read moreinside actually and I noticed last week that the interior looks a little tired. If you're prepared to overlook the style of the store, you can expect to find all the excellent books and magazines that are available in the larger Smiths. At the moment they have a good sale on with many of the hardbacks having huge reductions, I'm not sure if this is the case in other WH Smiths stores but this Northfield branch has included absolutely loads of bestsellers and fairly new releases in this sale. As you go in the store you'll see an excellent range of magazines and newspapers, the choice of mags in here is second to none and I can get all my celeb news, a boxing mag for my fella and comics for the kids. I always have a mooch around the paperbacks as sometimes you'll find a book on the shelf which has been unceremoniously reduced in price and then you feel that you've had a real bargain! There's a brilliant choice of paperbacks ranging from classics to new chick lit releases. There's also a decent non-fiction section which included biographies, reference books, craft books and anything else you can think of. Prices for these are quite expensive and I'd rather borrow these from the library than pay over the odds like this. Staff in WH Smiths are generally knowledgeable about the books they sell, I've never been given any bad advice in this branch and whenever I ask for the location of a specific book they have taken me straight there without sending me all around the shop!

Northfield isn't home to the most swankiest of shopping centres, but it is a great place to go for…read morelocals and visitors alike, who are wanting to explore more unique shops. But don't get me wrong, the centre still boasts a large collection of big stores such as Poundland, WHSmith and Iceland, which are all greatly needed for the Northfield locals. It means that they don't have to travel elsewhere for their necessities. The overall aesthetics of Northfield's precinct are very outdated and generic, however, the actual shops themselves are varied when compared to the usual shopping centres of Brum. It's the independent shops that make the centre different, and there's a great collection of clothes stores for all ages and genders, from the men's shop Little Italy, to the girl's clothes accessories shop Miss Bizybody. I was quite surprised at the actual size of the centre, and expected it to be much smaller for the area (considering that there's quite a few shops on the Bristol Road outside as it is.) The centre is a great find, and is definitely worth checking out if you're in the area.

Ok this is not the best shopping centre in the world or the most exclusive, but I like it due to…read moreall the cheap bargains you can get here!. For me it is not the best place to go clothes shopping but it is great for Poundland, Superdrug, Peacocks, Iceland, WH Smith amongst many more. They also have clean toilets which is more than some shopping centres have. It was recently been refurbished also..

Cofton collections is a really big shop where they sell alot of collector's items…read more They have most of their stock in glass cabinets which takes up the majority of the store. The staff seem very intelligent and know about collectors items. I have brought a medal from here. They only buy things that have proof of a time for example a stamp inside the product. They sell jewellery, badges, medals in one cabinet. They have a large cabinet full of ornaments. This store is popular for ornaments. I feel the prices are what you would expect. For the purchase I made I did try and get a lower price but as it is rare and they have set prices I didn't get a discount. Recommended for collectors items.

I'm 32 and have just moved around the corner from the house where I grew up, for nostalgias sake…read morethe first time I went shopping from the new house I popped into News Pages on Longbridge Lane. I always just to buy my Smash Hits and 17 from here as a kid and was astounded to see the same people still have the shop, admittedly looking much older but definitely them! News Pages is a brilliant newsagents and this isn't nostalgia talking, it really is great. They sell an excellent choice of newspapers and magazines, from In The Night Garden comics to more 'top shelf' stuff and will happily order in anything you want that they don't usually stock. My friend was pleased to see they sell an Irish newspaper because she struggles to buy in where she lives so has put a reservation in for the paper and now it's delivered to my house ready for her to pick up. Once you've chosen your newspapers and magazines you might want something to munch while you're reading. News Pages has loads of large jars of sweets which they'll weigh out for you and also a selection of pick and mix sweets to keep the kids happy. These sweets are reasonably priced and there is a wide selection from toffees to boiled sweets and everything in between. News Pages have an extensive selection of greetings cards which are fantastically priced compared to the Post Office or Spar next door. You can buy a basic birthday card for 79p, but they also stock more decorative cards for the special people in your life. Also there are congratulations cards, sympathy cards, good luck cards - a card for practically every occasion you can think of! I think this is helped by the fact that these are older people running this shop as it's this generation who are lovers of cards, whereas shops with younger owners tend to just stock a small selection of standard birthday cards. News Pages has recently started selling food including a small selection of fresh fruit and veg and chilled items. This in no way spoils the look of the shop and it's still obvious that this is a newsagents rather than a convenience store, it's never going to replace Tesco but is handy if you forget your Oxo's or need a packet of ham quickly for the kids' lunches. Their Warburtons bread is the cheapest in the area at the moment, and the fresh fruit (mainly apples and bananas) are reasonably priced too. I nearly forgot, News Pages also have a DVD club which is free to join and it's quite cheap to hire a DVD out, definitely cheaper than Blockbusters. I haven't joined the club but when I looked at the price sheet I remember thinking it was reasonably priced and the older DVD's can be kept for two or three nights. In all I think this is an excellent newsagents, I buy magazines every week and would much rather give this thriving local business my money than the giant Tesco - he has enough off me as it is!

With big multinational corporations such as Tesco and Asda eating up the market shares of small…read morelocal businesses, it's getting harder and harder for them to survive, particularly when they're providing a service directly competing with those provided by the big chains, such as being a newsagents. That's why it's always such a nice surprise to find a bit of diversity and resilience with a store such as News Pages, serving the local area around Longbridge station. This charming little store has very much the feel and simplistic yet evocative look of a 1950s newsagents about it, and its positives points aren't just restricted to the atmosphere. The shop has an excellent selection of magazines, eclipsing those found in many of the chains (bar perhaps the larger W.H. Smith's) with a wide range of interests covered. Don't let the CD section (with a whopping selection of six - yes, six, I counted - CDs) throw you - this is an excellent little shop.

I only realised there was a Wilkinsons in Northfield recently but now I'm there all the time as…read moreit's such a good shop and the prices are so cheap. This branch is laid out really well and is a huge store as it sits where the old Sainsbury's used to be in The Grosvenor Shopping Centre. Everything is logically displayed with beauty and body products being together, then just around the corner is the baby goods, followed by the 'ladies' products etc It just makes sense to lay a shop out like this because it means the customer (ie. me!) can always find exactly what they want without having to traipse the length of the store half a dozen times. Prices, as you'd expect from Wilkinsons, are great. Everything the sell in here is at least a few pence cheaper than Boots and places like that, and if you buy all your toiletries in here the savings can be brilliant. I also like the homewares section in this branch, they seem to have a better range of stock than other branches of Wilkinsons and a wider choice for a lot of products. Prices are good here too, I recently bought a large stainless steel swing bin for just £12.99 when similar bins in Argos cost upwards of £30. You can buy decorating products in this branch too, such as Dulux paint and good quality brushes at much cheaper prices than if you went to a DIY shop. I like the cheap DVDs in this branch, I've never seen DVDs in Wilkinsons before but last week saw some childrens films and cartoons costing only 99p. We've just put a DVD player in the baby's room so I stocked up on Tom & Jerry and Flintstones films for her. The aisles are wide in Wilkinsons which means the shop feels bright and airy, there's lots of room to get around once inside. Disabled access is fine, I've seen people using wheelchairs and mobility scooters in this branch with no problems at all.

This branch has just undergone a refurbishment - it looks so much fresher and somehow stocks wider…read moreproduct ranges while still appearing spacious! Wilkinsons offers excellent value-for-money and a large range of home, garden, cleaning, DIY, stationery, beauty, food and seasonal products. You can always rely on them whether you need a new lampshade, bin bags, plastic storage boxes, shower gel or you're just feeling peckish! The new layout is very shopper-friendly with wide aisles and all the aisles/departments well signed, which makes it so much easier to locate what you need in what is a pretty big store. You can also order items in-store from the Wilkinson Plus catalogue that stocks even more products. The store's in Northfield Shopping Centre (formerly the Grosvenor Shopping Centre), which has over 600 car parking spaces, at the heart of Northfield itself, which is easily reached by quite a few bus services. The store's open from 8am - 6pm Monday to Saturday, which is ideal for people who work 9 'til 5 (and longer than most of the other stores in the shopping centre except Iceland). With such a large product range, Wilkinsons is the jewel in the shopping centre's (and Northfield's) crown.