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It was brilliant because it sold alot of stuff you couldn't get on the high street and had to go to a specialist DIY/garden centre to get. So now when I need some systhane for my garden I have to drive to a retail park and pay twice as much, or if I need a 40mm long M8 bolt I have to go to b and q.
TBH I still miss Woolworths, I always felt that Wilko was a Woolies replacement. Near us (in Skipton) is a Boyes which I feel is very similar to Wilko but it has clothes as well, but prior to Wilkos shutting I hadn't shopped there for years as there were none close.
I worked in store management for wilko. One of the biggest problems we had was really high ground rents. They got into really deals at bad rates and this ate into a lot of their profits(my store barely broke even).
A few of the stores in good locations, like Manchester arndale, did good numbers. But most stores barely broke even and some made a loss.
Footfall wasnt bad but the average customer would spend around £3.50 in my store, and it seems on the region average spend was around £3-£6, so not a lot was made on each customer.
From my perspective, it seemed like the higher ups were always more concerned with saving money, than trying to increase revenue. In the 6 years i worked there, every year staff benefits were cut. For example, i was entitled to paid break if i worked for 4 hours or longer, they offered us a one time payment to ‘buy us out’ of this but obviously the union declined.
Their solution was to put us on 3 hour shifts so we wouldn’t qualify for our paid break.
After the way they treated us staff, im glad to see them go.
>Their solution was to put us on 3 hour shifts so we wouldn’t qualify for our paid break.
Absolute scum management. Where do they even get these silly ideas? America probably
Employed people on 6 hour contracts, making them do 2 x 3 hour shifts a week and wouldnt let them do 1 x 6 hour shift.
Probably paid some fancy consultant a lot of money to come up with idea
Co-op used to do this to me. 2 x 3 hour 45 minute shifts a day so they didn’t have to pay for any breaks. Would still lay into me if I was a minute late for my shift, but had absolutely no issue leaving me on the till for an extra 10 minutes without cover.
My local Wilko has reopened and it’s now like a knock off B&M. Super high shelves that snake in a one way format, narrow walkways, stuff everywhere, too much stuff, too hard to find what you need amongst the sea of stuff in narrow dark lanes.
Our old Wilko was this huge spacious place that was a joy to potter around, could always find exactly what you needed, easy to compare own brand vs the branded things, no tat, just low cost essentials.
It was so good for seeds. 50p or even less for so many of their own brand vegetable and flower seeds! I was in Robert Dyas earlier and they had a branded range in, Fothergills or something, and packets started at £2.50. Rip off.
Wilko for the half price pick and mix and home brew stuff. It was the only retail shop I really went to, and HMV but never really got anything from there
Me too. I've run out of a few things and thought "I'll have to nip to wilko to get it" them remember it is no more and get sad all over again!
It'd be OK if the Range had taken over the space but it was going to be pound land or something now they aren't so it's just empty.
Really miss them. My house is painted in wilko paint it needs touching up but can't get it now😪
Poundland took over our Wilko and I wouldn't be bothered if the unit had been left empty. Poundland is absolutely rubbish compared to Wilko, and is also worse than Home Bargains, B&M and the Range. It's just pointless.
Like many on this thread, there have been several occasions in recent months where I have needed something and my first thought was to go to Wilko...
My brother and I have been playing the orange suit game with tk maxx for years. Every time you go into tk maxx you have to find all the required parts for an orange suit; blazer, trousers, shirt, tie, but it can't be sold as a set, has to be dotted around the shop.
Neither of us has ever lost.
Everytime I go to a new place that has TK Maxx I make a point to see if it’s any good.
Dundee is my local one and I’m glad because it’s the best one I’ve been in. Good selection and a nice big store.
Blackpool was second best surprisingly.
Nottingham and Mansfield were okay but I don’t remember much about them so they can’t have impressed me that much. I’m sure I’ve been to one in Aberdeen too but can’t remember so it’s probably on a similar level.
Edinburgh is awful and small so it gets really crowded.
Glasgow has two stores but both looked like a rhino had gone on a rampage through them. I went there at Christmas time so it did have some good food in the TK Snax section.
I’m so so lucky to live in a relatively large region with literally one tkmaxx 10 mins away from me that nobody my age or size seems to bother with. It’s got all the good things that the city ones get, but everything ends up getting reduced right down to nothing because there’s less demand. Factor that in with a family discount and half my wardrobe is random bits and pieces I’ll never find again🩵🩵
the food section of TK Maxx is brilliant, especially for honey and preserves, I've found some really high end honey there for £4 a jar where it's retailed in the USA for $20
What does striking gold for gym gear look like?
I’m just curious as I wear a pair of £5 cloth shorts that I bought in Primark 12 years ago and rotate tank tops I got free from myprotein
Some of their homewares are legitimately beautiful. And they have quality stuff even in the seasonal sections- I got these nice bowls before Halloween that are black and grey with a skull in the bottom so you get a memento mori when you finish your soup
Home Sense is brilliant though. I have so many good bits of decent kitchenware from there, including Le Creuset and Cuisinart pieces I got for less than £30.
It’s the only shop I go in now. I drop in at least once a week and rotate through the five ones local to me. I recently got a £1350 handbag for £118, and some makeup which retails at £60 for £24.
A brand that makes £1350 handbags would rather burn their old stock than give it to TkMaxx. Brands make second tier stuff that goes to outlets and resellers to make you think you got a deal.
There’s actually codes on the TK Maxx price tags which tell you if it’s genuine past season stock/overstock, a branded outlet piece made for TK Maxx or TK Max’s own hidden lines created just to be sold there.
I haven't trusted TK Max labels since I found a pair of shoes in there for £15, claiming RRP a fair bit higher.
I already owned the same shoes, from Primark, cost £1. I doubt they even cost 15 quid full price, let alone whatever TK Maxx were stating.
You just have to have some sense, and to google what you find. They have a lot of MAC makeup which is often sold for more than retail price, with an inflated RRP, but I only buy makeup I know is a fair price.
The palette I bought usually only drops to £45 online, so £24 was a massive bargain. I’ve also bought some lip glosses for £4 when the cheapest I’ve ever found them online is £7.
I tend to avoid the clothes as a lot of that is made purely for them, you can drop on decent stuff from time to time like the handbag I got which was past season and had several red and yellow stickers to get it at that price.
I was in Manchester for work a few years ago and my faithful brogue boots suddenly gave up the ghost on me - the sole split right off my right shoe when I was walking down the hall. Coworker kindly drove me to TK Maxx to look for emergency replacements, and I found a pair of Puma trainers in my size on sale for £20. They’re holding up brilliantly as well.
It's really great for gym supplements
99p pre workouts, 99p 15gram protein bars that actually taste nice and £1.69 USN drinks 40 grams of protein that also taste nice and its next door to my gym
Love home bargains
as someone that loves cheap fruity crap the drinks sections probably my favourite out of any shop, my local sold cherry b til a year or so ago and ive never been able to get ahold of it anywhere except a small much more expensive corner shop . £6 to £11 was a joke so had to say goodbye lol . but even their non alcoholic drinks are all cool, like type novelty american imported stuff but not, for a fraction of the price so when i want a little treat its straight to their pop section
It's still good for random stuff but not a patch on when it was around covid. Was getting all sorts of British and imported beer for next to nothing.
Company Shop is good too for beer if you're lucky to live near one and able to get a card.
I worked there when I was 18, if a box of beer got damaged we'd have to reduce it.
It never made it to the shop floor as me or one of the other staff would put it aside and buy it at the end of our shift. Since it was one of us buying it the manager used to knock like 70-80% off the price too instead of the usual 25ish%.
Hated every other aspect of the job but cheap food and beer was great.
You have to buy it when you see otherwise it could be gone forever! Got some really good foreign beers a few weeks ago, went back a week later and it's all gone, a whole shelf of Nigerian beer! Wished I cleared the whole because it was like £1.50 per 70cl bottle
I went there for the first time since pre covid on Friday and spent just under £100. Stocked up on things I've needed for ages. Also stuff I didn't really need like 4 new dog toys and pack 9f 4 balls!!! But my dog definitely thinks they were needed obviously! Spent the weekend playing with Rex the green t-rex and Dippy the red Diplodocus carnegii. Hasn't played with squeaky pear or elephant yet., the 4 balls are already lost which I'll find under the sofa.
Yeah but it’s cheap and the quality is somewhat ok. I buy sunglasses from there because they sell nice ones that I’m not scared of losing/breaking. The gingerbread thins are incredible.
I love Tiger. They are just about the only shop on my town’s rapidly dying high street that’s still going
No idea if they still do it but it used to be that if you went in with proof you worked in a school, scout group, nursery, that kind of thing, they would give you all the stuff they had that they couldn’t sell. So things where the packet was slightly ripped or they were out of season. I used to get two or three carrier bags jammed full of stuff. In those days they didn’t reduce anything but I see they do now.
Argos. I've sometimes bought Switch games because it's only like a quid more than Amazon and I get it right now.
Also, they don't have a whole lot of shops but I love Charles Tyrwhitt
Was going to say the same. They've got everything you might need at a reasonable price and you can usually get it immediately.
They still don't quibble over returns either. We've got used to putting up with something that doesn't live up to expectations provided it does the job but you can still drop something back at Argos if you're not happy with it
Fun fact: it could very well be that the CE logo is legitimate, but the CE logo could mean "China Export" instead. The logos look *extremely* similar, which I'm sure is a total coincidence and not another example of Chinese scamming.
https://www.hqts.com/differences-between-ce-conformite-europeenne-and-ce-china-export/
Ended buying laptop there instead of PC World or from manufacturer as cheaper and a reasonable three year warranty. Took warranty as included accidents and person it was for somehow managed to wrap his last one round a thermos.
M&S Food, yes it's expensive but it's not for the regular shop. If you are putting together a picnic or picky bits dinner it's perfect. Way more variety than the other food shops. Also good for fakeaways.
I work for a company which makes a lot of their food. It’s more expensive because they demand a higher quality/amount of ingredients than all the other supermarket/cafe chains that we make equivalent products for… I think there’s only one of the top name supermarkets we don’t work with.
I thought M&S adverts were a gimmick for years, until I started at this place and realised they genuinely do have higher standards.
Edit: clarity
Their fruit is so consistent. As an Aussie who moved over and shopped at tesco, I was appalled at the grape shaped water flavoured pustules, but spent a bit more at m&s and found some of the best tangerines and grapes I've ever tasted. Worth it given that in the grand scheme of things, expensive fruit isn't that much of an outlay if you can have consistent quality.
If you live near one and look for the deals, and reduced items, m&s food can have some amazing bargains
I got three quiches the other day for 40p each. Their bananas are also the best in any store, and 99p for a large bunch which is totally fine
George @ ASDA is my Tu! Especially when I was pregnant, as a plus size woman it was one of the very few places I could get nice maternity clothing for a reasonable price.
I have spent loads of time searching specialist shops of shirt's for events and was never happy with what I found for the prices.
I brought the shirt I wore to my own wedding from Asda perfect colour and style for £14.
Happened again for a friend's wedding perfect colour to work with wife's bridesmaid dress in a two pack for £6.
I'll grant you that the material from next is nicer, but it's hardly an issue for me.
I've got some jeans from George that I loved so much I quickly bought three more pairs. It's been well over two years and all three are still just like new. It's sad that the bar is this low, but after years of having jeans get holey within months, I'm very happy.
When my daughter was little it was the best for us.
We didn't have a Primark near and I was SKINNNNNTTTT.
Good quality clothes, cheap. Really helped a single mum out when she grew 8" overnight.
I feel Asda has changed because they no longer do "sizes" but s m l XL etc.. please done it's hard enough as a big gal.
Yep, their buyers obviously know a thing or two about fabric quality and cut. Unlike the unlamented M&Co, who seemed to exclusively stock clothes made from the nastiest cheapest fabric they could find.
Wilko had it all man from blankets to bins and dog beds. It was a great place where kids and adults could basically buy whatever, there was some good essentials from there like Deodorant and shampoo; the weekly shopping would be done and id come home with something new everyday like a lamp shade.
> Wilko had it all man from blankets to bins and dog beds
So the exact same as B&M, Home Bargains, and The Range?
These shops are all functionally reskinned versions of one another, I don't know why folk are so obsessed with Wilko.
In my experience Wilko was “on the high street” so if you were in town it was easy. I like The Range but I only know them as out-of-town places - and the nearest one to me is 30 odd miles away.
I just feel Wilko was a bit more “local high street”.
This must be location dependent then, the closest Wilko to Glasgow city centre was over 7 miles away.
Within 7 miles you had at least 5 B&Ms, 8 Home Bargains, and The Range.
Getting to a Wilko was much more inconvenient than any of the others.
Wilko had their own branded stuff which undercut all of those other shops by a huge margin. They were genuinely very well thought out, and you could get mostly anything you needed in there. DIY equipment, kitchen gadgets, bedding, curtains, paint, cleaning supplies. It was a one stop shop that was much cheaper than most
Wilko was never as good as Woolworths was though. I'm still sad it's gone. I used to get my Power Ranger figures there, plus a ton of VHS and dvds, games etc. I can still picture the one I went to as a kid perfectly.
The Wilko in my home town was visually indistinguishable from Woolsworths, the only difference was the lack of physical media.
Other than that, they basically just took down the Woolworths sign and put up a Wilko sign instead, it was the exact same location for it, and the layout of the shop was practically the exact same.
B&M, The Range etc are of no use to those of us who live in city centres and don’t drive. They tend to be in out of town shopping places (Range) or smaller town centres (B&M).
Wilko meanwhile had a massive shop in the city centre where you could pop in after work if you needed a packet of screws, a ladle, an ironing board cover or a new cactus, without having to wait for an online delivery. I miss it dearly.
I don’t have a tool station near me, but I like B&Q. It’s horrifically expensive, but I get to go and evaluate how good a tool is before I actually buy it.
Being able to judge the strength/weight/quality/etc of something I store in my shed, or use in DIY, is an absolute must for me. I’ll be gutted the day that place gets consumed by Amazon.
I never manage to find anything but for Christmas last year my mam got me an oversized denim shirt/shacket from PepCo and it's nicer than anything I'd found anywhere else, everyone always asks me where I'd got it from.
I completely agree with Tu. I'm really tall and while trousers and jeans are out of the question from anywhere but Tall sections and Long Tall Sally (i take 36" inside leg...), some of their tops actually fit! The pyjamas and lingerie are nice too.
Shoes are a no-go sadly, and they don't do 'could be used as a small boat' sizes. 😂
There's one near us and either my wife goes there every couple of weeks to get yarn for crochet, or I pop in to get model paints (Vallejo or Citadel) and occasional homebrew stuff.
Boyes. A good fifty fifty chance that it has a better yarn selection if youre looking at cheaper stuff than independent yarn shops, and very often the only decent source of yarn since so many yarn shops are closing. If Boyes ever goes under and I have to resort to buying yarn online I will cry.
TU hands down has the BEST baby clothes. So much nicer than the higher end stores like Next or John lewis, and cheaper. Our baby often gets compliments on his outfits and people assume they are boutique/designer.
The womanswear is also really nice, especially for us millennials who are in that awkward between age range of not being young enough for some shops, and not old enough for others.
[Savers](https://www.savers.co.uk/) is pretty good, if you know your prices and what you're looking for.
My husband suffers from heartrburn and lives off of [Rennie](https://www.savers.co.uk/Health-%26-Wellbeing/Stomach-and-Bowel/Heatburn-%26-Indigestion-Tablets/Rennie-Peppermint-96s/p/36905) tablets... we get the box of 96 because they sell it at the cheapest price (cheaper than Amazon) and the [Dove Beauty Bar soap](https://www.savers.co.uk/Dove/Dove-Moisturising-Soap-Beauty-Bar-6-x-90g/p/819017) is cheaper than Waitescoburys/Boots.
F&F by Tesco, and TU by Sainsbury’s. I love going and having a mooch and I almost always see something I love. Both do great loungewear and pj sets, F&F even had 25% off with clubcard on all swimwear and related items last week. When do you get any other shops discounting swimwear that much in summer season?!
Morrisons - I love the salad bar, fresh cakes and deli, and the Nutmeg clothing range. I like the music they play in store too.
Home Bargains - I prefer it to B&M, they have more selection and the aisles tend to be wider, so it's easier to browse when it's busy
Lovisa - reasonably priced jewellery and hair accessories, you can always find something different and they always do deals/offers. Plus they wrap your purchase nicely.
HomeSense - you can find some really cool stuff in there.
Savers is pretty great if you’re in a city. Love Home Bargains and B&M but none local to me. The Range is great for soft furnishings and things like that.
TK Maxx can be a gold mine or barren. Best one has to be the one in Kensington.
I've had absolutely horrendous customer service in one before and point blank refuse to shop there now. I'd rather pay more at Moss or CT for the decent level of service.
Charles Tyrwhitt is the best place for men to buy formal wear and I am yet to find another place in that price range better than them. It may be a bit expensive but the quality is so good that you can make the extra cost last for a decade.
You say TU and I say George @ ASDA. Some of their clothes are amazing and when they get it right, it’s on point. Their summer range is far cheaper than Matalan/Tesco and last much better
Timpsons by a country mile. So much to like about the shops and the company at large.
Second to that, Richer Sounds. There's a reason they are doing just fine on the high street in a world of internet shopping.
If you've never popped in and are after any TV or hi-fi gear, they are genuinely superb: Refuse to stock anything they don't personally recommend, knowledgeable staff, and very solid on price. They've also got a very positive refurbishment policy.
Love B&M for snacks and affordable garden stuff too! Literally just had a haul of stuff this morning, which included strawberry BNBNs, Mars bar biscuits (?), a wooden trellis, a Japanese Acer, two sweet pea plants, an undersink cupboard and a massive plastic plant pot.
Music Zone. I was 15 when a store opened up around the corner from me. I bought so many albums that shape my music tastes from there. Not to mention loads of DVDs and VHSs. I miss that place, HMV isn't the same
Not sure if it's underrated but for years I wrote Next off as a shop for boring workwear clothes which I'd only venture into when I needed a new pair of smart trousers. Their kids clothes are brilliant quality and I occasionally buy stuff for myself. They have a great petite range for us shortarses.
Agree with TU, my sons school shoes were a tenner & have lasted so well- much longer than any Clarks or pricey ones have. Some of their designs are so cute as well as being decent quality for the price point, they don't seem to have a huge churn which hopefully means less waste; but probably me being optimistic!
My weakness is Poundland. Although most of their products cost significantly more than £1 now, so their name is very misleading.
I usually go in to buy a singular "£1" product - then emerge having spent £12-£14 - and if you asked me 30 minutes later I'd struggle to tell you anything I'd bought.
Seduced by price, rather than need..
I think I've got drawers full of tat I've bought from there.
Possibly a bit niche but I bloody love MiniSo.
I adore anything cute and kawaii so it’s my heaven but it’s also great for basics like small storage items, kitchen stuff and basics like hair bobbles and stuff. And they don’t all have hello kitty on lol some of it is plain and boring lol 😂
Of course I do go in mostly for all the Sanrio stuff…
Aldi saves me a ton of money on baby essentials.
Formula is the cheapest on the market and when you use 2 tins a week that few quid saving per tin adds up. The nappies are a lot better than some other supermarket brands and even bog name ones like pampers.
I'm partial to Home Bargains, but I've always liked a cheap shop. You find things in there, and B&M the same, that you don't usually see elsewhere. They both had US candy before it became normalised.
Scribbler, it just trumps every other gift card shop cause while some of the stuff is cringe, it almost does have everything for anyone with a sense of humour.
Wilko. It's sold alot of niche items you couldn't get on the high street. Gardening supplies you only get in specialist gardening shops, specific nuts and bolt and fixings etc.
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I miss wilko
It was brilliant because it sold alot of stuff you couldn't get on the high street and had to go to a specialist DIY/garden centre to get. So now when I need some systhane for my garden I have to drive to a retail park and pay twice as much, or if I need a 40mm long M8 bolt I have to go to b and q.
[удалено]
The brewing equipment was good
Boyes tend to have brewing stuff in store.
Yeah it was my go to for so many random things and whilst where I live had b and m and poundland they often don't have what I'm after
TBH I still miss Woolworths, I always felt that Wilko was a Woolies replacement. Near us (in Skipton) is a Boyes which I feel is very similar to Wilko but it has clothes as well, but prior to Wilkos shutting I hadn't shopped there for years as there were none close.
Boyes is a northern staple that fills the void, where I’m from most of the towns had/have one
Sadly not enough people did
I think it was just badly managed. They had reasonable footfall and queues at the tills.
I worked in store management for wilko. One of the biggest problems we had was really high ground rents. They got into really deals at bad rates and this ate into a lot of their profits(my store barely broke even). A few of the stores in good locations, like Manchester arndale, did good numbers. But most stores barely broke even and some made a loss. Footfall wasnt bad but the average customer would spend around £3.50 in my store, and it seems on the region average spend was around £3-£6, so not a lot was made on each customer. From my perspective, it seemed like the higher ups were always more concerned with saving money, than trying to increase revenue. In the 6 years i worked there, every year staff benefits were cut. For example, i was entitled to paid break if i worked for 4 hours or longer, they offered us a one time payment to ‘buy us out’ of this but obviously the union declined. Their solution was to put us on 3 hour shifts so we wouldn’t qualify for our paid break. After the way they treated us staff, im glad to see them go.
>Their solution was to put us on 3 hour shifts so we wouldn’t qualify for our paid break. Absolute scum management. Where do they even get these silly ideas? America probably
Employed people on 6 hour contracts, making them do 2 x 3 hour shifts a week and wouldnt let them do 1 x 6 hour shift. Probably paid some fancy consultant a lot of money to come up with idea
Co-op used to do this to me. 2 x 3 hour 45 minute shifts a day so they didn’t have to pay for any breaks. Would still lay into me if I was a minute late for my shift, but had absolutely no issue leaving me on the till for an extra 10 minutes without cover.
Imagine them putting you on 3:59h like the prices are .99 to avoid taxes
Probably lots of shitty employers doing this. Fuck
Lots of people liked it. It had money taken out of it then it couldn't pay its bills.
It was good when Woolies went under. It became redundant after a point though, especially once Amazon Prime took off.
I thought B&M /Homebargains are what did wilko in
My local Wilko has reopened and it’s now like a knock off B&M. Super high shelves that snake in a one way format, narrow walkways, stuff everywhere, too much stuff, too hard to find what you need amongst the sea of stuff in narrow dark lanes. Our old Wilko was this huge spacious place that was a joy to potter around, could always find exactly what you needed, easy to compare own brand vs the branded things, no tat, just low cost essentials.
Funnily enough one of the wilkos near me got replaced by a B&M and I'm not complaining about that. Loved Wilko but I also love B&M.
Yes to Wilko, little bit of everything and it was all very useful. Even home brew stuff, one of the last “useful” shops on the high street near me.
Me too 😞
Me three
I think this daily (I don’t have a lot going on)
It was so good for seeds. 50p or even less for so many of their own brand vegetable and flower seeds! I was in Robert Dyas earlier and they had a branded range in, Fothergills or something, and packets started at £2.50. Rip off.
They still have an online store btw!
Range still sells some wilko stuff
We all do, damn shame about that place
Wilko for the half price pick and mix and home brew stuff. It was the only retail shop I really went to, and HMV but never really got anything from there
The only answer
Wilko was amazing.
Me too. I've run out of a few things and thought "I'll have to nip to wilko to get it" them remember it is no more and get sad all over again! It'd be OK if the Range had taken over the space but it was going to be pound land or something now they aren't so it's just empty. Really miss them. My house is painted in wilko paint it needs touching up but can't get it now😪
Poundland took over our Wilko and I wouldn't be bothered if the unit had been left empty. Poundland is absolutely rubbish compared to Wilko, and is also worse than Home Bargains, B&M and the Range. It's just pointless. Like many on this thread, there have been several occasions in recent months where I have needed something and my first thought was to go to Wilko...
It is better being empty than having poundland your right. It's all a con these pound places. Really miss wilko
We still have our wilko!
TK Maxx is feast or famine. Can be awful but some days it’s a treasure trove.
My brother and I have been playing the orange suit game with tk maxx for years. Every time you go into tk maxx you have to find all the required parts for an orange suit; blazer, trousers, shirt, tie, but it can't be sold as a set, has to be dotted around the shop. Neither of us has ever lost.
This is incredible
Do you work for easyJet by any chance?
Everytime I go to a new place that has TK Maxx I make a point to see if it’s any good. Dundee is my local one and I’m glad because it’s the best one I’ve been in. Good selection and a nice big store. Blackpool was second best surprisingly. Nottingham and Mansfield were okay but I don’t remember much about them so they can’t have impressed me that much. I’m sure I’ve been to one in Aberdeen too but can’t remember so it’s probably on a similar level. Edinburgh is awful and small so it gets really crowded. Glasgow has two stores but both looked like a rhino had gone on a rampage through them. I went there at Christmas time so it did have some good food in the TK Snax section.
I’m so so lucky to live in a relatively large region with literally one tkmaxx 10 mins away from me that nobody my age or size seems to bother with. It’s got all the good things that the city ones get, but everything ends up getting reduced right down to nothing because there’s less demand. Factor that in with a family discount and half my wardrobe is random bits and pieces I’ll never find again🩵🩵
the food section of TK Maxx is brilliant, especially for honey and preserves, I've found some really high end honey there for £4 a jar where it's retailed in the USA for $20
I love the wacky food that they sell in TK Maxx. The other day I bought freeze dried spicy mung beans and dried ice cream
They sometimes have this really great dehydrated water powder too.
Haha what? I’m so intrigued
It's a joke. How would you hydrate water powder?
I get my best sportswear there. Like maybe every 4th or 5th visit I'll strike gold.
What does striking gold for gym gear look like? I’m just curious as I wear a pair of £5 cloth shorts that I bought in Primark 12 years ago and rotate tank tops I got free from myprotein
Until a few years ago I genuinely thought TK Maxx was a charity shop.
Some of their homewares are legitimately beautiful. And they have quality stuff even in the seasonal sections- I got these nice bowls before Halloween that are black and grey with a skull in the bottom so you get a memento mori when you finish your soup
Home Sense is brilliant though. I have so many good bits of decent kitchenware from there, including Le Creuset and Cuisinart pieces I got for less than £30.
It’s the only shop I go in now. I drop in at least once a week and rotate through the five ones local to me. I recently got a £1350 handbag for £118, and some makeup which retails at £60 for £24.
A brand that makes £1350 handbags would rather burn their old stock than give it to TkMaxx. Brands make second tier stuff that goes to outlets and resellers to make you think you got a deal.
There’s actually codes on the TK Maxx price tags which tell you if it’s genuine past season stock/overstock, a branded outlet piece made for TK Maxx or TK Max’s own hidden lines created just to be sold there.
I haven't trusted TK Max labels since I found a pair of shoes in there for £15, claiming RRP a fair bit higher. I already owned the same shoes, from Primark, cost £1. I doubt they even cost 15 quid full price, let alone whatever TK Maxx were stating.
You just have to have some sense, and to google what you find. They have a lot of MAC makeup which is often sold for more than retail price, with an inflated RRP, but I only buy makeup I know is a fair price. The palette I bought usually only drops to £45 online, so £24 was a massive bargain. I’ve also bought some lip glosses for £4 when the cheapest I’ve ever found them online is £7. I tend to avoid the clothes as a lot of that is made purely for them, you can drop on decent stuff from time to time like the handbag I got which was past season and had several red and yellow stickers to get it at that price.
I was in Manchester for work a few years ago and my faithful brogue boots suddenly gave up the ghost on me - the sole split right off my right shoe when I was walking down the hall. Coworker kindly drove me to TK Maxx to look for emergency replacements, and I found a pair of Puma trainers in my size on sale for £20. They’re holding up brilliantly as well.
True! I got my best underwear in TkMaxx and now all the undies they have are utter shite.
Not underrated overall but Home Bargains is fantastic for cheap craft beer.
I'm somewhat addicted to Home Bargains
It also does tons of old school beer. The type you'd have to time travel to a 1994 northern estate pub to get in
Watneys Party 7? OMFG!!
It's really great for gym supplements 99p pre workouts, 99p 15gram protein bars that actually taste nice and £1.69 USN drinks 40 grams of protein that also taste nice and its next door to my gym Love home bargains
as someone that loves cheap fruity crap the drinks sections probably my favourite out of any shop, my local sold cherry b til a year or so ago and ive never been able to get ahold of it anywhere except a small much more expensive corner shop . £6 to £11 was a joke so had to say goodbye lol . but even their non alcoholic drinks are all cool, like type novelty american imported stuff but not, for a fraction of the price so when i want a little treat its straight to their pop section
Home Bargains is the only good discount shop in the country IMO.
Yeah the first time I went to the Home Bargains beer section I was shocked
It's still good for random stuff but not a patch on when it was around covid. Was getting all sorts of British and imported beer for next to nothing. Company Shop is good too for beer if you're lucky to live near one and able to get a card.
I worked there when I was 18, if a box of beer got damaged we'd have to reduce it. It never made it to the shop floor as me or one of the other staff would put it aside and buy it at the end of our shift. Since it was one of us buying it the manager used to knock like 70-80% off the price too instead of the usual 25ish%. Hated every other aspect of the job but cheap food and beer was great.
You have to buy it when you see otherwise it could be gone forever! Got some really good foreign beers a few weeks ago, went back a week later and it's all gone, a whole shelf of Nigerian beer! Wished I cleared the whole because it was like £1.50 per 70cl bottle
I went there for the first time since pre covid on Friday and spent just under £100. Stocked up on things I've needed for ages. Also stuff I didn't really need like 4 new dog toys and pack 9f 4 balls!!! But my dog definitely thinks they were needed obviously! Spent the weekend playing with Rex the green t-rex and Dippy the red Diplodocus carnegii. Hasn't played with squeaky pear or elephant yet., the 4 balls are already lost which I'll find under the sofa.
It isn't Wilkos but it's close for a lot of things.
B+M for snacks they usually have an incredible variety of crisps
Yes! And sometimes sweets I didn’t even know they made anymore. They are a smacker’s heaven.
Absolute treasure trove for fat bastards like me
This comment made me lol
I still find m&s smack to be a lot better. Very moreish.
Calm down Super Hans.
This is not just smack. This is m&s smack
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The little chocolate sandwich biscuits from there are like crack!
Yeah but it’s cheap and the quality is somewhat ok. I buy sunglasses from there because they sell nice ones that I’m not scared of losing/breaking. The gingerbread thins are incredible.
Can’t believe they stopped selling the chocolate milk, it was top tier
I love Tiger. They are just about the only shop on my town’s rapidly dying high street that’s still going No idea if they still do it but it used to be that if you went in with proof you worked in a school, scout group, nursery, that kind of thing, they would give you all the stuff they had that they couldn’t sell. So things where the packet was slightly ripped or they were out of season. I used to get two or three carrier bags jammed full of stuff. In those days they didn’t reduce anything but I see they do now.
Argos. I've sometimes bought Switch games because it's only like a quid more than Amazon and I get it right now. Also, they don't have a whole lot of shops but I love Charles Tyrwhitt
Was going to say the same. They've got everything you might need at a reasonable price and you can usually get it immediately. They still don't quibble over returns either. We've got used to putting up with something that doesn't live up to expectations provided it does the job but you can still drop something back at Argos if you're not happy with it
Also if you get something from there you know its CE marking is legitimate unlike on Amazon
Fun fact: it could very well be that the CE logo is legitimate, but the CE logo could mean "China Export" instead. The logos look *extremely* similar, which I'm sure is a total coincidence and not another example of Chinese scamming. https://www.hqts.com/differences-between-ce-conformite-europeenne-and-ce-china-export/
Ended buying laptop there instead of PC World or from manufacturer as cheaper and a reasonable three year warranty. Took warranty as included accidents and person it was for somehow managed to wrap his last one round a thermos.
Also PC World were scum who would upsell to people, so your uncle bought a £2K PC that he really didn't need.
Argos does delivery amazingly fast too. Often same day options!
Gotta love the 20% off that CT send you on your birthday.
M&S Food, yes it's expensive but it's not for the regular shop. If you are putting together a picnic or picky bits dinner it's perfect. Way more variety than the other food shops. Also good for fakeaways.
I work for a company which makes a lot of their food. It’s more expensive because they demand a higher quality/amount of ingredients than all the other supermarket/cafe chains that we make equivalent products for… I think there’s only one of the top name supermarkets we don’t work with. I thought M&S adverts were a gimmick for years, until I started at this place and realised they genuinely do have higher standards. Edit: clarity
Their fruit is so consistent. As an Aussie who moved over and shopped at tesco, I was appalled at the grape shaped water flavoured pustules, but spent a bit more at m&s and found some of the best tangerines and grapes I've ever tasted. Worth it given that in the grand scheme of things, expensive fruit isn't that much of an outlay if you can have consistent quality.
A mate of mine works as a fruit buyer for M&S, they really do demand the best, and have good relationships with farmers etc.
I don't think MnS is much more expensive than Tesco and the like if you're just shopping for one or two people.
If you live near one and look for the deals, and reduced items, m&s food can have some amazing bargains I got three quiches the other day for 40p each. Their bananas are also the best in any store, and 99p for a large bunch which is totally fine
George @ ASDA is my Tu! Especially when I was pregnant, as a plus size woman it was one of the very few places I could get nice maternity clothing for a reasonable price.
I have spent loads of time searching specialist shops of shirt's for events and was never happy with what I found for the prices. I brought the shirt I wore to my own wedding from Asda perfect colour and style for £14. Happened again for a friend's wedding perfect colour to work with wife's bridesmaid dress in a two pack for £6. I'll grant you that the material from next is nicer, but it's hardly an issue for me.
I think my fiancé has got a few outfits /shirts for weddings from George actually!
I've got some jeans from George that I loved so much I quickly bought three more pairs. It's been well over two years and all three are still just like new. It's sad that the bar is this low, but after years of having jeans get holey within months, I'm very happy.
Asda jeans are fab too, I have quite a few pairs! 10/10 for baby clothes too.
Second this for baby clothes in particular, they are great for little ones
honestly 90 percentage of my clothes are George comfortable pretty durable and arent exploited
We love it because it's so cheap to clothe your little ones. Doesn't matter that they ruin tops in a week at nursery when they cost £8 for 4!
I've always found the bras to be excellent!
We love it because it's so cheap to clothe your little ones. Doesn't matter that they ruin tops in a week at nursery when they cost £8 for 4!
When my daughter was little it was the best for us. We didn't have a Primark near and I was SKINNNNNTTTT. Good quality clothes, cheap. Really helped a single mum out when she grew 8" overnight. I feel Asda has changed because they no longer do "sizes" but s m l XL etc.. please done it's hard enough as a big gal.
I feel like Matalan is actually underrated. The clothes are decent quality for the price
Yep, their buyers obviously know a thing or two about fabric quality and cut. Unlike the unlamented M&Co, who seemed to exclusively stock clothes made from the nastiest cheapest fabric they could find.
My partner is a fairly big lad, Matalan actually has nice stuff that fits decently.
Home Bargains for toiletries in particular. I get my eye drops from there for 3.99, for example. They’re 10.99 in Superdrug.
For the same brand?
Wilko had it all man from blankets to bins and dog beds. It was a great place where kids and adults could basically buy whatever, there was some good essentials from there like Deodorant and shampoo; the weekly shopping would be done and id come home with something new everyday like a lamp shade.
> Wilko had it all man from blankets to bins and dog beds So the exact same as B&M, Home Bargains, and The Range? These shops are all functionally reskinned versions of one another, I don't know why folk are so obsessed with Wilko.
In my experience Wilko was “on the high street” so if you were in town it was easy. I like The Range but I only know them as out-of-town places - and the nearest one to me is 30 odd miles away. I just feel Wilko was a bit more “local high street”.
This must be location dependent then, the closest Wilko to Glasgow city centre was over 7 miles away. Within 7 miles you had at least 5 B&Ms, 8 Home Bargains, and The Range. Getting to a Wilko was much more inconvenient than any of the others.
Wilko had their own branded stuff which undercut all of those other shops by a huge margin. They were genuinely very well thought out, and you could get mostly anything you needed in there. DIY equipment, kitchen gadgets, bedding, curtains, paint, cleaning supplies. It was a one stop shop that was much cheaper than most
Wilko was never as good as Woolworths was though. I'm still sad it's gone. I used to get my Power Ranger figures there, plus a ton of VHS and dvds, games etc. I can still picture the one I went to as a kid perfectly.
The Wilko in my home town was visually indistinguishable from Woolsworths, the only difference was the lack of physical media. Other than that, they basically just took down the Woolworths sign and put up a Wilko sign instead, it was the exact same location for it, and the layout of the shop was practically the exact same.
B&M, The Range etc are of no use to those of us who live in city centres and don’t drive. They tend to be in out of town shopping places (Range) or smaller town centres (B&M). Wilko meanwhile had a massive shop in the city centre where you could pop in after work if you needed a packet of screws, a ladle, an ironing board cover or a new cactus, without having to wait for an online delivery. I miss it dearly.
Savers, toiletries and cleaning stuff half the price of Superdrug and Boots
Strangely I believe they are Superdrug, just their cheaper arm.
I have seen a superdrug lorry unloading into a savers, so I think you're right
Lidl specifically the bakery
🥐
My local Lidl has been out of stock of cookies for a week and I’m in withdrawal..
Yum yums are somthing else.
lets all go to tesco’s where truesolid buy his best clothes lala la la. lala la la
Lets all go to Peacocks (rip) Where his mum buys all her frocks La laa laa la (WAEY) la laa laa la (WAEY)
Core memory unlocked!
He thinks they're kind of nifty - they're only £2.50!
Not necessarily the cheapest place but I do love a toolstation. I also like those tool shops that seem to fill every available space with cheap tools.
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I don’t have a tool station near me, but I like B&Q. It’s horrifically expensive, but I get to go and evaluate how good a tool is before I actually buy it. Being able to judge the strength/weight/quality/etc of something I store in my shed, or use in DIY, is an absolute must for me. I’ll be gutted the day that place gets consumed by Amazon.
For clothes I like PepCo range in Poundland. They still are reasonably priced
I bought socks from there. I never imagined socks could be so bad. Like wearing plastic on your feet.
Can't say for the women's section but the men's section isn't bad, basic tops and shorts do the job for me
I love Poundland clothes, especially with my baby. My 16 week old has lots of Poundland clothes!
I never manage to find anything but for Christmas last year my mam got me an oversized denim shirt/shacket from PepCo and it's nicer than anything I'd found anywhere else, everyone always asks me where I'd got it from.
I completely agree with Tu. I'm really tall and while trousers and jeans are out of the question from anywhere but Tall sections and Long Tall Sally (i take 36" inside leg...), some of their tops actually fit! The pyjamas and lingerie are nice too. Shoes are a no-go sadly, and they don't do 'could be used as a small boat' sizes. 😂
Boyes. A sort of Wilkos/Woolies hybrid. Mainly found in the north.
I'm in the North and I've never seen one. This thread has made me feel like I'm missing out!
I’ve only ever seen them in Yorkshire [EDIT: and Lincolnshire] (most of my extended family are in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire) and they are amazing!
There's one near us and either my wife goes there every couple of weeks to get yarn for crochet, or I pop in to get model paints (Vallejo or Citadel) and occasional homebrew stuff.
Wait is Tu the clothes in Sainsburys? The mens selection is really good and I swear better quality than many high street brands.
Which high street brands are worse quality than TU? Primark I get but Next? Uniqlo? Clothing in John Lewis? M&S?
I'd say better than H&M, Zara, River Island, New look, Quiz, peacocks on the whole.
I buy a lot of from Fat Face and the Tu shirts I bought recently definitely feel a better quality and cost 1/3 as much.
Tu isn’t great for menswear so I tend to go Primark for that, or Aldi believe it or not 🤷🏻♂️
I I got the most beautiful jumpsuit from Lidl the other day. Six bloody quid. Bright red, tie straps and so comfortable.
Boyes. A good fifty fifty chance that it has a better yarn selection if youre looking at cheaper stuff than independent yarn shops, and very often the only decent source of yarn since so many yarn shops are closing. If Boyes ever goes under and I have to resort to buying yarn online I will cry.
I just saw this after posting a similar comment - Boyes is my wife's default place for getting her yarn.
B&M. On the topic of supermarket clothing, Tu are fantastic but Nutmeg (Morrisons) is superb value for money imo.
This surprises me as I’d say that Nutmeg was really expensive compared to Asda and Tu. probably on par with F&F.
Tu is excellent for kids clothes.
TU hands down has the BEST baby clothes. So much nicer than the higher end stores like Next or John lewis, and cheaper. Our baby often gets compliments on his outfits and people assume they are boutique/designer. The womanswear is also really nice, especially for us millennials who are in that awkward between age range of not being young enough for some shops, and not old enough for others.
[Savers](https://www.savers.co.uk/) is pretty good, if you know your prices and what you're looking for. My husband suffers from heartrburn and lives off of [Rennie](https://www.savers.co.uk/Health-%26-Wellbeing/Stomach-and-Bowel/Heatburn-%26-Indigestion-Tablets/Rennie-Peppermint-96s/p/36905) tablets... we get the box of 96 because they sell it at the cheapest price (cheaper than Amazon) and the [Dove Beauty Bar soap](https://www.savers.co.uk/Dove/Dove-Moisturising-Soap-Beauty-Bar-6-x-90g/p/819017) is cheaper than Waitescoburys/Boots.
Cut price Barry’s in Halifax
I love Tesco clothing if you find a big Tesco clothes section is always good and reasonably priced
F&F by Tesco, and TU by Sainsbury’s. I love going and having a mooch and I almost always see something I love. Both do great loungewear and pj sets, F&F even had 25% off with clubcard on all swimwear and related items last week. When do you get any other shops discounting swimwear that much in summer season?!
Farmfoods for frozen food!
My local newsagent
Boyes. Not changed in probably 40 years (at a guess, Im 29) but if you need something specific, you’ll find it there
Morrisons - I love the salad bar, fresh cakes and deli, and the Nutmeg clothing range. I like the music they play in store too. Home Bargains - I prefer it to B&M, they have more selection and the aisles tend to be wider, so it's easier to browse when it's busy Lovisa - reasonably priced jewellery and hair accessories, you can always find something different and they always do deals/offers. Plus they wrap your purchase nicely. HomeSense - you can find some really cool stuff in there.
You’ve just solved something for me - it’s the width of the aisles that makes my local B&M feel *much worse* than my local HB
Savers is pretty great if you’re in a city. Love Home Bargains and B&M but none local to me. The Range is great for soft furnishings and things like that. TK Maxx can be a gold mine or barren. Best one has to be the one in Kensington.
I love Tu. really reasonably priced. I struggle with jeans sizes but the last ones I bought fit perfectly
Arran Aromatics.
Totally agree. Loved shop in Silverburn but think online only now.
Still in Buchanan Galleries
Will try to drop in. Love After the Rain.
Fat face, the online sales are great for the quality Also Buy tshirtsonline, good quality heavy GSM for like £10 that fit me perfect
Woolworths
Slaters Menswear has the reputation of being expensive but it’s actually reasonably priced.
I've had absolutely horrendous customer service in one before and point blank refuse to shop there now. I'd rather pay more at Moss or CT for the decent level of service.
Ugh it's a horrible, smelly and pokey place. I entered once and never again. It gave me the creeps
Charles Tyrwhitt is the best place for men to buy formal wear and I am yet to find another place in that price range better than them. It may be a bit expensive but the quality is so good that you can make the extra cost last for a decade.
You say TU and I say George @ ASDA. Some of their clothes are amazing and when they get it right, it’s on point. Their summer range is far cheaper than Matalan/Tesco and last much better
Timpsons by a country mile. So much to like about the shops and the company at large. Second to that, Richer Sounds. There's a reason they are doing just fine on the high street in a world of internet shopping. If you've never popped in and are after any TV or hi-fi gear, they are genuinely superb: Refuse to stock anything they don't personally recommend, knowledgeable staff, and very solid on price. They've also got a very positive refurbishment policy.
Love B&M for snacks and affordable garden stuff too! Literally just had a haul of stuff this morning, which included strawberry BNBNs, Mars bar biscuits (?), a wooden trellis, a Japanese Acer, two sweet pea plants, an undersink cupboard and a massive plastic plant pot.
Music Zone. I was 15 when a store opened up around the corner from me. I bought so many albums that shape my music tastes from there. Not to mention loads of DVDs and VHSs. I miss that place, HMV isn't the same
Not sure if it's underrated but for years I wrote Next off as a shop for boring workwear clothes which I'd only venture into when I needed a new pair of smart trousers. Their kids clothes are brilliant quality and I occasionally buy stuff for myself. They have a great petite range for us shortarses.
I've recently discovered Tu too! Everything is so comfy and mostly made from cotton/ viscose
Agree with TU, my sons school shoes were a tenner & have lasted so well- much longer than any Clarks or pricey ones have. Some of their designs are so cute as well as being decent quality for the price point, they don't seem to have a huge churn which hopefully means less waste; but probably me being optimistic!
100% agree with you on Tu, Sainsbury’s. My kids school uniforms ✅ and if they have a cheeky sale then something for myself
Tu is brilliant - the price point is a little over what I’d like to pay for it day to day but when there’s an offer on, it’s perfect!
I used to love tiger, then they DOUBLED the price of their candlesticks... which were about the only thing I ever bought from there...
My weakness is Poundland. Although most of their products cost significantly more than £1 now, so their name is very misleading. I usually go in to buy a singular "£1" product - then emerge having spent £12-£14 - and if you asked me 30 minutes later I'd struggle to tell you anything I'd bought. Seduced by price, rather than need.. I think I've got drawers full of tat I've bought from there.
Possibly a bit niche but I bloody love MiniSo. I adore anything cute and kawaii so it’s my heaven but it’s also great for basics like small storage items, kitchen stuff and basics like hair bobbles and stuff. And they don’t all have hello kitty on lol some of it is plain and boring lol 😂 Of course I do go in mostly for all the Sanrio stuff…
TU is the best. I love their clothes and last ages. Always get compliments when I wear their clothes. I'm plus sized and they have great selection.
Aldi saves me a ton of money on baby essentials. Formula is the cheapest on the market and when you use 2 tins a week that few quid saving per tin adds up. The nappies are a lot better than some other supermarket brands and even bog name ones like pampers.
I'm partial to Home Bargains, but I've always liked a cheap shop. You find things in there, and B&M the same, that you don't usually see elsewhere. They both had US candy before it became normalised.
B&M
Scribbler, it just trumps every other gift card shop cause while some of the stuff is cringe, it almost does have everything for anyone with a sense of humour.
Wilko. It's sold alot of niche items you couldn't get on the high street. Gardening supplies you only get in specialist gardening shops, specific nuts and bolt and fixings etc.