Anyone who has been to University knows how much printing you need to do. Firstly there is all…read morethose lecture notes, because lets face it you probably were not at the lecture itself. Then In third year it is the dreaded dissertation. Around 300 pages of ink. When completing my assignments I was constantly running out of ink, sometimes at the most inconvenient times, right before the deadlines. Being a skint student I could not afford to pay for replacement ink cartridges at £25-£30 a pop or print. So I went to cartridge world, this saved me so much beer money over the course of University. It is simple, they just fill up your old cartridge with ink and your are sent on your way without damaging your bank balance or in my student days overdraft. I am a big fan of this place and the guys who work here are always really helpful.

For many years I'd often wondered how big name IT companies can justify the frankly insane prices…read morethey charge for replacement ink cartridges (HP are the notable offenders here - on a side note their software and compatibility with varying operating systems is infuriating on a new level) I had been buying off brand cartridges for a long time since stores like Tesco began distributing their own range but Cartridge World is also a fantastic way of saving money and getting your ink without feeling heartily depressed with self loathing at spending over £30 on something you'd find in a biro. It's simple. Call down with your old cartridge and they hand you a refilled model, charging a fraction of the manufacturers retail cost. Couldn't be simpler. There isn't anything particularly interesting or flashy about it but it does the job.

Welcome to the glamorous, sexy, high-flying world of office supplies! If you love arguing over…read morewhether the 5 Star, 80gsm copier paper is crisper or more absorbent than its nearest competitor, or you're one of those people who prefers post-its instead of wallpaper for your office decor, and enjoys painting pages with highlighters, then you're going to love this place! Personally I find it all very boring - I want paper that will have stuff on it when I click 'print' and it comes out of the printer. That's about the extent of my interest in it. I also find it annoying to have to look through a catalogue of types of paper to order the stuff. Luckily enough, this place has a delivery service. It therefore has computer records of orders. A swift phone call that includes the sentence, "what did I order the last time", resolves all issues and avoids a conversation so boring that I almost want to watch those events in gymnastics where participants wave a ribbon around or contort while holding a ball (there's more merit in having "Watching TV" as an Olympic event). UBE seems to be a bit more expensive than going to a large discount store, but they deliver supplies, and have a good service. They also supply chairs, printers, photocopiers, etc.

Tiger is really just a modern 'junk shop'. It's a bright, light, contemporary space filled with…read morecheap, mass produced, predominately plastic 'Made in China' tat (yes, even though it's a Danish store). I think of it as being like a car boot sale full of random items including candles, nail files, beads, cheap craft and art materials, games, toys, coffee, spices, makeup brushes, napkins, sweets, yoga mats, hand wash, notebooks, novelty knick-knacks, pots, pans and picture frames. Despite the fact that Tiger peddle a pile of rubbish, I quite enjoy a good riffle through it. Since everything's so cheap I tend to lose my mind and am tempted to buy all I see. Thankfully, sense intervenes just in the knick of time, so I always manage to leave the shop empty handed. However, when I next need napkins, candles or a new yoga mat I might consider heading straight to Tiger. I envisage it as being a useful shop to pick up Christmas stocking fillers or novelty items to bulk out 'proper' birthday gifts - for people I don't like or for when I can't be bothered putting any effort or thought into gift buying. Much to my shame I must admit I do like Tiger, in spite of my better judgement. Thus is the seductive and dangerous appeal of such shops. After all, surely we need more plastic and rubbish in the world....or do we...

This is my type of shop! I wanted to buy everything and walking around gave me so many ideas for…read moreevents! Tiger really has everything - it's sort of like little snippets of life, that as quite a strange thing to say but what I mean is that it's not a shop selling specific products, it sells a little bit of everything. I saw craft items like canvases and paints, as well household gym equipment. It even had a gourmet food section. If you're planning a party visit Tiger. It's the perfect place to pick up novelty items like quirky straws and party games. Cost wise it's not expensive - the price tags are weird though - they try and encourage you to buy multiple items by pricing things as 4 for £2 for example. Even for singular items the tag says '1 for £10'. Strange. A few people have compared this to Ikea - I can see the resemblance - it oozes Scandinavian coolness. I loved it - was really quiet when I went in so I got to have a good nosey around.

Cue hyperventilation…read more I make no secret of the fact that I adore stationery shops. All those piles of paper, stacks of sharpeners and heaps of highlighters combined with a profusion of pens, a plethora of pencils and a redundance of rubbers fill me with such complete euphoria that I feel the need to immediately purchase one or more of the above. Unfortunately, as my education days are now over, and my uses for such stationery supplies are at an all time low, I no longer require surplus amounts of pens, paper and the like. Thankfully, however, my sister has seemingly followed in my footsteps. Having decided that she likes her school notes colour coordinated (a girl truly after my own heart), she was after a few highlighters to fulfil her need on this particular trip to The Office. And believe you me, it is a need. My upper sixth year was spent swapping from blue to orange to pink to green to yellow highlighter in an attempt to make life much more colourful and easier to understand. It worked. The Office (great name, don't you think?) was bursting at the seams with every stationery supply you could ever need - kiddies felt tips to whiteboard markers, exercise books to coloured ring binders. And a whole lot of highlighters. Ooh goody. We were in luck. Rather than purchasing single highlighters (despite the vast colour choice), I convinced my sister to go for a set of four high-quality ones for £3.15. She didn't need much convincing, mind you. I think she may even have been more excited than I was, if that's at all possible. With so much stock, and all at great prices, I could've spent a) an awful lot longer there and b) an awful lot more money, but I (wisely) decided against it. My wisdom was later acknowledged, as I actually won a stationery set at a treasure hunt later that night. What a great day.

The office is unique in Ballyclare in that I don't believe there is another similar shop like it…read more Ahh however there is a couple of things but I'll get to them in a moment....a "stationary/pen shop" is definitely needed in Ballyclare due to our 2 big grammar schools, but there's much more to this shop at the epicenter of the towns centre like a place you can print photos out from your smartphone with the aid of their VERY helpful staff. Pens, pencils, envelopes, erasers etc, all the norm in a stationary shop. The only 2 things I can pick up on in this much needed establishment are the former computer (PC, tablet, laptop etc) repairs folks. I went to get my laptop a "clearout" or whatever they call it, only to be told that their "specialist" had resigned and moved on to pastures anew. The salesman then I have to admit very kindly directed me to a new shop that had opened in the town where I could get my laptop seen to. The other point I feel I should add without mentioning any names is the owners of "The Office" and their other profitable business opposite it. I have on several occasions witnessed unduly unhelpful relations between very friendly staff and these owners. I wouldn't call it bullying by any means but as an employee myself in such an occupation, I found correspondence from the owners to the staff very unpleasant and unjust! In a nutshell a great wee shop that's owners just need to treat it's likeable employees with a little more respect.

For the first time ever I have found some where that can do photocopies to AO size and other large…read moredimensions. There may be other places doing this that I don't know about but as far as I am concerned McGraths is a useful find just for that. Otherwise it carries all the usual office supplies, including reams of coloured photocopy paper and coloured card and writing papers. It is a workman like shop, nothing fancy, but with a plentiful stock of a practical, every day nature in the stationery line. As a small business the prices are bound to be higher than you can get at the supermarket as I did notice, for instance, that the hard back note books were more expensive but still, the big chain multiples do not always provide the answer to everything I am glad to say.

After a lovely, stomach-stretching lunch on a Friday afternoon, you wouldn't expect two girls in…read moretheir early twenties to be checkin' out a stationery / office supplies shop, now would you? Ha, well that's where you're wrong. A regular pursuit of mine (just kidding, I'm not *that* sad, ahem), but an ever-growing pastime of my trainee teacher friend, we both decided to pay McGrath's a visit. I didn't take much persuading, and was instantly lost in the brightly coloured sticky-notes section, followed by the ever favourite pen section (see my review on Bradbury Graphics), as well as the notebook / diary section. Rows upon rows of folders, ring-binders and other organisational methods filled me full of euphoria, and the coloured paper section was just far too overwhelming. I know, my sadness rate has just risen to 'sky high'. The purpose of our visit was to find some photograph paper, but it was really very expensive in comparison to Tesco's finest (so I was informed...I wouldn't know the price of this sort of thing if it came up and biffed me on the nose). They did have a good variety - gloss, matt and other fancy papers, and all in different sizes too. Just nothing that tickled my friend's fancy. It was a difficult goodbye, but I offered to accompany my friend again if she should ever need a helping hand. Stuff the fact that she's away back to England for the foreseeable future...

This business is split into two shops, P&P Buisness Equipment and then Proctor's Printers…read more The business equipment has been one of Northern Ireland's leading suppliers of touch screen solutions & cash registers to retail and hospitality industries. Some 30+ different machines are on display and available from stock, by leading manufacturers. It's brightly lit showroom showcases over 30 machines suitable for every budget for bars, clubs, fast food, and hotels with a special emphasis on restaurants and contract catering. The other side of the business, which is one which I have frequented more often, is the stationary side. As a busy student I had been running up to Proctor's to get my share of polypocket's, notebooks and special technical pencils for speed shorthand writing. The choice of stationary is very good. There is a very large range of the usual stationary stuff and then an art section with Windsor and Newton paints, art pads etc. They also carry some lovely leather personal diaries. Proctors also seem to be known for their personalized stationary services. When I was in, a man was getting some envelopes and headed paper made up for his business. It also seems popular for people looking for wedding stationary. The only downside is that the A4 notebooks I got there were over £3. If you are watching the pennies Easons or a poundshop might suit you better. However, if you are looking for specific stationary then Proctor's is the one stop shop.