I'd like to start by pointing out how strange it was for me to find a branch of House of Fraser in…read moreAltrincham, House of Fraser have never appeared to me to be a brand that put stores in small towns like this one, especially so close to a much larger store on Deansgate in the city centre of Manchester. This store however is okay, but does have a really old fashioned feel to it, it is over around two or three stores and it is really old fashioned, it was the old Rackhams Department store, before being taken over and HOF have seem to followed in the footsteps of many branches by keeping signs from the old building, and the old name as they did in the Manchester branch, which was formerly called Kendall's. I came in this branch for two reasons, the first of which was to check if their was any fragrance samples, the staff members I spoke to were really unhelpful and slightly rude, and told me they had nothing and didn't even offer the use of any testers or try to recommend any best sellers, which was a shame. Especially on the Upper part of the store, it just felt deserted, it really wasn't a nice place to shop. or in general which was a real shame. Unfortunately, my pictures of the decor and feel and looks of the store were no longer on my Iphone, due to an issue with Apple which basically deleted most of my photo's from the day beyond recovery which was a real shame, but overall this store is really poor due to the selection and range of products as well as feel of the store, it feels too old-fashioned and not a nice place to shop and in a way this store is irrelevant with Altrincham being such a small town just around a half hour drive from a much larger branch in Manchester, a much larger city.

Debenhams in Altrincham was a rather nice store and its closure is certainly a loss to Altrincham's…read moretown centre, reviewing a store which has since closed might be seen as irrelevant but I do hope this will still be of use to the brand which could be helpful for their other stores as Debenhams remains one of the largest department store chains in the UK. Despite the store is small, they still had a good selection for the size including multiple makeups and beauty counters, without them being too close together they form one giant unpleasant smell. Some of them did seem a little too pushy/eager compared to others though. The closing down sale at the store was also pretty good as it seemed they wanted to get rid of everything even down to the chairs they previously used for makeup/beauty treatment to other customers, they seemed to want to get rid of everything instead of taking it to other stores which is pretty good from a customer point of view, as it made this one of the cheapest Debenhams stores in the UK at one point. I do feel the store guide could have been clearer though, but this still remained a decent store and I'm sad to see it closed, although it was probably average and dwarfed compared to Debenhams stores in larger cities, it still was a nice brand to have in Altrincham.

It was M&S for coffees, Eccles cake and chocolate croissant today at M&S Altrincham; a rather…read moreupmarket posh village. The coffees were cappuccino and splendid Cortado. The iced water on tap. The village has a delightful market in the centre where one can buy dressed crab, cooked whole lobster and my absolute total, complete favourite, in all the world, potted brown shrimps, sealed in butter. Forget caviar and lobster this, with good buttered toast, is the true food of the gods. Ambrosia. There are flower sellers, cake sellers, sellers of LP's from the 1960's, cheese sellers offering small batch local cheeses, folks with woodfired ovens for sourdough pizzas, beer and wine sellers, upmarket hand made chocolates, oriental and Jamaican food (I don't think I could face goat curry) and a fish & chip shop. I'm sure I've left out a lot of purveyors in this snapshot. It's also teeming with competitively priced coffee places, cafes and bars and as the competition is so fierce there's no downmarket offerings.

Marks and Spencer in Altrincham is a fairly good location, although it isn't the best/biggest…read morelocation in the area, and I do prefer their Manchester Market Street and Bolton stores, this isn't a bad alternative and it is one of my favourite stores in Altrincham town centre. It has improved a lot since my last visit, the store is now much cleaner and free of clutter to warrant an upgraded rating. The selection in the food hall was good, they had a nice range of products, again this might be slightly less compared to other stores, but I still was able to find the majority of what I needed which was handy. This store is also using the new Mobile Scan and Pay, where you can scan items and bag them as you shop in the Food Hall, pay via your phone and walk out, this is a feature I love but it always makes me feel strange as you just walk out of the store, it makes you feel like a thief, even though you have paid, you do get a payment proof on your phone incase someone does stop you, but I am worried about the security of this if someone is dishonest. Most of the staff seemed friendly and happy to help when required. Above-average Marks and Spencer store, a great brand to have in Altrincham if you don't feel like going into the city centre or another larger store.

Quaint little place with concessions like the trader's outlet. Lots of jewellery and sparkles...I…read morewas drawn in like a magpie. Lovely little tea room at the back too, they do GF afternoon tea, I'll be trying it at some point. Worth a look for something a bit different and if you're bored of chains

Not a lot to say about this Aldi which is different to any other really but if you love Aldi then…read morethen there is definitely no reason not to stop off at this one for your random gadgets for the home whilst doing your weekly shop.