New Street

...have placed this opinion under New Street. All of the shops I mention are very close to New Street anyway. Hope you find this useful).

Birmingham has an abundance of shops, shopping centres and retail parks, so if you like shopping you are in for a treat.

If you like designer clothes and have dosh to splash, a Harvey Nicks store opened last year in the new Mailbox complex which you can find behind New Street Station. ...
...off New Street to find small boutiques and big names like Red or Dead, Diesel and Versace.

You have all of the ordinary mainstream shops as in any city such as M+S, Lush and department stores like BHS and Beatties (which is in place of the old C+A). In the city centre there are 2 HMV's and all of the shops you would expect to find like Gap, Woolworths and WHSmith.

Recently opened is a flagship city centre Sainsburys ... more

Deano76 wants some flavoured condoms, PhilRoots wants some posh wine, Elainebaba wants some flowers and Karenuk wants to go to Lush....Let's face it, if you are coming to the meeting, you are going to want to do some shopping, right? Well, as a resident of Brum, I am here to guide the way for all you bemused souls...

(For some reason Ciao has no category for the city centre shopping area in general so I have placed this opinion under New Street. All of the shops I mention are very close to New Street anyway. Hope you find this useful).

Birmingham has an abundance of shops, shopping centres and retail parks, so if you like shopping you are in for a treat.

If you like designer clothes and have dosh to splash, a Harvey Nicks store opened last year in the new Mailbox complex which you can find behind New Street Station. Also try the Burlington arcade and the many side streets off New Street to find small boutiques and big names like Red or Dead, Diesel and Versace.

You have all of the ordinary mainstream shops as in any city such as M+S, Lush and department stores like BHS and Beatties (which is in place of the old C+A). In the city centre there are 2 HMV's and all of the shops you would expect to find like Gap, Woolworths and WHSmith.

Recently opened is a flagship city centre Sainsburys store which seems to be very crowded at weekends (mostly with young people trying to buy booze as there are very few off licences in the city centre!). This is in Martineax Square.

The House Of Fraser department store, Rackhams, is on Corporation Street and consists of five floors of luxury home furnishings, designer clothes, and (on the ground level) orange faced ladies trying to spray perfume on you. It is a good idea to go here before a night out and test out the most expensive perfume so you smell lovely (and rich) all night. Not that *I* would do that... The food hall of Rackhams sells lovelt posh gourmet food and chocolates..yum.

*Clothes*

For teenagers and young people, there are all the usual shops- Miss Selfridge, H+M, Top Shop and Bay to name a few. You can find a Pilot store in the Pallasades shopping centre. I like this store because the sizes actually fit, there is a 10% student discount and the clothes are quite cheap.

If you are a bit of a Sharon, shop in Go Bananas or Ice, both in the pallasades, which are cheap shops selling things like tight yellow jeans and nasty polyester white tops at very cheap prices. The sizes come up very small and the clothes normally shrink in the wash so be warned.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, you could also go to Hypnotic, a horrible shop in the Oasis market. All of the clothes are £5.99 (with good reason), they always play garage music, it is crowded and always full of 15 year olds with pushchairs blocking the aisles. But still, that may be your scene!

For clothes that are a bit different but not *too* expensive, try Cult Clothing on Stephenson Street or any of the shops under the ramp which sell nice one off shirts and T shirts.

*Music*

All the mainstream record shops are in Birmingham, such as HMV, Virgin and Tower records. If you are into RnB music there is a specialist shop beneath the ramp (behind Dillons book store) called Sonic records.

You can try Reddington Rare records or Dance Music Exchange in Digbeth, near the coach station. These are huge record stores, Reddingtons is for indie and alternative music and Dance Music Exchange for all genres of dance music and equipment. There is also Swordfish records, on Castle Street, leading up to the cathedral. You can buy concert and local gig tickets here as well as pick up loads of flyers. You can pick up CD's in here much cheaper than in the mainstream shops so a visit is well advised (if you can get past the 12 year old grungers).

You can also buy cheap CD's on the market (which I will come to later!)

*Oasis*

Not to be confused with the posh womens clothing shop, Oasis in Birmingham (located at the top of Corporation Street) is a huge store that takes up several underground floors. You can spend hours in there as there is everything from a hair salon (for dreads and mohicans and bright hair colourings, DO NOT go in and ask for "just a trim". You are very likely to come out with green spikes...) to a greasy spoon cafe, to clothes stores.

Oasis is basically made up of many little stalls. Some are for clothes, mainly band tops (generally black hoodies with band names on). I remember saving up my dinner money to buy a Nirvana one when I was 12...My friend did the same, but her Mum burned the offending item as it had the words "MOTHERF*****" on the back. What a waste!

You can also buy accessories, bags, CD's, posters (much cheaper than the ones in HMV) and mobile phone cases. Oh, and intriguing things such as miniature scales and bongs...can't think what they could be for though....

*Clubbing Stuff*

There is a great clubbing shop in the Arcadian centre (in China Town, towards the markets). I do not know the name I am afraid, for it is only and always referred to as merely "the clubbing shop". In this holy grail you can find such things such as glow in the dark jewellery, tops with flashing lights on and rubber catsuits and bikinis. The prices are quite expensive, but the clothes are so unique. If you like to look individual when out clubbing, take a look at this shop.

*Markets*

Birmingham is derided nationwide for the state of the Bull Ring centre. Well, guess what all you criticisers? It's not there anymore! Well, kind of. The old, 60's concrete monstrosity has been knocked down and a brand spanking new one (due for completion in a few years ) is being built right now. This makes parts of the city centre look like a giant building site, but I am sure it will be worth it in the end..I miss the bull ring actually, I used to always go there when I skived off school. Most of the shops that were located in the Bull Ring walkway (the one that goes over the road next to the train station) have relocated temporarily to somewhere called the Mayfair centre, accessible through the Pallasades shopping centre.

The rag market and indoor markets are worth a visit, especially for fresh food and bathroom things. These markets are located in brand new buildings which are light and airy so much nicer than the old dark buildings. You can find everything in here from make up to fish (the fish section reeks by the way) to rugs. Just don't buy playstation games there, like my friend did once, as if it doesn't work or cacks up your machine you will have no comeback.

*Jewellery*

The jewellery Quarter in Birmingham can be reached on the number 8 bus or the metro (from Snow Hill station). This is not just for rich people as there are lots of shops there for all price ranges. You can get engraving done there at very reasonable prices, and have a very nice time looking at all the diamonds. This area is very pleasant and much better to buy individual peices and presents from than H Samuels.

*Shopping Areas in general*

In recent years, the city centre has been much improved, mostly by banishing cars from the majority of the city centre. No crowded pavements anymore then! There are quite a lot of benches dotted around to rest your weary legs on, and on the whole the city centre is pleasant to shop in. The area around the markets and bus stops are not so nice, as to be expected.

If you want to avoid the crowds, go on a weekday morning as Saturdays in town are hell, and lunchtimes also get very busy with all the workers on their lunch break. The one thing that Birmingham really lacks is a green space to sit and relax in. The area around the cathedral used to be popular for this, but railings have been put up to discourage this.

In the summer, many people gather around Victoria and Centenary Square which are pleasant with many seating places and fountains. If you are a young girl though, you will get approached by about a million foreign blokes trying to practise their limited grasp of the English language on you. You may enjoy this, you may not.

If you want to go somewhere a bit quieter to eat your sandwiches, take a walk to St. Paul's square which has another cathedral with lots of green space. Or go to the gardens of peace, behind the Rep theatre. But don't all go there at once, or it won't be peaceful anymore!

*Other recommended shops*

Packages- Bull Street

In Packages you can buy funky cards (furry or ones with jelly babies on, for example), watches (especially trendy Storm ones), room accessories (I have a lovely lampshade in the shape of a star from here that cost only a few pounds). You can also buy rude things like flavoured condoms and fake boobs, if that is your kind of thing! This is a nice shop to browse in and buy gifts that are a little different from the norm.

The Pier- Pavillions shopping centre

This is a nationwide store with things for the home. It is quite pricey, but the things are lovely and built to last. They sell a chair called a Butterfly chair which is the most comfortable chair I have ever sat in. It costs £100, so if anyone wants to buy it for me, they are welcome!

On the whole, I have to recommend Birmingham for shopping. There is a huge choice of shops, both independent and mainstream, most of which are within walking distance of each other (unlike London). It is easily accessible and the people in the streets are generally friendly and only too happy to point you in the right direction (and probably tell you their life story while they are at it)...

Next up from me...a pub crawl guide to Brum (well you are going to want to rest your weary feet after all that walking!)
 

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