If you live in Levenshulme and you get the train into central Manchester everyday, then I'm sure…read moreLifestyle Express is a place you've visited a fair few times. It's right by the train station and is mega-handy for a quick bag of crisps, bottle of ribena or the morning papers. You can be in and out in 30 seconds if you need to be. If you've got another minute on top of those original 30 seconds, then you can also get hot tea and coffee here.

Rude staff member/owner. I was returning an amazon package, I asked "Do you do amazon returns"…read more "No." When I said the return said this was the closest return point he said he only does MyHermes. Which my package was. When trying to scan the package he kept scanning the wrong barcode (the ASN of the package not the return I'd stuck on) and he didn't like that being pointed out stating "I know how to do it" with an attitude. I asked if I got a receipt the attitude came back with "I'm doing it now"

Hmmmm. A standard corner shop in Levy very close to the train station - in fact, head straight down…read morethe steps and you're right into it. They sell all the usual canned goods, household items and convenience items you'd expect - but tbh I was a bit annoyed as I bought a single pack of gum (written with multipack all over it) for 50p (standard price, no discount) and then when I opened it later it was all soft as if it had been in stock for years - not great! Come on guys - I expected better!

One of the many small newsagents slash off licences on the Stockport Road, Supreme Off Licence…read morepurely because its name includes the word "supreme." As if that wasn't enough, it also stocks the most different varieties of vodka I've ever seen. I mean, I think they have more variety here than in massive supermarkets and stuff. There is just so much. And the guy serving at the counter is super friendly as well. If anything, he looks like he'd just be happy if you bought all his vodka off him. Luckily, I can deal with temptation pretty well and just settled for a Sprite on my to my volunteering job. The vodka will have to wait till another day.

It's relatively easy to cater the needs of the student population, but not so simple to achieve the…read morecult status that Gaff's has achieved. Living in Whitworth Park for 2 years my local off license was McColl's - it was accessible, it was cheap, it had decent opening hours - yet I never would've dreamed of buying a McColl's t-shirt! It is impossible to walk around Fallowfield without seeing a student in a white t-shirt with the red Gaff's logo plastered across the front. Any small corner shop in Fallowfield would be stupid not to stock cheap alcohol, fags, pot noodles and energy drinks. And there are many shops which do, but none which have seen the success and received the following that Gaff's has. Having never lived in Fallowfield I've only ever been into Gaff's a couple of times to pick up cut-price under-the-counter cigarettes for my Fallowfield friends. I'm disappointed to see that this is a service that they no longer provide. I have also heard rumours about the sale of illegal substances out the back, but they are all 'friend of a friend' rumours, so who knows? From the outside the shop looks pretty awful. It is plastered in posters for various clubnights with horrendous names such as Pout and Vodka Island, for which they sell tickets.

Gaff's is a Manchester Student fallowfield life establishment!! This is the first time I am…read morereviewing a corner shop and it will probably be my last. The only reason I mention this place is because of its legendary status in Fallowfield among students. You see this place operates for the sole purpose of making students life heavenly. It is open till late for all your late night needs, it is as reliable as your iPhone. You can buy tickets to all the big gigs in Manchester's nightclubs, dvds and beverages for those late night house parties. Absolute gem!!! In fact I urge you just to pop in if you're ever driving through fallowfield, even if it is for a carton of milk. You will realize that you walk out with more than you came in for, because you remembered you needed it, such is the fantastic variety of stuff on the counter. I love you Gaffs!!!!!!!!

Laindon Road spoils the casual snack 'n' booze seeker; you have several convenience stores within…read moreonly a few doors. Last year I spent a lot of time at my friends' house just across the road from this parade of purveyors of the pre-packed and though there were months and months of long boozy nights and apocalyptic morning-afters it was only in the final few weeks of them living there that we made it to Lahore Stores. Maybe it was too far away (you had to pass three other shops to get there) or Maybe it was that it was on the corner (too cliché) but we had always ignored it. And this was as it turned out the biggest mistake since having that party in the damp basement, after which everyone started growing mould in their lungs. When we finally made it there we discovered a glittering El Dorado of a mini market - a massive range of sweets and crisps and frozen pizzas and fizzy pop, beer and cider offers galore (although this was before the tax hike; when men were men and white cider was cheaper than mineral water.) Three for £10 on bottles of Paul Masson (with their big brimmed bottles wide enough for two); a Big bar of fruit and nut for £1; Walker's Sensations on buy one get one free. Truly we had stumbled on something wonderful but were cursed to never be able to exploit it. Lahore Stores slipped through my fingers, don't let it slip through yours too.

When I went into Oasis Off Licence there were literally Valentine's balloons everywhere. I didn't…read moreparticularly mind, it was just a bit of a shock, that's all. Oasis has a whole array of sprits alcohol wise that is really quite impressive. They also sell retro pickled onion monster munch which is always a bonus as far as I'm concerned. The owner of Oasis obviously cares about his shop and it's got some pretty lighting in the window to go with the excitement of the Valentine's balloons. For that, in addition to the fact that he was totally polite and friendly to me, I like Oasis. Not the band. The off licence. In Levenshulme.

Jet News is a superb newsagents and convenience store on Kingswood Road. Its also the only one…read morebetween Fallowfield and Mauldeth Road, so if you are in the area, or you live nearby, you'd better make this your local stop for all things immediately required. Its basically a normal newsagents, which sells all the usual things, but there's absolutely no point (within reason) on which you can catch it out. Newspapers, confectionary, milk and bread, alcohol, its got it all, and always in stock, at good prices. Also, its got an alarming collection of football stickers if that's your thing. The piece de resistance though, without a shadow of a doubt (the phrase not the Hitchcock film), is the wine. For £5, that's right, just £5, you can buy 2 bottles of wine. That's £2.50 a bottle don't you know. And the most surprising thing.. its absolutely fine! If I had to call it either way, I'd say its nice! Honestly. Its worth the trip down there to stock up, as I have never witnessed such good value vin rouge this side of the English Channel. P.s. they sometimes close for an hour at lunch so be prepared for marginal disappointment on occasion.

I am perhaps biased about the quality of Jet News due to it's sheer convenience to myself. Located…read moreapproximately 2 meters from my front door, it is the corner shop of dreams. It has everything I could ever possibly want! From newspapers on a Sundays, to bacon and eggs on a hung over Saturday, to a cheeky packet of chewing gum on my way to work during the week. It meets every single one of my needs perfectly! But by far and away the best thing about it is, as Alfie has already mentioned, is the 2 bottles of wine for £5. All I can say is that whoever is putting them at that price clearly knows nothing about wine. It's really good red wine, but only costs £2.50 a bottle. I have spent a tenner on bottle of wine in the local supermarket that were not a patch on the Jet wine. I reckon I have probably saved hundreds of pounds this year alone from that absolute bargain, and for this reason alone, Jet news gets the thumbs up.

24 hours of service, as mentioned below convenience is very much the faceless phantom in student's…read morelives. Open all hours you plunder and pillage for alcohol whenever you need. It does everything that a convenience store needs to do.

On a drunken mission to get the bus from Trof to the Roadhouse, Medic Friend and I realised that…read moreneither of us had a lighter. Or fags, for that matter. We stumbled across Premier and were DELIGHTED to find that as well as fags, they sold 'zippo' lighters with sexy-lady decals. That's right, kids, for just £1, you can own a fake zippo with a badly printed vinyl sticker of a woman in a pink bra and knicker set! Woo hoo! Medic Friend and I were suitably excited, and promptly bought the sexy lady lighter, and called her Sue. But then, tragedy struck! When we tried to light up, we discovered the lighter was EMPTY! That's right, it didn't work! Useless! We were upset. Upset because not only did we not have a lighter, but we had also been lied to, and our excitement turned to despair as I popped into Gaffs for matches. OK, so maybe buying a dodgy lighter for a quid isn't all that bad, but you weren't there, man. You weren't there! Premier sells an OK array of booze. The wines are standard corner shop fare; Paul Masson, Blossom Hill, that kind of thing. And the beer selection is good, with many of the beers refrigerated for instant party-readiness. The booze can be on the pricey side sometimes. I'm with Rob on its blandness. The only thing it has going for it atmosphere wise is a sense of being constantly watched by the man behind the counter. To be honest, there's nothing *wrong* with Premier, but it's not got the huge selection of Sainsbury's, or the weird (and annoying) features of Gaffs. It's just a bit nothingy. But useful if novelty lighters are your thing. As for Sue, I believe she still lives with Medic Friend, though I am of course too polite to ask.