Poundland

Got all my Christmas decorations in here tonight and spent around a tenner, to kit out the tree and a few other garlands etc.
It’s better than the other pound stores for food, I reckon. You can get 12 eggs, a pack of bacon, butter, two tins of Heinz soup — all for a pound. Anyone coming to Manchester on a budget should shop here and Aldi for all your food!

It was quite funny to see a Poundland as it’s almost exactly like a Dollar Store in the States. However our $ makes these prices about $ 1.70 right now. :(Almost like a $ 2 store for us. Nice selection however.

Well it’s exactly what it says on the tin. Everything instore is £1. Just £1. Making it the perfect store for multi-​buying some varieties of drinks and cheap decorations for your home for the holiday season of Xmas/​Halloween/​Birthdays. Its a very big store which is normally filled with people and of course the inevitable large queues at the checkouts staffed by disinterested guys and galls. Definitely worth a look in for a bargain on cans/​drinks/​snacks etc.

As far as pound shops go, Poundland is top of the tree. Stocking all of your pound shop favourites — bog rolls, lighters, bags of sweets, plastic toys, jumbo bottles of bleach — all at that classic price.
Poundland also have a pretty good range of high street cosmetics brands in stock — if you like mid-​range shampoos and shower gels then this is the place to pick them up for half what you’d pay at Boots or Superdrug (they even have Original Source shower gels). Also, if you have a baby they have tonnes of nappies, talc and other products you might need in bulk. I like going here if I need to get stuff like bin liners or if I’m having a party and want to pick up loads of crappy food like sweets and crisps as you can get loads for really cheap.
Its not a particularly nice place to shop — everything is crammed in and there are always loads of people at the tills or in your way down the aisles, but hey — beggars can’t be choosers.

I have never shopped in one of these budget shops ever before, as they always look a bit like a jumble sale. However, I was on my way to catch a train and had some time to kill. I went inside — it was the week before Christmas, so the store was a mess, stock was everywhere all over the floor.
That’s the negative side — I ended up buying loads of things. I bought some gloves, chocolate, hairbrush, crisps, biscuits and fairy cakes. All for £1 each.
The choice was large and varied, from books, toys, dog treats, hair accessories, to sweet, chocolate and Christmas cards.
Many of the goods sold were branded; Terry’s Chocolate Orange, Cadbury’s buttons etc.
You would have to pay to park in the Arndale and I would only visit it again, if I had other shopping to do. I will go again, but I think that it will be luck of the draw to see what they have to offer. These shops don’t deserve the bad press — they really can offer some bargains.
I have taken one star off for the messy and confusing layout.