New job, new hair (shorter anyway, maybe I'm balding) new dogs, I'm back. Hopefully...
New job, new hair (shorter anyway, maybe I'm balding) new dogs, I'm back. Hopefully...
Member since:30.01.2001
Reviews:69
Members who trust:35
NOTE : I have re-written this op almost completely as I felt I had more to add (and I'd already started it before realising I did it already - DOH)
The Trafford Centre may well be the shoppers idea of Paradise (Moose perks up her ears.) Opened in September 1998, and just a stones throw from where I was living at the time, the massive centre took shape on top of previously overgrown waste ground in Davyhulme, Manchester.
The Trafford Centre is among the largest shopping centres in Europe, but it has more to offer than just shops, as I’ll explain later. Before I go on I’ll say two things which make me qualified to write this op, firstly I’m a shopaholic, and secondly with the centre on my doorstep for 3 years I used to go there amazingly regularly, so I know it pretty well. As a result I’ve reviewed it and included my favourite bargain “hotspots” so you’ll have an idea of where to look** :o)
** In no way do I guarantee you a bargain ! :o)
The Shops.
The Trafford Centre has a vast array of shops, and pretty much something to suit everyone. For the most part the shops are all set out in one long row, the centre itself takes a pretty straight (though not entirely) shape. This (and the little maps you can get) instantly makes navigation easier.
Clothes Shops.
Both men and women are very well catered for here, and of all ages too. I used to buy quite a lot of clothes, but recently I don’t due to a growing DVD addiction and a lack of spare cash. (There are far too many to list and describe them all here, so I’m going to go through my favourites and recommendations, then summarise the rest)
GAP is a personal favourite, with lots of decent clothes for men and women. the prices are pretty good but the merchandise quality is amazing. Whatever you buy, it will last a good while. The staff are helpful and plentiful, and the store is spacious with plenty of fitting rooms.
Allsports is great for a bargain, there always seems to be a reduced rack here. Stocking a range of clothes from sports gear to replica kits, they seem to have everything. There is an official Man United store at the back as part of Allsports, and they also have a massive range of trainers and shoes. Their reward card scheme also gets you some good deals and is well worth joining.
H&M is a terrific clothes store. Set on 2 levels they have men’s and women’s clothes, and lots of choice. The best thing is, despite the clothes being of good style and quality, they are really good value. There are no designer brands but the stuff is still quality. Some of my favourite shirts are from here and they are always about £13. They also have shoes and sleepwear, as well as a range of accessories. The sale is fantastic when it is on.
USC is my choice for buying any designer gear that I can afford. They have a really good range of names like Tommy and Firetrap among others, and the prices are just a bit more reasonable than Selfridges and the like. They have both sexes catered for and do shoes and accessories too.
Next is a fabulous store, the clothes are really good value and
tremendous in both quality and design. As well as having a wide range of men’s and ladies clothes in both casual and formal styles, there is also the Next home section which has some really nice things for the house. The staff are always really nice and they never pester, they even have mints to give out on hot days. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BARGAIN AREA 1 – The Next Sale. They don’t do it by half, all major reductions are made on day one and usually these are about 50%. The stock is the newer stuff and little is left at full price. The queues are massive for this though, but it’s worth queuing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
River Island does some good designer gear but also have their own excellent range. Again both sexes are catered for and their range is superlative. The sale is pretty good too as a lot of the designer stuff gets heavily reduced. Their own brand merchandise is often modelled on designer stuff so it can prove a viable cheap alternative.
Of course that’s just my personal selection, there’s also a massive selection of stores for clothes, as well as jewellery and other items.
Department Stores.
At the very far end of the centre is Debenhams, and it’s pretty big. Set on 2 levels we have men’s and women’s clothes sections, as well as home and entertainment. The ladies section is on the lower floor and is extremely vast. Personally I have no experience of shopping in this area but it looks pretty good, near to that there is also a jewellery section but again I have little experience of it. Aside from the ladies section on the lower floor is a perfume and scents section. As you would expect all the top brands are here at heavy prices. Some bargains can be had in the sales, but be prepared to get sprayed by staff with a million different scents.
The upper floor sees the menswear section, set out between their own brands and the designer labels. There is a pretty good selection here for men, but the clothes can be a touch pricey. The sportswear section caters for both men and women, and while it isn’t as big as it might be there is a decent selection of clothes and shoes, as well as bags. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BARGAIN AREA 2 – Debenhams Trainers. There always seems to be a sale on the footwear, and quite often a good one. I often get Nike and Ellesse trainers for less then £25 and it’s well worth checking out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Debenhams home area consists of kitchenwares, housewares and bedding. The kitchenware section is particularly impressive with a range of cheaper and designer goods, I’m never too interested in the other 2 parts, but they are well set out and stocked.
Finally we have the electronics section. They have a small range of TV’s Videos, DVD players and the like, but the prices are all way higher than Dixons for example and I don’t think the staff are specialists. There is also a small computergames section run by ElectronicsBoutique, but you’re as well going to their main store down the way.
Debenhams staff are kind and helpful, but not always amongst the most knowledgeable people to ask about their products. They will also pester you to open accounts there.
Selfridges.
Wow. Could the prices here be any higher, and yet still the place is always packed. The first of its kind in the UK outside of London, Selfridges is the ultimate department store in the UK. Again on 2 floors we have food, clothes and electronics, as well as jewellery and perfumes.
The clothes sections are both massive, and heavily stocked only with the finest designer gear my money can’t buy. It all looks great and I love to browse, but with the exception of the Christmas sales I can never afford things from there.
The jewellery section I avoid as I know I can’t afford it but the sunglasses I love to try on, then I go get cheaper pairs that look the same from River Island for a tenner.
Avoid the electronics section, it’s all way overpriced and only rich people with the personal shopper service would buy from there.
The perfume section is like Debenhams, all top makes and the gauntlet to be run if you don’t want spraying.
Marks and Spencers
Opening July 3rd 2001, when I have seen it I’ll let you know. For now we know it’s on 2 floors where C&A (RIP) was and looks impressive.
Electronics Stores.
With a retail park over the road boasting Comet and Scottish power, electrical retailers aren’t too frequent here, but we do have Dixons.
Impressive as ever the layout of this Dixons is great. Everything is well spaced out and always has appropriate details for each item. Bargains are quite good when the sales are on, but the best thing here is the staff. They are always willing (but not separate) to help and they know what they are talking about. Disxons do suffer though from complacency sometimes, prices aren’t checked so they can be higher, and I think this is due to a lack of in-centre competition.
Tiny computers also have a small store here, but I hate them so much I really didn’t want to tell you. The shop is nice and the staff helpful, but please never buy a PC from them as they are the devils own.
Music Stores
HMV is king where music is concerned. A very large store but only on one floor the set-up is pretty impressive. We have CD’s and plenty of them, and ranging from Chart to classical, dance to disco and all in between. There are lots of boxsets too, as well as singles. HMV also boasts a massive video and DVD section (which I love.) There is also a game section with all major formats, and major prices too. HMV’s staff are great, they know their stuff and their jobs, and customer satisfaction is the result.
Music Zone Trade Direct, less known than HMV but far cheaper. They sell Chart CD’s for a tenner and DVD’s at £15. Very bargainous, despite its cramped style this is a goldmine for cheap new stuff, and for those older films you suddenly get an urge to see. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BARGAIN AREA 3 – MZTD. Offering all Chart CD’s for ten quid and all single DVD’s for fifteen, this outclasses HMV a lot. It may not be as big, or have the stock levels but prices speak, so always look here first. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHSmith also has a decent music section. The regular prices aren’t much cop but they have an offer of the week which is usually a brand new release on each format, for a good few quid less that the RRP, always worth checking out. Also they have a very good order service. The bad side is the staff, nice as they are there never seem to be enough, queues form in quiet hours and no-one is available on the floor. WHSmith also stock games (highly priced) and videos and DVD’s (well priced.) You can often find 3 for 2 offers and it’s always worth going in. Loyalty scheme as well.
Electronics Boutique and Game are the main competitors here (or are they, recently they seem too similar for comfort, I think they have merged.) They have all the consoles and games you could wish for, and at very decent prices, of course there’s also HMV and Smiths, but they have neither the stock or prices of EB and Game. The members of staff know their games and systems, and you have the added bonus of a loyalty programme. There are always cheap offers as well as pre owned titles for the cash conscious.
Other Stores.
The Trafford Centre has several diverse stores, my favourite is Gadgetshop.com. Loads of decent little novelties that you never knew you wanted at small prices, it’s always heaving though, and this makes browsing hard as the store is set out quite poorly. The staff are really good at their jobs though and queues move very quickly.
The Discovery Store has similarly weird things, although not as diverse as Gadgetshop. Blow up seats, robo-puppies and the like are here, as well as a “naughty” section at the back with things like choccy willies.
There are also shops like SF Cody's, where housewares and small gifts are easy to find, and Blue Tomato, which has some great ornaments and candleware.
Market Place.
The Festival Village as it is known is the Trafford Centre’s indoor set of market style shops. Not strictly a market, a Vodafone outlet and a really good film store called Last Picture Show that sells loads of movie memorabilia. There’s a hardware store, a music shop, newsagents, stationers, a Ladbrokes and even a hair salon. Loads of little stores make this a worthwhile place to visit on a day out at The Trafford Centre.
Food.
The Orient is the Trafford Centre’s food area, set over two floors split into 3 main themes. The lower floor is decked out like the deck of a huge liner, with a nice fountain and a stage where special events occur quite often. Here we find the foodcourt, with fast food outlets like KFC, McDonalds and various pizza and pasta places. There is also a Chinese and Indian take-away service, serving a decent menu at reasonable prices.
Upstairs we get a little more serious. On one side is “New Orleans”, with places like The Bagel Shop, Starbucks and a Mantos Bar (open till 1am weekends!) There’s a great pace called the Exchange Bar and Grill, doing all kinds of steaks and burgers. There's also a place called Ma Potters that does a great full English Breakfast.
On the other side we have some really nice eateries. There is an Indian called Shere Khan, which I highly recommend. We have a Chinese restaurant and a Feed The Five Thousand cafe, as well as a rather posh restaurant for those special nights out.
Also, throughout the Centre you will come across lots of small cafes and the irresistible Millie's Cookies, perfect to snack while you shop. Entertainment.
The Trafford Centre boasts a 20 screen UCI cinema, dearer than other local cinemas but extremely spacious and comfy, with a decent kiosk for snacks and lots of showtimes. The cinema offers advance booking and a dark room screen, where all the seats, floors and walls are black and when the lighting goes out all that is visible is the screen. Perfect for horror films. They also have a digital presentation theatre, to enhance several presentations.
The Namco Station is the centres weak link, not due to its content though. Several decent bowling lanes, dodgems, American Pool and loads of Arcade games and slot machines it all sounds great, but the teenage element ruins it. Too often it feels unsafe and dodgy, and several incidents tend to occur at weekends.
Staffing.
The Trafford Centre staff are always courteous and helpful, as well as very knowledgeable. There are always people floating about, offering advice and assistance and the security is good too. Any incidents are dealt with swiftly.
Parking.
Free!! And there’s lots of it, yes it can be hard to park here but that’s always the way at big centre’s. The free part is the biggest plus point, but you may end up a little distance from the centre when you do park.
Access
The Motorway (M60) leads right to The Centre, but prepare for a queue at Weekends. There are 2 junctions that you can use, and both are a similar distance, and the general access is only hindered by a small laned road leading up to the car parks.
Disability Benefits.
The Centre has plenty of lifts and ramps, and nowhere is inaccessible for the disabled. You can even use the shopmobility service to hire all sorts of wheelchairs and scooters to facilitate shopping, and the staff are all too happy to help.
Overall.
I love this place, it has its faults – poor traffic access the main, but the good points are plentiful. Free parking, a load of shops and plenty of places to wine, dine and be entertained make this a winner of a centre. It looks good, and you will struggle not to spend something there.
The staff are very helpful and the whole place is extremely well polished. A great place to shop.
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Hey Martin, there is only the ONE thing wrong with the Trafford Centre...Its in Manchester...Only joking there lad, me being a scouser and all that, I have to say, I have been impressed with your opinions, as they are very well detailed and written very neatly...BrianLFC
one47 30.06.2001 10:23
I haven't visited since the re-build. I must come and make the effort.
student9824 27.02.2001 23:24
A very detailed op. Well done, a lot of thought has obviously gone into this.
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Advantages: Free parking, lots to see and buy, extensive selection of food choices, excellent toilet facilities, child care, a juice bar! Disadvantages: Can be expensive and VERY busy
MichelleScott 02.02.2001 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Trafford Centre
Advantages: Wide range of shops, plenty of places to eat, easily accessible by Public transport Disadvantages: Can get very busy, especially in the school Holidays & at Xmas
jayandfoo 14.06.2005 ·
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Review of The Trafford Centre
Feb 22nd, 2001
(Jun 29th, 2001)
very helpful by (100%):
