Despite what my husband may think I'm not a big fan of shopping and spending time in mammoth…read moreshopping centres and hot, stuffy department stores where the exit is nowhere to be seen (think the Father Ted lingerie department episode) puts the fear of God into me. However, needs must and sometimes shopping can't be avoided so if this is the case I want somewhere that will make it as easy as possible. I like this branch of John Lewis as it's easily accessible by road (just off the M60 and Handforth bypass) with plenty of parking, making it super easy to pull up and head straight in. It's pretty big, spread over 3 floors, but still doesn't feel like it swallows you up and everything is very easy to find. It's also very neat and tidy which is pretty important to me as I hate it when a shop is in total disarray (think the hellhole that is Primark) as it just makes the whole shopping experience more stressful than it should be. I've always found the staff to be approachable and friendly and will happily dispense advice on the best toaster or coffee machine for your buck, if you so desire. John Lewis is definitely one of the more premium department stores (not quite Harvey Nics but definitely not Debenhams) so the products and prices obviously mirror this but if you are after gifts or items that are of a higher quality then it's a brilliant option. Another major plus point for JL is that if you sign up for their loyalty card online they send you vouchers for free coffee and cake every month - this sweetens the shopping experience no end!

Love the convenience of the café. John Lewis has always provided the best and delivery services and…read moreinstallation for all the appliances. This particular visit was for curtains. One star off because while there are many sizes and styles listed online, the stores usually only carry one or two of each variety leading you to have to purchase them online and have arranged for either pick up in store, or home delivery. So it is best to use the store to inspect the individual items first before purchasing, but you might end up going online to order them anyway. Prices were excellent as always and delivery was free and of course John Lewis has a wonderfully large parking lot. That is also free of charge. For online pick up or Customer Service head around to the parking behind the store and enter from the rear entrance.

For what it is you know the M&S cafe in Handforth dean is alright!…read more Short and sweet from me; it's reasonably priced, the staff are cheerful and the self-help system actually works well for soft drinks and other snacks. It cost me £15 for a chicken Tagine, chocolate lolly, a tea, flat white and a Diet Coke - now I think that's value for money! And the Tagine was absolutely delicious! I would definitely eat there again whilst shopping in Marks and Spencer. I go there regularly for my weekly shop, so it's nice to know I can trust that the food & drink is up to scratch, in case I need to stop for a bite once again!

This branch of Marks and Spencer is quite a big store located in Handsforth Dean, and is in a big…read moreretail complex with quite a large Tesco store. This store can be a nightmare to get to, as it is situated on a large number of roundabout, coming from Manchester for a conference here, they must of been a good 5 roundabouts along the Handforth Bypass, but other than that it is easy to get to, get the motorway towards Birmingham (M60) and just follow the A34, hence coming off the motorway at J3. The car park is quite big as well, with the regular Tesco car park and just one for the standard retail park. This is quite a big store, with a good sized food and clothing section, it can be actually quite hard to find everything in away, especially due to the lack of organization with certain people sending me the wrong way, left right and centre, even the co-ordinator for the event, and I actually had to phone the store to get someone to assist me as they was no staff about - which is totally unacceptable. The event co-ordinatior works for Marks and Spencer, and did make false promises and taken her time to do everything. They is 2 cafes in this store, and they are quite nice cafes, they is one big one, where the event tasted place, and it even has trackers on the tables so the server knows where you are. The cafe isn't great, although some of the staff were good, running around to get me a gluten free sandwich, to the shop floor and the other cafe. The cafe still wasn't great as my iced tea was quite expensive costing about £2.50, and it did taste home made but absolutely awful, and very watery. The store has a good sized free from range, compared to other stores, for example the branch at Bury, where it is a struggle to even grab a sandwich, however they are far too expensive, and as the event co-ordinator is a coeliac, she should do something about it, she even admitted to me in private she knows the range is expensive, but I know she told a few white lies in the presentation. Overall, this isn't the greatest Marks and Spencer's store, even though it is huge, considering issues with the lack of knowledge from staff and staff in general, pricing, lack of organization and simply being a nightmare to get to, roundabout after roundabout, as it is located off a slip road from one, they are unavoidable really and this makes the store, one to not visit rather than to go through all the kerfuffles of the many, confusing roundabouts to visits. I can't give this store any more than 2 stars.

I'd like to start by pointing out how strange it was for me to find a branch of House of Fraser in…read moreAltrincham, House of Fraser have never appeared to me to be a brand that put stores in small towns like this one, especially so close to a much larger store on Deansgate in the city centre of Manchester. This store however is okay, but does have a really old fashioned feel to it, it is over around two or three stores and it is really old fashioned, it was the old Rackhams Department store, before being taken over and HOF have seem to followed in the footsteps of many branches by keeping signs from the old building, and the old name as they did in the Manchester branch, which was formerly called Kendall's. I came in this branch for two reasons, the first of which was to check if their was any fragrance samples, the staff members I spoke to were really unhelpful and slightly rude, and told me they had nothing and didn't even offer the use of any testers or try to recommend any best sellers, which was a shame. Especially on the Upper part of the store, it just felt deserted, it really wasn't a nice place to shop. or in general which was a real shame. Unfortunately, my pictures of the decor and feel and looks of the store were no longer on my Iphone, due to an issue with Apple which basically deleted most of my photo's from the day beyond recovery which was a real shame, but overall this store is really poor due to the selection and range of products as well as feel of the store, it feels too old-fashioned and not a nice place to shop and in a way this store is irrelevant with Altrincham being such a small town just around a half hour drive from a much larger branch in Manchester, a much larger city.

This department store reminds me of just what quintessential department stores should be. Ornate,…read moreold, on a main street, looking pretty as can be, even more enticing at Christmas. And that's just what Broads and Booths is. Plus it holds great nostalgia for me, a pair of my friends used to busk outside it when I was working as a chambermaid at Squire's. We'd spend the morning making moolah and count our cash in hand earnings to spend at Aqua in the afternoon after lunch. Ah, those weekends. The irresponsibility of youth. Part of the Beales group, Broads has survived for eons in its convenient location and sells everything you could need, from fashion accessories for men and women to clothes, soft furnishings to gifts, fine fragrances and cosmetics, there's a cookshop and a bed and bathshop and a restaurant and café for when your legs refuse to carry you any longer. You can even order all your lovely things online too. It's kind of like the Southport equivalent of Harrods or Lewis's, obviously on a much smaller and simpler scale but that's how much it's shaped the Southport landscape. Definitely worth a browse.

This is actually called Bealls now but Je refuse to write a Bealls review. Broadbents and…read moreBoothroyds has so much more panache. I remember as a little girl being amazed at all the luxury items and then being herded off to Woolys. Upscale, the old staircases are still intact but alas alack a little too crowded for me. The spell is broken.

Debenhams Browns of Chester is the only Debenhams store to retain its' original branding, Browns of…read moreChester. It has been owned by Debenhams since 1976, yet the store is fairly old being founded in 1780, while it doesn't seem to compare to the older department stores in London, it still is a fairly nice branch, you can enter the store through street-level or through the Grosvenor Shopping Centre. The store is pretty old and you can tell that through shopping inside, they have random sets of steps and ramps all over, so it isn't just one straight/flat level, so do be careful where you're walking to avoid tripping. They had a huge clearance sale on my visit, due to Debenhams' facing difficulties and having to close many of their stores, including this one, I still found many of their prices to be high even after the discount, I found the promotional offers to be inconsistent and it was hard to tell what item costs what as each part of the store/product range would have a different % off. The store did seem a little messy, but it did have some good products overall and it is nice to see they haven't ignored the history, it's a shame to see this store earmarked for closure as although it isn't perfect, it is and remains a nice addition to the town centre. 3*

This is a large department store where you can find really gorgeous bags, shoes, make up and…read moreperfume on the first floor and loads and loads of clothes on the second floor. This place really is fantastic for womens clothes - like debenhams it has all the usual brands such as Jane Norman and Oasis, and it has a great underwear section with huge variety of pretty knickers. It also has a wedding section with loads of higher quality dresses. Of course these come with a higher price tag that the high street stuff that can be found there but this is where I would come to look for something to wear for a special occasion.

Yes the store is VERY nice and very upmarket. The Selfridges store (huge!) in London's Oxford St is…read moreIconic in many ways - it was the FIRST department store in the UK and founded by an American who wasn't able to do his thing in the US - there is a TV series about it. It was the first store where women of the day felt comfortable and safe shopping alone.... Growing up in the UK my parents would take me there at least once a year (almost every time we visited London actually - so maybe 3-4 times a year. Yes there were upmarket things, and recently we were there and sure there are many expensive brands with absurd prices. But there are also more "normal" goods for sale. Not so much in Manchester - all Louis Vuitton and simile booths all around. A good friend who knows London very well explained that the smaller Selfridges don't have the room for affordable goods and it is all for the very affluent. So come prepared to go home broke or enjoy a window shop! Even the restaurant upstairs seemed very toffee nosed to be honest- not fun :( Review #4 2020

This is a large Selfridges store, although I do prefer their Birmingham location and their flagship…read moreLondon Oxford Street location (this location appears to be much more basic and laid back than those two, which are both in stunning buildings which stand out massively). I do think this is a good department store, it is one of the largest and more high-end department stores in the city centre, which is a fading game with Debenhams on Market Street closing and House of Fraser on Deansgate soon to follow. The store looks pretty good and is opposite Marks and Spencer in the Manchester Arndale, sadly Selfridges doesn't have a Food Hall similar to their other branches, at this location, this is a real shame - perhaps that is due to the Basement level of Marks and Spencer (a different business) having a large food section? There are two different San Carlo restaurants in terms of eating or drinking inside, I would have loved to see at least a different brand to add something a little more different, similar to what you see in other department stores such as Harrods etc. They do have some unique experiences here occasionally, Manchester City did bring the Premier League and Carabao Cup trophies here a couple of years ago which was super exciting for me as a big City fan. It can be pretty difficult to navigate at first, but they do have a store plan which is somewhat helpful, the store remains modern and clean. Some of the staff seemed a little snobbish and unhelpful, this was mixed as other staff members seemed great and happy to help. 4*

I like this branch of John Lewis which is located at the Trafford Centre with plenty of parking,…read moremaking it super easy to pull up and head straight in. It's also very neat and tidy which is pretty important to me as I hate it when a shop is in total disarray (think the hellhole that is Primark) as it just makes the whole shopping experience more stressful than it should be. I've always found the staff to be approachable and friendly and will happily dispense advice on the best toaster or coffee machine for your buck, if you so desire. John Lewis is definitely one of the more premium department stores (not quite Harvey Nics but definitely not Debenhams) so the products and prices obviously mirror this but if you are after gifts or items that are of a higher quality then it's a brilliant option. Another major plus point for John Lewis is that if you sign up for their loyalty card online they send you vouchers for free coffee and cake every month - this sweetens the shopping experience no end!

This is just for the Cafe, Not for the Shop…read more We ordered a couple of coffees and come cake while browsing through John Lewis. I'm gonna keep this short as there isn't a lot to say really. The Cafe is drab and so is the food. I don't know why it's so busy. The staff eren't very friendly either, I can think of 10 places much better only a few minutes walk away. No second chances on this one i'm afraid.

This is one of the stores based on the Handforth Dean retail park and it is a home store dedicated…read moreto selling products for the home (surprise) and no clothing. Its has a nice cafe but it is quite small and cramped. The furniture here is not the most exclusive but I would say mid range and the household department have some nice designer items like toasters and kettles and a very funky breadbin called the Typhoon Capsule caught my attention. Well it was raining and miserable outside and whats a girl to do on a rainy saturday afternoon. Nigella might feel at home here (for five seconds). This retail park has a M&S and a Tesco also on site and there is ample parking.

Great asset to Stockport centre most ofmu wardrobe is from there and half my Christmas gifts!read more

Debenhams in Stockport is located on the main A6 directly opposite the George pub. It is set over…read moretwo floors, offering items such as designer perfumes and clothing, toys, homeware and cosmetics. It is well laid out with plenty of friendly staff on hand to help you out. There is also a cafe/restaurant on the upper floor serving hot and cold food and drinks, and it is quite reasonable in price. It also houses concessions of Oasis, Warehouse, Faith shoes and Pineapple clothing. They hold regular sales, with sometime up to 70% off their prices.

Mysterious shop on Cheadle High Street, it looks shut most of the time. This shops is a vintage…read morewonder, lovely old shop fittings and vintage underwear mannequins from the 50's. The ladies in the shop are lovely old women. The shop sells underwear and hosiery (even seamed stockings!), odd bits n bobs and nighties/nightgowns/slippers- The shop is packed with stock, so much so it's hard to navigate inside- lots of boxes on shelves, but the ladies who work here know where everything is! If they get you chatting you may be there for a long time!