Forget B&Q, Ali's DIY shop is amazing and should be your first point of call for getting nails,…read morelightbulbs, a hammer, or whatever random piece of DIY equipment that you actually need. This place is packed to rafters with stock, and it's all reasonably priced. The customer service is great. I'm not sure if the guy serving was actually the famous Ali, but I hope he was because he was mega friendly, smiley and chatty. I love a good bot of pleasant customer service for a change. Keep things local. Next time you think about driving to B&Q, just go to Ali's instead. He'll sort you out and he'll do it with a smile on his face too.

Ali's Diy is your one stop shop for everything to do with diy, before you go to BnQ I recommend you…read morego here, the rates are very reasonable and he is very friendly. Trust me when I say I think that this shop was the reason they created the phrase 'don't judge a book by it's cover'. It is packed with everything you could ever want.

Brilliant little shop, if it hasn't got it , it's not worth having! Very helpful lady who owns the…read moreshop, if you need anything diy then this is the place

Really cute little ramshackle shop on Bury New Road. Prestwich Hardware is so helpful for DIY…read moreprojects, odd jobs around the house and bits and bobs that might be so tiny and inexpensive but make the difference between harmonious home and falling apart. The service from the chap (definitely the right word) is so helpful especially if you do the whole damsel in distress thing - its NOT an act I really do have no clue. But I'm an independent woman and at the moment its just me and my mum in our house. No men to do all these kind of jobs. So we have our own little tool box now - yes some of them have flowers on and were a present. But still. They can help you with the parts themselves, tools, how to do it, common pitfalls, what to do afterwards. Lifesavers but they don't have the range that say BnQ have as its a pretty small shop.

Old fashioned hardware stores are a rare thing these days when you consider that between the big…read morechains like B&Q and Homebase and the more traditional builders merchants, the DIY market must be fairly well catered for. Unusual then that Sale has two of them! Situated (rather inconveniently for anyone other than those visiting on foot!) right on the main road through Sale, this store occupies a space that is crammed with as wide a variety of stock as you could imagine, from lightbulbs to timber, step ladders to hammers. I only called in there for an energy saving lightbulb, but even then was greeted with a dazzling array of items that fell into this category... rather surprisingly they also seemed to still have a few 100 watt lightbulbs and as such had fashioned for themselves a bit of a black market for the things! Anyway, I digress. The staff were friendly, the range of stock was impressive and the prices pretty reasonable. The location is a bit of a negative since for anything requiring a car to pick it up (which I don't think is that unusual for DIY items), you have to negotiate a tortuous one way system to be able to park outside it, and then you have to 'Pay and Display' which is an un-necessary expense. Still, you can easily walk there from Sale town centre so I don't suppose it is a disaster. 3 stars, due to its location.

This shop is certainly no shrinking violet. It spans what looks like an acre of land on Chester…read moreRoad in Stretford and it has one of those 20ft high inflatable, wobbly men which distracts drivers but entertains children. Just in case you miss this gargantuan appendage, Gleave has thoughtfully erected a 30ft high unit which tells us the time and the temperature so when your irritating colleague or smug other half appears to have an unnaturally in-depth knowledge of how many degrees celsius it is on a Monday morning, you know where they get it from. Joseph Gleave is a supplier of specialist equipment selling tools, safety products and site equipment. From welding to security, sealants to abrasives, this store is a major player in providing products for the entire industrial sector. What this company provide that others do not is a reliable technical support division which advises business owners on the correct products they require, and provides health and safety product information. Is is not just about making sales with Gleave, it is about integrity in business. It is nice to know that behind Mr Inflatable is Mr Responsible. Oh heck, now I sound like I am creating new characters for the Mr Man books, and this was supposed to be a serious corporate review!

Nice chappie behind the counter, didn't make me feel silly being in a hardware shop as most men…read moreusually give me that look 'not on a Thursday' that old mag advert look that women and DIY do not mix, but no he was most helpful, polite and friendly. Very nicely priced items and very good too! We will be back for sure!