Technically there was nothing in here I wanted to purchase or would probably ever purchase but…read morenostalgia for a good British High Street experience made me do a little dance when I first saw Dancers. With our high streets continuing to decline due to high rents, the general disarray of the economy and the disposable clothing nature of supermarkets and Primark, I was super happy to see that there is still a place for a shop like Dancers in Halesowen. It reminded me of Buxton and Bonnets where I used to get schools clothes from a different party clothes from as a child. The men's wear and women's wear sections were very targeted to an older audience, with you paying more for a quality item rather than spending little to last three washes. Competing against the high street Asda for the school clothing options I am amazed how Dancers is still going. It's like a one stop shop for older people as there was also a big range of home ware bits and bobs. Keep Dancers going, even if it's just as a local suit hire place for the towns people's weddings, schools proms and formal party functions.

Dancers of Halesowen is my favourite clothes outlet in the Midlands and the…read morewider World.I've shopped at the store for nearly 50 years and it is one of the few constants in a changing Town Centre. The range of quality and affordable menswear and accessories,is matched by helpful and attentive staff who make parting with hard earned cash a pleasure rather than a burden. I will be going to the shop this Wednesday for a winter coat and two pairs of slacks and know I will be satisfied and return in the future (god willing!) As a 188cm 18st man larger sizes are no problem for Dancers. Simon Davies of Hayley Green,Midlands.

This is nothing like your average retail park; most are nearly always home to the usual large chain…read morestores and supermarkets. Okay, so Rubery's has a Morrisons, but it doesn't go overboard on the generic stores (and one supermarket is definitely a necessity for Rubery locals anyway.) At the centre of the park you'll find a Premier Inn, and surrounding that, there's a pub, bowling and cinema. So there's loads of great things for visitors to do, without having to spend too much money on travelling into the city centre everyday of their stay in Brum. However, there are quite a few roads that go through the park, and it's a little bit annoying having to cross each one to go to different store. But the park is home to one of two Empire cinemas in Birmingham, so it's definitely worth a visit to see movies on the big screen (other than at Cineworld or the Odeon) The location of the park is really great too; it's really tranquil and open planned with lots of grassland, so customers staying at the hotel don't have to breathe in the smog of the city centre all day long.

Cornbow is absolutely fine. It has a range of high street chains as you'd expect - Clarks, New…read moreLook, the odd charity shop.. It serves a purpose, and in Halesowen that purpose is to provide reliable chain stores where you know you can grab a pair of sandals or a cardigan and you know roughly what you'll pay and even what it'll look like. (Chain shops = reliability + copycat fashion) I think it's amazing it's still relatively full of shops - my local shopping centre in Wolverhampton is falling to pieces and full of empty shops making it one of the most depressing places to visit. In contrast, this fills a necessary niche in the shopping landscape of Halesowen.

Gah! I really dislike this place. I try to be positive with my reviews, but I'm struggling here…read more The Cornbow has a decent butchers shop (just outside Asda)? The car park has a fun helter-skelter ramp thingy? I'm clutching at straws here. I just find the place, and the shops within it, to be a bit depressing. It has a Gamestation, Argos, Asda, Supedrug, New Look... ...you get the idea. It also has a few independents thrown in for good measure. I'm pretty certain that they were playing muzak during my last visit. There isn't anything special about the place. The arrival of the three-story Asda has pretty much killed the rest of the centre - sucking shoppers in to it like some sort of glowing green retail vortex. I'm biased against the place because a guy barged into me with his trolley whilst I was in the lift. It really bugged me because he didn't even apologise. Not really the Cornbow Centre's fault, but it makes me suspicious of anywhere that encourages "trolley in lift" scenarios.

I love random 'shopping centres' which actually feel a lot more like an indoor market. That's what…read morePlaza Mall has to offer - with shops ranging from specialist collectors toys to vintage knitting patterns, to pet food and manicures. ALL UNDER ONE ROOF! Inside, some stores have teamed up with colleagues to share a unit, which can cause some confusion - but everyone seems friendly and helps point you in the direction of whatever you're after. At the back, there's a cafe - so expect to come out smelling like grease as I'm pretty sure everything was fried. Good place for a breakfast, bad place if you have high cholesterol. I warned you!

I got a sweet stencil t shirt here not long ago, made me feel like the coolest kid in town…read more For awhile.... This place is tiny but they have packed alot into it, have a real 90's market feel to it which is great to see. Its an odd mix and the pet food store seems to stand as the strongest stall in there. The cafe is average but its nice to have a greasy old school full fat meal sometimes, staff are lovely and its nice to see all the shop keepers chatting away to each other and customers.

Good priced and good quality clothing. This is a place to find a real bargain in the sales! The…read moreshop looks arranged and the staff are friendly and helpful. The only real draback is the ques neer to christmas but i suppose you get that everyhere

This is a curious little shop - which advertises itself as a toy shop, but my eyes spied much more…read moreinteresting items in the shape of sewing paraphernalia adorning the entranceway! Yarn, needles, a few craft items are stocked here - but underneath you'll find a selection of vintage sewing and craft books for sale. I browsed this gleefully whilst my friend went and perved on the collectible toys at the back of the shop, and although I didn't buy any (I have a mild obsession with vintage craft books - and am trying desperately to wean myself off!) I was tempted by a couple, and may yet pop back in the hopes they're still there so I can get them as a present for my sew-a-holic mother. Good work, weird toy shop!

Indoor shopping malls/markets on local high streets are the best, you just never know what's going…read moreto be inside and what gems you may find. The shops inside the Plaza Mall are a bit odd as many shop units have two shops in one. Blue Crystal Collectables is no exception. To get to the toy fun you have to first navigate a tiny sewing shop, the juxtaposition of the two together is very odd when it's a sea of pastels and beige to a back drop of dark horror toy type fun. A lot of what they have on offer can be seen through the windows on the sides of the booth. If you are a toy geek missing that one toy from 10years ago but don't want to pay ebay prices then you may well find it here. The stock ranged from old 90's reboot Captain Scarlett toys to Buffy to Living Dead Dolls and the Masters of Horror toy line. Nothing was excessively priced but you did wonder where they found this diverse range of toys from and what car boots they were going to to stock their shelves. If anyone knows then let me know cause I want to go there now.

Latif's has become something of a Birmingham institution for me and I have started categorising…read morepeople by those that know and love it and those that don't. For me you can't call yourself a true Brummie until you have experience this place. An almost palace of cheap and cheerful shopping they stock pretty much everything from home ware, clothes, furniture, garden products, electrical, lights, toys and even sweets and food. Spread over 3 floors once inside you might struggle to escape. I visit quite often as they have a lot of cheap things I use around festival season and Christmas. It is well worth a visit and really you haven't lived until you've spent an hour here.

If you are moving house and are on a budget or you are a student just taking up residence in…read moreBirmingham I think it's worth checking out Latifs. The place has EVERYTHING and it's all cheap as chips. There's so much that you can end up getting a little lost, without even knowing where to start. Some might prefer to go a little more upmarket, but I have no problem at all when you can kit out your whole flat and get change from a fiver (I exaggerate but you get my point). Even though it's cheap it's not all throwaway stuff, I bought some glasses there when I moved to my new apartment and the quality is pretty decent. As well as all the practical things you will need you can also find some very surreal and kitch decorative things. There are three floors dedicated to kitchenware, furniture, bedding, lighting and electrical goods, gardening equipment, tools, food and drink, cleaning products... see, everything! I recommend going by car or with a willingness to carry bags. And expect to leave there with a bunch of useless things you never intended to buy on your shopping trip (I still have the lenticular portrait of a tiger on my wall to this day).

First visit and I am impressed. Very bright and spacious. Floor space bigger than West Bromwich…read morebranch. They also have a Home section separate at the back. Large Clearance section. Huge lingerie section. The prices are good which is a bonus! Free Parking!

Excellent, excellent! No wonder everyone goes to Selfridges!! This place is awesome! This was my…read moresecond time coming here; the first time This time I came here for skin care products. You don't need to go to any other store to get what you need! It's four stories and is massive, it's pretty much a mall in itself. It has a relaxing, cool vibe with dim lighting! People there are very nice and have excellent service! They always have what you need and if they are out of stock, they restock quickly and will tell when they will restock. I was looking for Kiehl's and unlike most lazy sales people, the woman I asked was very attentive and actually walked me over there to sight of Kiehl's. This was very much appreciated. You really are supposed to walk them all the way over to the area, but since she was by herself, makes sense. She was very kind and helpful. Great customer service!! Once I got to Kiehl's it had a nice set up with a large range of products! They had the items I needed unlike the useless Kiehl's store in Grand Central. Don't go to the Kiehl's at Grand Central. They are rude and they don't good stock of their products, even though they are the official store. Do not go there! (It's located at Grand Central, but go straight to the Kiehl's at Selfridges! You will have a great experience at the Kiehl's in Selfridges! :)) Back to the awesome Kiehl's at Selfridges!! They are very kind and the two women there were very friendly, inviting, attentive, answered my questions, knew what they were talking about and were so helpful! I was able to get the product I needed. It was in a larger size, but I'm glad they had it and I bought it! Even though the smaller one was out of stock, they were very honest and told me when they would restock. She was very descriptive and thorough which I really appreciated and invited me to come back next week to get the other product I needed, which they would have in the smaller size. They even set me up the Selfridges mailing list! Excellent! I will happily be shopping here more! So friendly and excellent customer service!! Go to Selfridges, go to the Kiehl's there, go to every floor and company they have there! They have everything and have excellent service!! Plus you get to leave with a cute yellow bag!! :)

Selfridges is still one of the most iconic buildings in Birmingham, it has managed to stay ahead of…read morethe times since being built as part of the bullring when it launched. It still remains my favourite department store in the city and stocks everything you could want from amazing food and drink through to homeware, fashion and cosmetics. The highlight for me is the food hall on the ground floor, I think you would be hard pushed to find anywhere with the diversity and range of things you can try and buy in one place. I could easily spend a whole afternoon looking at the many weird and wonderful items that fill every countertop and display cabinet in the open and modern feeling space. One thing to note is that this place only stocks the very best of everything they sell, so don't go here expecting the cheapest products in Brum. However you can get a bargain from time to time in the many sales they put on throughout the year. In my opinion Selfridges keep pushing the boundary in terms of what people expect from a department store. Forward thinking, well designed and and always changing to keep thing fresh!