My old school friend text me to say that he was up for Christmas from Manchester. He asked if was I…read morestill kicking about Blantyre and I sure am so he suggested heading to Asda Blantyre Cafe. When he came to my bit he had fortunately changed his mind and said 'Howsabout EK instead?' Yay, you betcha! I love the East Kilbride Shopping Centre or it's more the Centre West bit that I like best nowadays. It's actually split into several shopping malls, Prince's Mall and The Plaza were the first then they linked up The Plaza to the Olympia with the ice rink and cinema. I loved that part when I was younger. Then they covered up Prince's Square to become a mall then recently added on to The Plaza, Centre West. If you enter from the bus station it is a bit grim but keep heading through and it does get better. I normally park at Centre West but my friend likes parking at the Olympia. We still don't know how you can park in the underneath car park. Hmm?!! Anyhoo it was lovely to grace this entrance, it was completely mobbed, lovely to see the ice rink still as busy as ever. *Flashback* First time I was ever on an ice rink with my mum. Did witness someone fall and have their hand slashed though. I remember the paramedics and blood on the ice. Fortunately it didn't put me too much off ice skating. We mostly window shopped as we didn't see much we fancied in the sales. We decided to stop for a wee coffee at Costa in The Plaza. There's plenty of food courts and coffee shops about in all the malls. I love the food court in Centre West best. The one at the ice rink not so much nowadays, if you saw it you would understand why. It's great to come here especially when it's raining as everything's all under one roof and it's call Toys R er maybe not. Did most of my Christmas shopping here as there's a great variety of shops. There's still empty lets in the various malls but there's still plenty of shops to make you drop.

East Kilbride shopping centre elicits a mixed opinion from me. If you'd shopped here 5 years ago,…read moreit was a plethora of shops and you were able to get absolutely everything you were looking for. Today, it's a bit pathetic and every second lot seems to be lying empty. There's everything here you'd expect in a shopping centre; Topshop, a huge Debenhams, Waterstones and a selection of others. There's also a couple of cafés, a McDonald's and a decent sized food court. There's also a huge ice rink and upstairs there's an Odeon cinema and a library. It has a lot in it, it's just a bit depressing to walk through and see most of the lots lying empty.

It's not their fault, it's the economy, and that's why we need to buy cheap imports via discount…read moreretailers such as Primark. The whole ethos of these types of stores is cheap disposable clothing sold at discount prices to keep the customers coming back for more. Fortunately for them this is the type of economy that our government is intent on supporting it is of course nonsense thinking. The store itself is large and carries a large range of ladies clothing, a reasonable range of mens clothing and small selection of childrens clothing for any particular age group. I personally have a problem with shops that are either too busy or too hot, this shop is both and probably goes a long way to explaining my utter antipathy for the place and all those people who swear by it. Rather grudgingly I'll admit that I usually end up buying a few items from here and the kids are more or less exclusively dressed in Primark, we just can't afford to buy better quality clothing and when you're down a hole you tend to do what you need to to get by which is why these shops do well. When I was in today it was busy by 11am and I was beginning to get ratty, it doesn't help that they only have a few tills on and you're forced to queue for a few minutes (not fun with a small bored and over heating child), in fairness the queue does tend to go down rather quickly, so the counter staff do do some kind of a good job. Still, it's only getting one star because I hate the place.

A large shop located within East Kilbride town centre. Primark took over the old somerfield store…read moreso its a big shop. Has a HUGE ladies dept, mens is quite small and again a large childrens dept. Its usually very busy--worse at weekends . My main gripe with Primark is that they dont have 2 sets of tills on so the tills in the ladies dept is usually wrapped around half the shop--luckily it does go down quite quickly but its not fair when you are standing with a basket and a pram and an agitated toddler. Plenty of friendly staff around to assist you. Shoe dept does look like a jumble sale at points but there is usually an assistant on hand tidying up. Their kids pyjamas are great value at only £3 and wash and dry well.

This is a good sized shopping centre with a few car parks. The centre is split into different…read morenames, plaza, centre west etc. The shops that can be found here range from debenhams, bhs, marks and spencers to primark, card factory, pound shop, so something for every budget. There is a libraray and ice-rink and cinema. There a few pubs and plenty of places to eat with a choice of the pubs or two food courts one at either end of the centre. The centre is clean as are the toilets and they have a customer service desk located in the middle of centre west.

Good shopping centre, very clean and a good variety of shops (over 200). I don't like that you have…read moreto pay for parking (except on Sundays when it is free). They have some one-off local shops as well as big chain stores. There is a big Debenhams, a past times. For food there is loads of places, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King and Shenanigans pub for pub lunches etc.

This is a good sized supermarket for being located in East Kilbride Shopping Centre. It is at the…read moretop of the centre and if you park in the car park at that end of the shopping centre there are lifts that can take you straight into the store. The store is also accessed from within the centre. The car parking is not free though unless you park after 4pm on a Thursday. The store itself has a good number of check out desks as well as a customer service desk and kiosk. There is a good range of fruit and vegetables. They make nice bread and cakes instore. Other items for sale include fresh meat and ready meals, plenty of tins, alcohol etc. It is a really good sized supermarket for being in a shopping centre and you should get all your basics at least in here. There is a small range of toys and some children's clothing as well. Along with the nectar card to earn some points on your shopping.

Based within the East Kilbride Shopping Centre complex, this is one of the smaller supermarkets…read morefocused more on household consumables and food than the electrical goods and other sundry items found in it's larger counterparts. It's usually relatively busy, although the queues move quite quickly as most people seem to be purchasing only a few items rather than trolley's stacked and ready to topple. Certainly I'm never buying more than an odd or end if I'm in the Shopping Centre anyway. It has something of a slightly run down feel about it and it's layout is maybe a reflection on it's age.

The Peacocks store in East Kilbride is a large store and one I frequently use when I visit my old…read morehome town. The store is located in the Olympia part of East Kilbride Shopping Centre and is positioned directly across from Sainsburys. The store is spacious and has ladieswear at the front with a smaller selection of menswear. My one gripe about this store is that although the store is large, it seems as if there is barely enough room to move due to the large amount of merchandise on offer and the way much of it is positioned on hangers located too close to other sections displaying merchandise. The East Kilbride store has a nice selection of footwear on display and a small lingerie and nightwear section. The store also stocks childrenswear and my daughter likes some of the branded items they get, in particular for High School Musical. The store does get busy at peak times so you may have to wait a while to pay but overall this is a nice branch of Peacocks offering bargain clothing for all the family.

I've never been a fan of Next clothes, they're just not very me. Some of my friends have gorgeous…read moreoutfits from here but I just find the whole shop very uninspiring and not very inviting. The black and white colour scheme and logo, the bright lights and the clothes all cramped together just don't make me want to browse through here. The whole shop just seems very boring as are most of the items in it, they don't even play any music! But Next must be doing something right as I've witnessed first hand the crazy bargain shoppers queuing outside at six in the morning on sale days to get their hands on some discounted goodies. Next is one of my favourite places to shop for baby clothes for friends and family. Until recently I had no idea how expensive baby clothes could be! Next have a huge range of super cute outfits and they are all quite reasonably priced, I even saw a little shirt and tie for a baby boy last week - very suave.

This is actually located in centre west East Kilbride Shopping Centre. It is easy to get into the…read morestore and is split onto two levels. The ground floor as you enter is home to the woman's clothing section with a variety of casual and work clothes. The prices are varied some to me are a bit expensive for what they are and I think that is why the sale is so popular because the quality is good. There is a children's section to the rear which is well stocked and the clothes are seperated and displayed by age. The upper level of the store accessed by a small lift or stairs stocks mens clothing from shirts to belts to trousers etc. A nice next though to have a look around it is a bright store and the staff are helpful.

Cherry Pie is where the East Kilbride goths (of which there are surprisingly many) buy their…read moreclothes. There is emo everything in here, including some snazzy winter hooded jackets. Even emo baby is catered for with some baby groes displaying skulls and crossbones and the like. Upstairs caters to Emo man. The staff seemed pretty friendly and helpful.

With a few of these scattered across the country, it's fair to assume there must be a market for…read moreCherry Pie and its range of alternative clothing and jewellery. Equally fair to assume, as I visit this shop sporting a grey, moto-less jumper and jeans that do not reveal half my boxer shorts, that I am not part of it. In saying that, compared to most other alternative clothing outlets I've encountered during my Yelping days, this appears to be fairly timid fare, concentrating more on the emo side of things as opposed to, well, leather catsuits, crotchless pants and the like. It's a friendly enough little shop and prices seem reasonable, with a bargain box holding a range of t-shirts lying in one corner. All black, of course. Again, to my untrained eye I would suggest the stock tends to gear more towards the emo kids who figure they might not be emo kids in a few years, as opposed to those who are in it for life. The staff look the part, sporting more piercings than your average pincushion, although they somewhat let the side down by playing an acoustic verson of Run by Snow Patrol during my visit. \m/

When walking into this shop you feel immediately like a lady, as this place sells ladies things…read more I was last minute wedding accessories shopping and I realised, only by looking into the shop window, I didn't have a necklace. The one on the half a head dummy looked beautiful, ok my description of the display may not be selling it to you but it was a really pretty and unusual looking piece of jewellery. This shop is probably more mother of the bride by looking at the outfits on display. They do have a good range of accessories, from fasinators, handbags, scarfs and jewellery. The ladies were very helpful and the lady who initially served me got the necklace from the shop window for me. It was a little more than I would have liked to have spent but it really was pretty and would go perfectly with my outfit. So next time you're in Hamilton ladies have a wee look. It does feel very intimate as it's a small sized shop but it's very brightly lit and you can see in through the window display, so I would window shop first before heading in. By the way there's no way you'll get 'Madonna Voguing' here, a wee disappointed but I'll get over it. I just keep it all in my head instead. Vogue!