This branch of Waterstones is a fairly nice branch and one of the more modern branches of…read moreWaterstones I have visited across multiple cities including my home-town of Manchester, Liverpool and even the branch in Newcastle city centre, which as far as I'm aware (the latter) is located in a really old, listed building. This branch follows the new Waterstones approach, the store overall feels modern and new, which is nice for a bookshop, the headings are clearly labelled to show what they are such as Education, Crime, Action and Non-Fiction etc as I recall, which I found pretty cool as it made the store easy to navigate. This store, of course, is located in the intu Metrocentre, it is in a fairly central location, close to one of the few lifts in the mall, for navigation purposes I am aware it is classed as being part of Platinum Mall in the Metrocentre, which are categories I don't seem to understand, they basically just confuse me. The staff around the store didn't seem too stand out, which was a shame, and the product range was okay, albeit selling a slightly better range would be better as well as making sure the book prices were clearly labelled, to avoid having to scroll through the front and back pages to look for the RRP which I presume they are selling the book at, even though in some cases the RRP is outdated as it is the old book, and sometimes there isn't even one printed, making it annoying as I like to know prices before I buy, rather than asking a member of staff at the checkout perhaps. Overall, how the prices of the books are displayed need to change, perhaps extending the product range too to make this store not just a modern store, but a product with great selection would also be good, improving the helpfulness and welcome from the staff would always be good, but my shopping experience here was reasonable / good and for that I feel this is one of my preferred book shops, and perhaps favourite Waterstones branch I have visited, despite it not being the largest, in size it doesn't compare to the branch in London over multiple floors and the branch in Liverpool over two floors, yet I still think this store deserves a three star rating I'm pleased to report.

There are two branches of W H Smith in the Metrocentre complex; this review refers to that in the…read moreGreen Mall. It's quite a big store, occupying space on two floors. A customer lift is available for access between levels. There's a fine selection of books, cards, stationery, DVDs, games and music to browse through. A Costa Coffee concession located in the story is a pleasant place to get a hot or cold drink and sit down for a chat. I don't have the stamina for shopping that some people have so I enjoy that! As with most W H Smith stories the choice is good and they are excellent for new releases and books that have been in the news, discussed on TV or radio or popular autobiographies. It's a great place for gifts (I've bought some fun jiigsaws here for people) as well as being a good place to come for stationery. The range is wider than in other places, I could get A3 laminating pouches here when I was on a hunt for them that didn't involve buying online. The special offers are usually good as in most of the stores.

My personal favourite place to buy meat, veggies and bread…read more Big barn type market in the centre of Newcastle. Numerous stalls that offer all types of different services. Numerous award winning butchers that offer prime cuts of meat, fantastic mince and healthy plump chickens and eggs! Wonderful bakery that makes the best breads and pastry I have tried. Wonderful vegetables and fruit stands where you get can a serious deal on great vegetables. Cheapest and most authentic pick and mix selection I have ever seen Fish monger, show repair, tea shop, cafes, clothing and boot sale, cd shops, home repair, clothing alterations ... Even a room with a scale in it! Grainger Market is magical. A must see, I consider the market a tourist attraction because of how traditional it is. The people in the booths all seem very authentic and very helpful.

It took me far too long to actually go to Grainger market. I love places with lots of little…read moreindividual businesses. I was used to markets being places with cheap tat and someone with a thick Black Country accent yelling from a van about sausages, and it's just definitely not like that here. There are still veggies, butchers (and decent cheeses to boot), but there are some seriously talented craftspeople too. It's good for a look around even if you don't feel like buying anyth8ng, odds are you probably will end up doing so.

This branch of WHSmith is the most reviewed branch in Newcastle city centre of WHSmith with an…read moreimpressive 12 reviews on Yelp, including those merged across from Qype. It is probably the largest store I saw on my recent trip to the Tyne and Wear Region of WHSmith, which included branches in Newcastle Central Railway Station, Durham and the Gateshead Metrocentre. This branch was my favourite out of the ones mentioned mainly down to the size, it had a good product range for items such as lever arch folders, drinks and snacks etc. The drink selection was good however I found the 2 for £2.50 promotion to be a tad expensive, considering Superdrug nearby runs a promotion to have 2 for £2, which works out £1.80 with my Unidays Discount however sadly the range they have is much poorer than the WHSmith branch, when comparing the branch nearby to this one. There also is a huge staircase in the store, with the upper floor having some more WHSmith floor space as I recall and a post office. The staff member working seemed friendly enough, although I did have to take longer checking out my items as for some reason the self-service tills wouldn't recognise the 2 for £2.50 offer on my drinks, meaning it would take longer as I had to go to the manned checkout, then I had to go through the slightly longer process of finding my card after being told they don't accept Apple Pay by an employee, only to go on to find out they did accept it and the member of staff who served me didn't know about it. This is a large, decent branch of WHSmith, staff training on payment methods, machines recognising offers and pricing needs to be worked off at paramount importance, but until then this is still a decent store and a nice branch of the chain to warrant a three-star rating.

WHSmith is one of those shops that makes you feel really depressed as soon as you walk through the…read moredoors. This store in particular is very grotty and every visit to it so far has left me feeling deflated. The blue fluorescent lighting makes the shop horrible and dingy and the staff look like they are working in a prison. The store is far too big for what it is (a newsagent) and they never seem to have enough stock to justify the space. Especially upstairs. All that is up there is the post office and stationery, with a huge empty gap in the middle. I only really come here to buy snacks on the go as they have a good selection of confectionery, including American chocolates. I would have left a 1 star review but the confectionery lifts it up to 2. But as a whole, WHSmith works better in the travel industry, like in train stations and airports because their main high street stores are always eerily quiet and depressing, with the only noises being your footsteps and the occasional beeping of the self checkout.

Rather large bookshop in the centre of Newcastle. It does have comfy sofas for us none reading…read moretypes. A book for everyone here.

I don't find this somewhere that I'd put on my list of favourites.I don't think it has the same…read moreappeal that say Waterstone's at Grey's Monument has. I think it tends to cater more for specialised studenty type material rather than basic best seller and popular books.The prices seem to reflect this. They will order of course if they don't have what you want in stock.Trouble is I waited quite a while when I ordered from here only to find a friend who ordered at the same time elsewhere only waited a week for her's to arrive. I think there are better bookshops in Newcastle unless you want something specialised for coursework.

One of Newcastle's independant record shops, it's tucked away but 5 mins from the Haymarket bus…read morestation. I remember this shop when it was called 'Steel Wheels'. It may have changed to a name of lesser quality but the stock is still decent. This shop sells mostly CD's and vinyl. There is also a selection of DVDs, T-shirts and tickets for local gigs can be purchased here. This place is well worth a browse on your lunch break. There are many hidden treasures to be found. Just think, Aladdins cave without the push and shove of heaving H.M.V. The prices are relatively similar though. The genres range from dub-step to black metal.