Beatties is Sutton Coldfields big department store, sells everything from clothes to kids toys!…read moreFair prices to suit Suttons middle and upper class population but quite expensive to everyone elses tastes. Very good quality items for sale, comparable to a John Lewis.

I have been shopping here for many years, and it has changed a lot. It has many of the big names…read moresuch as Boots, Beatties, M&S, Argos, Woolworths, WHSmith etc, and there are places to eat and drink like McDonalds, Costa coffee and Subway. The main parade area is pedestrianised, and they often have a farmers market and arts & crafts stalls on the main shopping street. At Christmas there is an impressive Santa`s grotto! New additions to Sutton are Aldi & Poundland. At the top of the parade is the historic old Town School building, which is now home to Sutton Baptist church, where on some days you can pop in and get a coffee and baked potatoe!

The Gracechurch Centre or, to give it it's ungrammatical and Americanised modern name: Mall…read moreGracechurch (I know, horrible innit?) is generally unloved among the locals. Built in 1974 by basically wiping out the middle of Sutton and starting again, the Gracechurch has been modified several times but still has the same basic shape. Beneath a sizeable multi-storey car-park, the shopping area is mostly covered and is clean and plenty spacious. A lot of shops come and go but the long-serving stalwarts are House of Fraser (formerly Beatties), WHSmiths, Marks & Spencers and Boots. The other shops are mostly filled with (women's) clothes. Locals often moan that the Gracechurch is full of rubbish shops and not enough local, independent traders. Ironically, whenever a local trader does try their luck, they soon shut down due to lack of custom. Compared to somewhere modern like Touchwood, the Gracechurch isn't great; compared to somewhere like the Saddlers Centre in Walsall, it's great. You can pretty much find everything you need up there or very nearby on the Parade. Back in the day the spaces in the Gracechurch were filled with oversize chess pieces, now there's a more helpful Information Kiosk, lots of benches and a jacket potato stand which has been there for as long as I can remember (and probably longer) and so can't be too bad.

House of Fraser is the ultimate in shopping for anyone who wants to feel they're spending just a…read morebit more than they ought, for the that feeling of decadence and slight wrecklessness. The HoF in the Gracechurch Shopping Centre in Sutton Coldfield is slightly smaller than most, which I really enoyed. Instead of that overwhelming department store feel, the smaller size offered a more relaxed browsing feel, and more easily-located concessions within the store. There is a brow bar and a manicure/pedicure station, offering some of the nicest of each of those services in Sutton. There is also a small cafe offering some nice cakes and sandwiches and hot drinks. The Bay shop in here as well as the Oasis are both rather nice, with great fitting rooms and some very helpful ladies. The jewelry section is small, but offers some very nice, interesting pieces I've not seen in another HoF. I ended up buying some pieces for my honeymoon which I've gotten a lot of compliments on. No matter the time of day, this HoF is never crushed with people, so again, the shopping experience is much more relaxed and less manic than normal.

The former Beatties department store has managed to retain its character and friendliness despite…read morebecoming part of the HoF group. Spaced over three floors, the store offers a compact range of fashion, beauty and homewear. The main reason for my visit once a fortnight is to take advantage of the Benito Brow Bar, which offers a superb service every time.

Just off the A5, near the Ventura Retail Park is this branch of John Lewis at Home. A large easily…read moreaccessed car park, leads into a bright and expansive store. There is a wide selection of large electrical goods like fridge freezers and washing machines. As always there is an impressive range of kitchenware and crockery, glassware and audiovisual goods. The staff are both helpful and knowledgeable too, which is refreshing. The other end of the store is predominated by lighting, bathroom goods and bedding. A small range of Hotel Chocolat products, toys, gifts and cards, finish off what is an impressive store. The on site cafe is light and airy, with modern furniture - barstools and more conventional tables. The range of drinks is impressive, but the food choice is a little limited, just pastries, cakes, salads and sandwiches, perfect for a snack though. The coffee is strong and flavoursome, but the prices in the cafe are a little on the expensive side. However, the knowledge of the staff and the quality of the products, will always see us return again and again to this impressive store

If you can find a member of staff (they are sometimes difficult to find on the floor), they are…read morepossibly the most courteous, helpful, informed staff you will come across anywhere. John Lewis is known for its excellent quality of products, but deserves to be equally known for the excellence of its staff. We have used JL at Tamworth, Milton Keynes and Touchwood, and they are all a credit to JL. Highly recommend the branch at Tamworth where, if they haven't got it in stock, they will do everything they can to get it for you as soon as possible. Their advice is so helpful too. John Lewis deserve their reputation, and the staff at this branch, as elsewhere, actually do care about making sure the customer is satisfied.

The Currys is very small and theres not alot of choice or staff to be honest, but I suppose if you…read moreknow what you want and they have it in stock then all is good. Staff are friendly tho which goes a long way! The is a new 99p store sandwiched in between Curry's and Marks & Spencers! Its large and airy and has a large stock choice.

Went for first time in four years today and luckily not too many customers. The shop assistants…read moreprobably outnumbered paying customers, but they were all so helpful and obliging, everyone we met showed tremendous knowledge of the items in the store and ideas. We could have stayed there for hours. The cafe is just that, a standard snack serving cafe, nothing outstanding but the service was exceptional. But the greatest benefit is the massive selection of women's and men's clothes, from the ordinary to top quality. Something for everyone. It might have been an 80mile round journey, but worth it and we will go again before Christmas to get a few more bargains.

This one goes out to all the senior citizens... boy, I get cooler by the day :P…read more Be warned this place can be terrifying. It's so big when you enter that you can't even see the far walls beyond the vast sea of clothing stands in front of you, all arranged in a grid that forces you to move pac-man style through the aisles whilst dodging slow-moving pensioners on all sides. I think it's my uber-cool little sister's idea of hell. Not exactly my idea of a good time, and I'm not about to suggest it should be yours! But they do have a huge range of middle-aged-to-elderly mens and womenswear, much of it from branded labels at outlet prices (think Austin Reed, Moss Bros, Jaeger, Hobbs etc), plus things like bed linen, books, perfumes and stationery. Whilst I may have turned 30, I haven't grannyfied my wardrobe just yet - I'm actually suggesting you earn some good grandkid brownie points by bringing your nan here to browse and bargain-hunt. Yes it'll be two hours of your life you won't get back but it's well organised, saves them the stresses of the big malls, and the pensioners love it (there's always plenty of them enjoying the cafe at the back!). As well as doing something nice out of the goodness of your heart, you might just strike it lucky as I did and find one of the handful of things in the store that someone under 40 might actually wear (and my little sis approved of!). In my case, a gorge Adrianna Papell work dress reduced from its £139 RRP to a £30 outlet bargain, that I'm proudly wearing to the office to combat the back-to-work blues today. Boom :)

This place used to be known as the Sainsburys Centre until Sainsburys buggered off and left the…read moreplace to be renamed the Red Rose Centre. That was okay because at least the library was still there. Then the library 'temporarily' closed in 2009 and its bookshelves have been gathering dust ever since. With the only proper supermarket in the town centre long gone and the prospect of the library ever re-opening growing smaller everyday all that's left to prop up this now tired old thoroughfare is the admittedly very good Wilkinsons, a new Greggs and hairdressers, a charity shop and a couple of other outlets which change from time to time. The presence of the multi-storey car park is a bonus and there are some great views from the top floor. However, if you try and take advantage of them, you'll find yourself shooed away by wardens who presume you want to jump or hotwire someone's car. For ages the Red Rose Centre (for some reason that cries out to be said in a Geordie accent) had its own security guard too, although he did very little other than chat with the people dressed as penguins collecting for charity and walk up and down.

Should you not know central Sutton Coldfield particularly well, then from time to time the large…read morelogo displaying the name of this centre may have caught your eye and had you wondering what's there. The truth is, not an awful lot. The name - with that rather grand-sounding 'centre' - really just denotes a shared area overseen by a single stakeholder which exists independently of stores nearby. This is not the equivalent of The Mall on the other side of Lower Parade, rather a small collection of stores paying rent to the same body, nominally brought together thanks to a roof. Tenants include a newsagent/tobacconist, a large charity shop (British Heart Foundation), a barber, an independent craft shop, a large branch of Wilkinsons and a budget-priced frozen food vendor. Here you'll also find what may quite possibly be the world's largest branch of Greggs. The centre, in addition, is home to Sutton Coldfield's main library - Greggs has plenty of seating so there is no need to hide a sausage roll behind The Da Vinci Code. After a dingy corridor, the library also marks the point at which you'll see daylight again. It's this that may recommend the centre, the outdoors seating here making for a spacious respite from crowds. Sutton can suddenly spike in footfall without warning thanks to surrounding schools and colleges. If you felt less kind, though, you'd say the centre's real purpose was providing largely-covered access to a multi-storey car park, plus cover from the rain if the bus shelters were busy.

I and friends of mine have been using Ted Williams for decades. I'm a reluctant shoppers (aren't…read moreall blokes?) but here it's a pleasure to spend time thanks to the excellent customer service. The range of mens clothing offer an extensive choice from tailor made one-offs to the latest in designer label. The exert staff are on hand to advise and it's definitely worth listening to them as they really know their stuff. The attention to detail is what impressed me most and I'd like to congratulate them on their excellent customer service. It makes a huge difference and welcome change from the large department stores. Any alterations are carried out swiftly and professionally by two talented seamtresses. The shop proudly boasts it's a supplier of designer menswear to the stars of music, sport and entertainment, you may spot one when you pay a visit.

As you vigorously scratch your head in confusion having never heard of it before, note that what…read morethe Brum City Council's planning documents call the Boldmere Shopping Centre is known colloquially as 'Boldmere High Street'. This busy commercial district is differentiated name wise to distinguish itself from the other commercial hub located in the south end of Boldmere Rd., known as 'Little Boldmere' that contains the Boldmere tap et al. Boldmere is a diverse middle class neighbourhood that borders Erdington to the south, Wylde Green to the east, and Sutton Park to the north. The Boldmere Shopping Centre, or high street, reflects the diversity of the area with an array of local shops and chains for the community to explore. The commercial district starts at the intersection of Antrobus Rd/Highbridge Rd. and Boldmere Rd, and continues north until you reach Jockey Rd. Businesses have traded here since the railroad laid out the initial criss-crossed roads in the late 1800's. Victorian buildings are mixed in with structures from all periods up to the present, giving the street an organic, hodge-podge feel. Recently many high street banks and other chains have been abandoning commercial districts like this en masse, however this has created opportunity for small local businesses to swoop in to take up the real estate. A recent example is the closed HSBC branch, currently being converted into a Mexican themed restaurant. Other than a proper bank branch, the Boldmere high street area has virtually every kind of shop you may need for daily purchases. There are dozens upon dozens of stores in the area, but some of my favourites include: - An official Post Office, located at the back of WH Smith. - The Boldmere Library, which has faced off against closure by the council only to remain open and provide a small, but cozy space for borrowing books and using the internet. - Three grocery stores in the form of Tesco Express, Sainsbury's, and Nisa Local. - Numerous Indian and Balti restaurants, making Boldmere the Balti Triangle of Sutton Coldfield (aka Boldmere Balti Row). - Two independent butchers, and a really good deli. - Green Grocer, who stocks the best in produce. - Two chain pubs and a Harvester, for those that like that sort of thing (The Bishop Vesey does a good chain job at stocking real ale and craft beer). - A plethora of hair dressers and barber shops, if you need your hair cut, you'll likely find a good shop here. - Charity shops and bric a brack stores. Too many to list! - Two chippies. - Several lounge and cafe style restaurants and coffee shops. - An upscale, professional florist. - One bike shop, one used car dealer, and two running stores. We love multi-modal transport! These are just some of the highlights, with many others not listed including an industrial estate for your construction etc. related needs. While Boldmere's high street may not be as posh as Harborne's, it contains a proud collection of independent traders working their craft and building a real community in Boldmere.

The signs cool, THEMALL.co.uk. Big letter, cant miss it, looks a bit like a circus tent at the…read morefront. Inside is empty (By empty i mean its ruled by the same old chain stores) and dark though, i saw a child weeping in the corner. She was sad because even at a young age she knew creativity was dead and consumerism rules. How is it possible i walked the length and with of this place looking for something to talk about but found nothing? Its because i've seen it all before, you've seen it before. Same shop fronts same adverts same lighting, same flooring. Shockingly boring and cookie cutter.

An utterly soulless place, with barely a single redeeming feature. And to cap it all, it's called…read moreThe Mall, a naff American word that slaps the life out of any hope of originality. Sutton town centre full stop is similarly soulless. Considering the surrounding areas, you see quite a few chavs and dipsticks around. It certainly doesn't scream or whisper prosperity, it wails mournfully "Abandon hope all ye who enter".