Shopped here again this week , covered xmas gifts and motherinlaws garden statue plus a few pets…read moresupplies. this truly is an amazin store, like a tardis from the outside you cant imagine what an emporium of items lie within. This local shop has been here on the circle for over 50 years to my knowledge the current owner is the 3rd generation of lennons to be providing such great service.In current ecnomic climate it is nice to see small family business still survive here on the circle. If you are local you should alredy know this shop, if you havent been lately , you should. we need more independent shops like ths where customer service is still above profits. Thanks you matthew and yoour team , i have been coming here for half a century and hope to continue to do so for a while longer.

Excellent, down to earth place to get a multitude of items at a reasonable price! Staff really…read morefriendly and easy going. Its exactly what you expect from a general indoor/outdoor market! Worth a gander I say! ;-)

I'm going to make some bold statements with this place. First up it is my favourite shop in Acocks…read moreGreen. I also think it must be the best hardware store in Birmingham. Jeffries is a huge hardware business that stocks all the standard nuts and bolts plus a huge selection of outdoor planting, perfect for this time of year, and has a large gardening section at the rear of the store. Recently I was after some fence protector and after a visit to a huge DIY shop felt frazzled by the choice in products, colours and price. One trip to Jeffries and I got exactly what I needed, no fuss, a great price and I parked my car at the rear of the store to load up. I also recently discovered they do key cutting. They stock a wide selection of pet products. The beauty of this place is that they've always got what you need and know exactly what you are asking for. On the very slim chance they don't stock what you are after they know where you should go to get it. Amazing staff and service.

Need a hardware item for your garden and/ home? Take a look here as I'm sure they'll have it! There…read moreare lots of little sections in this shop like their garden hardware, animal treats and carpet sections. It was a nice little surprise when discovering each area here. In summary it's a big hardware store that sells all (or at least most) of the nuts and bolts you need for your home and they have a big garden centre. If they don't have what you want then the staff can tell you where to get it. The shop is mainly for people who want to buy anything to do with DIY for their home. I came in here in search of a few things for home and, I don't mean to offend anybody by stereotyping, as a woman in a hardware store I didn't know where to look first. The staff were friendly and polite enough however to put me in the right direction. If you need any hardware for your home and garden then it's worth giving this store a visit.

OK, so I'm a bit biased, as I tend to automatically love anything green. However, Bournville Garden…read moreCentre is a particularly good haven for all things bright and beautiful that you may fancy in your garden. Personally, I would like almost everything that they stock in my garden. But this is sadly unfeasible. As well as the beautiful plant displays outside, they also have a lovely shop inside, with lots of lovely Emma Bridgewater-style gardening ornamentation as well as things for the boys like barbecues and fire pits. They also do a great Christmas tree service: they will cut and plant to your requirements as well as carrying the darn thing out to your car. The shop always looks amazing at Christmas as well, with lots of lovely hand-crafted decorations. They have their own store card as well, which is great if you're a regular. Which I am. Even if I just spend most of my time strolling around looking at plants rather than actually buying anything. Perhaps I need to get out more....

I'm a big fan of this place. As a garden centre it's a lot bigger than you'd expect, given it's…read morelocation in sleepy Bourenville. There is a large outdoor section with a huge selection of plants and shrubs and the interior boasts a whole host of goods, from the decorative to the useful. As I'm currently taming my large and unruly back garden, I'm often in here looking for dangerous chemicals! The have a 'Gardening Club' reward scheme that is free to join and actually works out as a genuine reward scheme - many is the time I've got to the counter to pay and fished out my card to receive a discount. They also post you a leaflet every month or so with a list of offers and some vouchers.

Wandering around the Ladypool Road one afternoon - as you do - I stumbled upon this place, and…read moreloved it immediately. It's a little green oasis, snug between St. Paul's Road and Ladypool Road, where the emphasis is on community, and domestic plants. What a great combination. It's also the home of the Balsall Heath Forum, I later discovered. It's quite a spacious patch of land, with greenhouses and plant displays surrounding a wide walkway where the good folk of the Forum no doubt stroll around, discussing all things Balsall Heath. It's lovely to happen upon a welcoming colourful spot like this in the middle of a built up urban area. The only reminders that you're not in Kansas anymore are the frequent CCTV warnings all over the displays. I'm not sure that Balsall Heath's hardened criminals are planning on running off with armfuls of gerberas, but at least tey know the consequences if they do...

Levines is a furniture store manned almost entirely by a team of smiling chaps in neatly pressed…read morewhite shirts who are happy to swap advice on the beds, armchairs and cupboards sold here. As well as selling simple, discount furniture at cheap prices it stocks a wide range of beds - including orthopaedic ones - which frankly is a godsend if you have a jippy shoulder (like me). Despite being relatively young for such things their range of reclining chairs is pretty awe inspiring and they are happy to deliver at a time that is convenient. They are also great at providing brilliant customer service - when I got a bit confused by a recent purchase (a headboard for the afore mentioned orthopaedic bed, which just wouldn't sit right) they were really kind and patient - even when it turned out I was trying to fit it upside down. A really lovely shop.

We ordered a bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers and headboard from Levine's…read more We were initially told we'd have to wait a couple of weeks for the headboard which we said was fine. The first delivery only included the bed (the drawers and wardrobe had been left behind). We rearranged for the drawers and wardrobe and waited in throughout the delivery slot assigned but nobody ever showed up and nobody ever communicated this to us. We were then told that the 2 week wait on the headboard would be another month. In the end, it took the best part of 4 months for the headboard to be delivered. No discount was ever offered by management despite this terrible service. I would seriously discourage anybody using Levine's in future. I would however say that the furniture is decent quality (when it eventually arrives).

Since buying a house in the area a couple of years ago I have been dragged, kicking and screaming,…read moreinto the grownup world of DIY. This is something I had hitherto shunned on the basis that I am left-handed and as such at a natural disadvantage when it comes to hammers, nails, power tools and the like. Being a homeowner means that such excuses go out the window and you take on those hundreds of little jobs that need doing. As such, this place has become very useful to me. It might not look much from the outside - in fact, it looks pretty terrible from the outside and is in dire need of a lick of paint (says the DIY expert) but inside it is a treasure trove of washers, screws, drain unblockers, mop buckets, and just about any other product you might need. If you can't find what you're looking for the guy will hunt for it on your behalf and, amazingly, almost never comes up openhanded. He's friendly, helpful and not overpriced. It's actually a pleasure to give him money!

Let's get something straight from the outset, when it comes to DIY I am hopeless and as such I only…read moreever begrudgingly visit a DIY store if my dad asks me to accompany him. So on many an occasion I have found myself inside Kirk's on Raddlebarn Road. It is a store which reminds me of a bygone era, before the high street and before huge chain establishments such as Homebase. The outside of the store has a worn look about it, if anything though it gives the business that added sense of character. The owner of this business seems to have a knack of finding all manner of items which don't seem to be available elsewhere and my dad has often found things at Kirk's which he had long given up hope of locating. It is a friendly place too, with more than reasonable prices and a great level of customer service.

lovely staff, fantastic range and prices (I fill a car every month) and the plants do brilliantly…read more once in the ground, pots and baskets. They also do pre-planted baskets and pots all year and their indoor Christmas pots were beautiful and put a smile on all my family's faces. They also sell bulbs at the perfect time for planting and their half price pot collection cannot be beaten on variety or price anywhere, incredible display for a bargain price

Now I have crossed over into my 30s I feel drawn to Sunday's shopping at garden centres and looking…read moreat homeware options....as nurseries go this has l to be a five star experience. There were some hardcore Sunday shoppers here and rightly so this place is beautiful. Full on country side vibe with every possible flower and shrub imaginable! I got my trolley and causally stilled around the centre settling on buying some sunflowers and other really hard to pronounce types of flowers for my mom and dads front garden. I have no idea who named some of these varieties of flowers....but they went innnnn...I won't lie a lot of them I couldn't pronounce but I gave it a good go..with varying results.... The flowers here are super cheap too the sunflowers were like 1.50 each and most pots are below £3...bargains galore!! The only thing to note is the tills are busy...people are flocking for a wide for those bargain blooms so set out an afternoon for this trip it's definitely going to take you a a few to see everything and pay....but that's the vibe surely...loved it.

Gregory Pank is a good old-fashioned hardware store located on Digbeth Highstreet. The shop seems…read moreto be a bit of a hidden gem. It shouldn't be: this place sells probably just about everything a budding DIYer or seasoned craftsperson could want. When you enter the shop your nostrils are filled with the scent of DIY history. Whether you're after glue, polyfiller, drill bits or string (all things I've been in for) you need only ask one of the very knowledgeable staff at the counter and they'll scurry off into the depths of the store to find it (or suggest numerous alternatives if they can't).

Livsstil is one of my favourite stores in Birmingham. Located in the Minories arcade, just by the…read morePriory Courts, you may think it is often overlooked but it must be popular to have survived so long. Now I don't even bake that much really but I could easily spend an hour or so and a few hundred quid in Livsstil; They have the nicest cookware in Birmingham; miles better than TK Maxx and House of Fraser, which are my second and third choices for anything cookery related. From bakeware to salt and pepper shakers, kitchen scales to cute aprons, professional knives to electrical items; Livsstil really do have it all. Last time I visited they had the cutest cupcake shaped kitchen timer and some lovely brightly coloured, rubber spatulas. I'm a real sucker for vintage looking kitchen items and they have plenty of those to go around too. Livsstil have got it down to a tee with a real mix of functional, modern items, shabby chic signage, shelving and rustic, cutesy items. Everything for everyone. It's a one stop shop for chefs and enthusiasts; the only thing that could make it better would be a bakery, butchers and green grocer next door. Seriously. Go visit!

Ooh I love this shop - this despite me being useless at baking (I can still remember sobbing into a…read morebatch of wholemeal rolls that refused to rise in Home Economics) and having an almost pathological hatred of cupcakes. The thing is this shop sells so much pretty, yet practical stuff - espresso makers, salt and pepper mills, wooden spoons, towels etc - I know it shouldn't matter what this kind of thing looks like, as long as it's functional but sometimes you want something that looks nice too. Other things you can purchase here are nice mugs, aprons (does anyone apart from my Mom wear an apron any more?) and heartwarming (for someone like me who is useless at making scones but can whip up a mean gin and tonic) things you can make ice-cubes in. It's not that expensive - say compared to Debenhams or the chintzier retailers and the staff are nice.

Great day exploring bournvile area!…read more Only a few mins walk away from Cadbury world, this a great shop to visit on a warm summers day, One of my goals this year is to grow more of my own fruit and veg and found the shop to be a great starting point. I could find everything I need here, the staff were also very helpful to offer me advice too. There's also a free parking area too, after a long day of shopping you can rest your feet in the quaint little café which offer a range of freshly prepared food and even afternoon tea. There's an outdoor area to see all the seasonal plants! We'll be back soon Have a good day everyone, thanks a bunch for reading