Hi, I work for a large mobile telecomms company. I live in Oxford but was born in Toronto, Canada. ...
Hi, I work for a large mobile telecomms company. I live in Oxford but was born in Toronto, Canada. Engaged to a lovely guy from Birmingham (see Sonatine on Ciao [love you babes xx]). Love playing guitar & midi keyboards when I can afford it. Have 2 ca...
Member since:03.01.2001
Reviews:86
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For a city the size of Birmingham one would think there would be a few more choices of department store than what is currently on offer....which at present consists of one - Rackhams!
I'm reliably informed that in years gone by Brum had quite a few department stores, but gradually one-by-one they either went bust or relocated to wealthier climes.
Anyway, since I don't actually live in the city my boyfriend showed me around the city centre a few days ago. Rackhams is situated at the top end of Corporation Street & Bull Street. It cannot be missed since it's a 7 storey block with flags draped around the sides.
Like all departments stores, the ground floor is for the ladies: cosmetics, personal hygiene etc. You only have to stray towards one of the fragrancy islands and some sales assistant will come at you with a perfume bottleready to spray you without hesitation.
This floor is perhaps the busiest but also the most claustrophobic of all. There are not many windows to look out of and the smell of all these different perfumes can be quite sickening after a while.
The other floors cover all the usual areas, ladies & gents clothes, furniture, house & home, electronic appliances etc. And for getting to the top floor there's a restaurant for you to relax in, although the food is a bit limited & tasteless.
Overall, Rackhams seems to cater for the middle market & above. All the usual designer names are there, and the sales people tend to look down at visitors who don't quite measure up in the "fat purse, loads of cards" department.
However, they do offer a good & interesting selection, but I think being the only department store in town reflects badly on the city, because to be honest even without Rackhams the number of shops is very limited & not of the quality one would expect.
Best place to go if you live in the Midlands would be the Merry Hill Centre, unless you fancy waiting another four years before the new Bull Ring shopping centre is finally built and a load of new department stores, including Selfridges & Debenhams move in.
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Advantages: Bars and restaurants, multicultural, sporting successes and beauty spots Disadvantages: One way system, quite dirty, lack of sports facilities
iancognito 29.01.2004 ·
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Jan 5th, 2001
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