Ahhh, the red shirts are coming...too late they're already here! There's no such thing as a quick…read morevisit as it's set up like a supermarket or Ikea whereby you have to go all round to find what you really came for.... marketing research - tick. And as with any huge store the staff are too busy restocking shelves and carrying out maintenance rather than customer service, in fact...customers can be given a red flag to wave for assistance and over the loud speakers can come the announcement "service to isle 2594". In all honesty and respect, some of the staff are really knowledgeable and great plus you can see it in their eyes when it's time for you to leave....on one occasion I felt I should've parked further away just so they could've walked me over with my purchase instead of directly out the front. This really did happen to me, seriously! Bunnings is like a massive indoor playground short of a roller coaster, it has everything you would ever need to fix a hole in the wall or simply anything - incidentally - I heard this is the only hardware store you can buy the Polyfiller brand! No wonder it has no competitors with an ark like Bunnings and if it were open 24 hours a day, someone will surely be in there. More recently I've had to return a couple of faulty items to the returns desk and I think they have tightened up on what they accept back and in regards to cash back. A classic example is: I purchased an electric staple gun after reading on the label what it can staple. Went home tried to staple a thin piece of picture frame wire to wood and it didn't work but it did work when the staple went directly in plain wood. Now my definition of faulty and not working was not the same as theirs and cutting a long story short, lets just say I had a very hard time getting my money back.

Bunnings is the sort of store I go to buy a pack of screws... and walk out of with half a dozen…read moretomato plants, a barbeque, 4 litres of British Paints Coastal Blue and a belt sander. I can't help myself, I'm a hardware store junkie. Luckily, Bunnings easily fulfills this addiction - and more. The Marion warehouse is HUGE, and while some people may get flustered searching for what they need I obtain a perverse sense of pleasure out of aimlessly wandering the aisles. Usually with my 5-year-old daughter perched on the end of the flat-bed trolly munching on one of the sausages from the fund-raising BBQ out the front. I have always found the staff to be incredibly helpful, however of a weekend it can be a little difficult to flag someone down. The only down side to Bunnings is the nursery section. While there is a varied selection of bagged soil, soil conditioners, mulches etc, the plant selection can at times look a little tired and wilted. It is a case of first in best dressed at times. And I know that this is not predominantly a plant nursery, but it would be nice for staff to show a little more care and attention to some of the more 'sickly' looking plants. All in all though, this is a mecca for those who pray to the power-tool gods and deities of paint samples. You can walk here for hours, pop into the cafe, refresh, then start walking all over again. I never get tired of it.

Dessert was so disgusting i'm going to cry thinking about it my wife is still mad at me for making…read moreus eat here. Apple pie was cold and base was sitting on my tongue with bad feeling. Chocolate cake was a flop, let it be known i'm an eater and do dabble with chocolate often but this is a cry for help. Never again!

Ok... I am going to do it. I am going to review IKEA…read more So, it is hard to describe my relationship with IKEA. I remember when this place first opened. I actually did not know a whole much about IKEA. The brand was very foreign to me. I heard of it, but was unfamiliar with it's scale. Like the rest of Adelaide, I had to check it out. All new, shiny and plastic. Oh yes, walking through the maze that is IKEA was quite wonderful. I then started to notice something. It is not only the deisgn of their products that make IKEA successful, it is also the design of their stores. Do you ever find that when you go to IKEA you end up taking home a shoe horn, dish brush and a new mirror that you don't need? You end up having to go fetch your car to drive into the bay to load it full of stuff with a $2 icecream in your hand. I am always left saying huh? How did that happen? Over the years IKEA's appeal went downhill for me. I have had furniture and items break. What I have always been impressed with is the 3 month return policy. So, if you are not happy you can take it back for store credit. That is a plus. What do I usually get in this store now? Water glasses, plastic tubs, glass jars, curtains and maybe linen. That suits me fine. Every now and then I might get a decoration of some sort, but I have to really like it. I recommend IKEA if you are on a budget. It was awesome while I was at Uni. Try and look for the solid wood furniture if you can. They last a lot longer than the chipboard stuff. It's great that they have started to use solid pine now! Also, here is my HOT TIP: If you want to get furniture from IKEA and want it to look a little special and not just from the catalog, check out a website called IKEA Hacks. It is full of ideas for turning IKEA products into something really cool and unique. Also, don't feel like you have to use their door knobs and hinges, you can get cool antique ones from thrift stores or salvage places to make the furniture look more funky!

I love Witchery, it's my first stop in the city, at Tea Tree Plaza, Marion, Burnside and the Myer…read morecentre. The Norwood store is bigger than all of them but it's the only one I've ever been really disappointed with. So so so so so freaking rude. The clothes in Witchery are always contemporary, clean and stock great prints, shoes, bags, accessories and a whole new range of children's clothes and men's clothes. It is quite an expensive place (many tops are in excess of $80) but the quality is good and the sizes seem to be able to fit most people both petite and larger. The girl in the last review was talking about her petite size. I am quite the opposite and I really struggle to find a place where the L or the 14 fits me properly. So I can feel comfortable there. Let me take you back to my birthday. I had the day off of work and I had a party that night. I thought I'd treat myself to buying a new outfit from my favourite shop. Sales were on (Witchery always seem to have good sales) and the Norwood Witchery was my first stop because of their big range. During the day, there were not many people in there but the shop was quite messy probably due to the craziness of the good sales. I found a few things to try on but had a question to ask the lady at the counter about a particular size. I stood there and waited while she stood there popping display boxes open and talking to her friend about the weekend she just had. She looked me in the eye three times but kept going. When her friend left, she just looked down and kept going. I had to ask her to help me, but she wasn't willing to leave her box popping. She then asked the other lady to help me. She looked disgruntled to do it and refused to call another store for me. I left feeling about an inch tall and went to Witchery Burnside where the people were lovely and I bought a brilliant top. I'm not a complainer - it's not what I do, but I have never been treated so badly like I shouldn't be in a store. Please don't let it distract from how great the other Witchery stores are - I've only ever been helped.

Witchery at Norwood is different from the Rundle Mall store in two ways:…read more1. The service is friendlier 2. They actually stock my size So every time I come into the Rundle Mall store, all the XS and size 6s are gone. All the 35s in shoes are gone. Basically I'm just looking around at everything I like, wishing I could buy something, anything. But nothing fits. *cries* When you're petite, life is hard. Life is a struggle. Life is full of dilemmas. "Should I buy this now, or wait til it goes on sale? But what if they sell out of my size?" Many a time I have bought something for the full price, the next minute it goes on sale and there's about 5 remaining in my size. Ouch. Other times, I've waited til it goes on sale and they run out of my size. See what I meeeeean! So anyway, Witchery at Norwood is good for me. I don't know whether they stock more of my size, or whether they're just a quieter store so my size doesn't run out as quickly. Either way, I can shop in peace.

Waterworld is a great place to get inexpensive water supplies. When I developed my own aeroponics…read moresystem, I was able to pick up a cheap timer from here that was great quality and only $35. The staff were friendly and the store was packed with lots of great items.

This David Jones is tiny compared to the city version. It's also missing the razzle-dazzle of the…read morefood hall, but it does still have a very comprehensive choccie, cookie and imported treats section for the foodies. What I love most about this store though is the top level where I can wander through the fine china, appreciating the delicate, colourful pieces, while half-laughing, half-dying of shock at the prices. My dear mumsy is a teapot collector, but I dont have a spare $245 for a Royal Doulton one right now sorry. And that's the low end of the range. The refurbished bottom level is super specky now also, with lighting fit for a star (courtesy of my electric-man cuz). In a nutshell - look and dream your little heart out (unless you're Richie Rich)!

I really wish the Salvos was more visible to the public, because it is such a good find. I actually…read morenever knew it existed until the other day when I walked past and a Salvos Van was out the front. I am so glad it was parked out front otherwise I would have sent on not knowing about it. This Salvos is not massive, but it is very well stocked and must be known well by the locals. They had a heap of donations waiting to be sorted out front. That is always a good sign, it means their stock changes regularly. Fresh stock means good finds! Inside the store is well organised, shelves of glass ware, crockery and pottery is around the back of the store. Items seem to be matched in types, which is nice if you are looking for something in particular. There are so many shoes in this store! Racks and racks of them. Really nice designer ones too! There are a lot of clothing with tags still on and in good quality. That is a rare thing as well. I think that it must be the area, the locals are more of upper middle class to richer families. The staff there are so lovely too. I was looking for a butter dish and the lady went out of her way to try and help me find one. We did not have any luck, but she offered to pop my name on a list in case one came in! That never happens at a thrift store. What amazing service! Be sure to stop at this store thrifties! You will be pleasantly surprised!

This is quite a large Salvation Army run thrift shop in a back street off the Unley road main drag…read more There's a whole lot of junky stuff, with the occassional gem in the rough. One of the main advatages of this store is that it continues to be priced incredibly cheaply. When I was there yesterday, all clothes were $1 and all soft toys (of which there was a huge selection) were just 50c... there were even a couple of gorgeous hand knitted ones which were no doubt worth quite a bit more! Even without this unbelievable sale, the prices seem to remain much smaller than is commonly found these days. There is a reasonable selection of books and homewares and tonnes of clothes and shoes, although some of it is quite worse for wear. Well worth your time if you like a rummage - but not worth your while if you need it to be a little easier.

A competent florist that suits its surroundings of the food court at the Ingle Farm shopping…read morecentre. They have a range of the usual offerings more than suitable for taking to visit a friend or to give as a casual gift, but nothing that screams out WOW to me. Their prices are good, the shop is clean is well presented, I would just like a little more variety and some more interesting choices. Perhaps these things don't sell well at this location, however interesting doesn't need to always be expensive. I go there when I absolutely have to because I have run out of time.

Chill's service is outstanding. I had ordered flowers from them for Valantine's Day - and due to a…read moreissue (at my end) they couldn't contact the recipient. So they contacted me and redelivered a fresh bouquet at their own cost. Really appreciated their great customer service (and the flowers were lovely too)