This review is my first for 2017. Yay!…read more I have visited this Winners a number of times within the past four years. I used to go to Bowmanville once a month back in the day. I love a short road trip. With any Winners location, the merchandise tends to be different. Over the years, I have managed to score a number of cool, unique items. On my last trip, I managed to get anti-aging serum (I have a few brown spots on my feet, likely due to not applying sunscreen on them during the Summer) and quinoa pancake mix. I love the selection of teas and gourmet food items. I nearly got a package of lemon risotto. I also wanted the package of wild rice with mushrooms. I was pleased that I showed some restraint for a change! As always, staff there are friendly. The woman cashing me out was friendly and seemed to enjoy her shift on Saturday. It was refreshing! There is plenty of parking. This store shares its parking lot with Canadian Tire. It is an area full of box stores and a movie theatre. (1)

Good location with great service. Friendly staff who go above and beyond to make your shopping…read moreexperience pleasurable.

Tip: The stationery section is decent. Just the pens alone are fun…read more I needed a bowl with measurement units. I have plastic and steel mixing bowls, but they don't have measurements. It would be easier to measure ingredients in the bowl and stir everything in it, more to improve efficiency and not dirty up a measuring cup. This bowl would also be great to soak items, such as beans. I thought I'd try my hand at a dollar store. I was in Ajax. I did a search and this Dollar Tree was close by. Perfect! It was a great introduction to this plaza, which is a bit north of all the major box stores. I pulled into the parking lot and parked. It's across from Value Village. It also has a Crumbl, which is probably the closest one to my home. Back-to-school items greeted me. I have always enjoyed looking at school supplies. I liked seeing Jibbitz knockoffs for your notebooks and Crocs. There were pens galore. The pens were cute and practical. I eventually landed in the regular stationery aisle and got a metal twist-up pen with a pineapple on top. I like that it's small and fits in my purse. It's got black ink and writes smoothly. Fall items are out. Pumpkin decorations. Pumpkin spice everything, from candles, to air fresheners. I am not ready for autumn in my shorts and t-shirt, sweating buckets. I hit the kitchen section. I've always loved looking at accessories. I found the bowl of my dreams. Not only was the size right and it had measurements inside the bowl, it had a spout to easily pour liquid or batter out of it. Yay! It came in three colours. I went with grey. I don't have any grey bowls and there were maybe ten or so in this colour compared to the white and red ones that had at least twice the number. I had completed my mission. I ended up browsing. The automotive section had steering wheel covers that looked like shower caps. The problem was the the material was slippery. It would be better to have a more grippy material, but I loved the ease of applying it to the steering wheel. The snack aisle was excellent. I ended up getting a bag of Covered Bridge potato chips in sweet heat. It's a Canadian brand that I enjoy, but have never tried this flavour. There was a family of two women and four children. They had found the washroom, but the door was locked. My guess is that you need to contact a staffer to unlock the door. As with all Dollar Tree stores, you get the best bang for your buck when it comes to getting inflated helium balloons for your party needs. I liked the variety. You're also not breaking the bank because you're in a dollar store getting some! The cold beverage section was also impressive. There was lots of variety. It had pop, water, water with vitamins and electrolytes, energy drinks, and more. Sadly, this family of six took its sweet time trying to make payment. This store is cool, but does not have air conditioning. It didn't help for all of us waiting while getting warm for these two adult women to pay. The toddler behind me with his dad wasn't a happy camper. They eventually did pay after five minutes. Props go to the nice female staffer at the checkout. She had so much patience with these two women. She was cheerful getting me next. I paid for my items with a debit card. I tapped and was done. I wished her a good day and told her to take care. She thanked me and reciprocated. Nice staff. Cool, useful items. Other than a bit of a delay dealing with a loud family coughing up payment, I enjoyed shopping here. I'd do it again when I'm in the area. (376)

I do not think that accompanying my husband to the 'men's section ' of your changing room to…read morecheck the fit of a shirt would have been disallowed. Seriously? Maybe just... I dunno.. get with the times and move to a more accommodating situation? Left a sour taste in my mouth.

I love Winners. I spotted this location after shopping at Farm Boy…read more The funny thing is that I have done some quick banking at the CIBC within this plaza in the past. I neither noticed this Winners, nor the SportChek next door. This store is one of the better ones. For those in Whitby, be proud of it for a few reasons. First, I am a huge fan of Kipling handbags. This store goes one step beyond my usual level of happiness at Winners by offering a pink Kipling backpack. It is a rare find. The second point sealed my love for this store. It offers USB type C cables, which is incredible. It is a first for me! You typically get micro USB and lightning cables in ample supply. Yes, I have to be so different with a phone that only uses USB type C. You get a decent variety of two different brands. Both USB type C cables are six feet in length and go for $7.99. Perfect! I love the selection of items, from limited edition Simpson Tic Tacs in both donut and bubble gum flavours, to Popcornopolis popcorn. I don't see any of these fine products at my local Winners. The selection of size 11 women's shoes in decent. I nearly bought a pair of Keds sneakers, but decided that I didn't love them desperately enough to purchase them. The cashier was super sweet. She was polite and cheerful. I happily paid for my purchase and walked out. There is plenty of parking. When I am in this area again, I will certainly drop by. (233)

Tip: There's a ton of parking at this plaza…read more Last Saturday, I visited Brooklin Town Centre after a late lunch. It had a Dollarama that I wanted to visit. I then ended up at Tim Hortons, The Beer Store, and Scotiabank. I am not great at knowing the exact name of any plaza or shopping area. I am there for specific stores. As long as I get there in one piece, I'm happy. This plaza looks fairly new. I'd say that it's less than a decade old. The plaza's sign is interesting. It has Brooklin Towne Centre -- Towne with an e. When you look at Google Maps, the e is dropped. My guess is that the property owner registered the name with the e to conjure up cozy historical vibes. Brooklin has a charming downtown area that I frequented a while back when it had a Copper Branch. My guess is that over time, the e got dropped from Town. It is an archaic spelling of the word that no one uses regularly. This plaza's got a FreshCo, BarBURRITO, Great Clips, A&W, and Shoppers Drug Mart that piqued my interest. I didn't need to visit any of them on Saturday. It was nice to know that they exist and I'll visit them eventually. I liked all the businesses that I had visited. They had everything that I needed. What stands out this that this plaza has three drive-thrus. It is the first time that I've witnessed it. Most plazas that I visit have a maximum of two. The three drive-thrus here are at: - Scotiabank - A&W - Tim Hortons What's cool is that they are all close to one another. Scotiabank and A&W has entrances next to each other. You do need to pay attention to which entrance you want. A&W and Timmy's have parallel drive-thru lanes, but they run in opposite directions. I looked at photos that a Yelper had uploaded for this business listing. It's odd that this person grabbed them off Google, as I can see the watermarks on most of them and they are fuzzy. Weird. However, I'm not going to knock this person for not taking photos. On the contrary, this person did a screen grab of Shoeless Joe's. I didn't see it when I was here. It looks like Piper Arms has taken over from where Shoeless Joe's used to be. I like this plaza a lot. There's April's Nail and Spa that seems to have decent ratings. Maybe when I feel like getting a manicure, I'll be here. I look forward to returning. I like how spacious it is. Folks were friendly at every business that I had human interaction with. (334)

Tip: If there's no one at the stall, you can pay for your items at the Markets checkout area…read more On Saturday, I was in downtown Bowmanville for the first time. i checked out Markets. It had a bunch of vendors under one roof. I spotted Another Spin Records. I love music and record stores. I didn't see any staffers for this business. It was a treat to browse records that this place had. There were new and used records. The variety was amazing. I spotted Duran Duran's Seventh and the Ragged Tiger. I don't have it in record form. I do have it on cassette. There were many Howard Jones records. It was like going through his entire repertoire. I like 80's music. Still stuck in that era, it was great seeing Culture Club and Cyndi Lauper records. The used records were decently prices. I saw them going between $16 and $20. The newer records will cost you more, mainly because there aren't many record-pressing companies out there these days. A brand new Jagged Little Pill album by Alanis Morrissette went for $41. James Blunt's Once Upon a Mind was going for $37. This store also had books in a small section of the stall. I saw a Taylor Swift book there. I liked visiting this store. It was fun browsing. (357)

Winners is one of my fave stores to shop at! I can always count on it to be able to find great…read moredeals for anything I need. This location is pretty big. I stopped by today to return something and I also browsed around. There was quite a lot of toys in stock, I was a bit shocked. I guess it's because Christmas is around the corner. Store was well organized.

I love Winners. So does my boyfriend…read more When I am in Ajax, I visit this store where all the box stores are. There is plenty of parking. I find the most fun items here. I nearly bought a strand of hot dog lights. My boyfriend gets annoyed when I order a hot dog. His eyes rolled when I found these lights. Instead, I took a photo of them. The store is clean and big. There are public restrooms in this store. The shoe selection is great for my size 11 feet. The last time u was here, I got a can of dry shampoo and a Stuck in the 80's desk calendar. I love this store. The cashier noticed that I love purple. My wallet, purse, hat, and shoes were all purple that day. (50)

Tip: There is free parking behind the building. Alternatively, you can park on the street…read more Last Saturday, I was driving along Highway 2, heading east, cutting through downtown Bowmanville. I spotted many folks entering Markets on my left. I was curious and decided to hang a couple of lefts to check it out. There was parking behind the building. I found a parking spot designated for customers at Markets. It was shaded. Bonus! I got out of my car and walked over to the back entrance. I came on a good day. There was live punk music happening in front of the back entrance. I enjoyed what I heard, but I don't know what the band's name was. Brutal Days Clothing Co. was selling t-shirts and more across from where this band was playing. A t-shirt was going for $25, which seemed reasonable. Markets is exactly what you think it entails. Local vendors set up stalls inside the building. There seemed to be a lot of vendors present in a section of the building. Perhaps they were a part of this punk music event, although the merchandise didn't scream punk to me. I liked seeing handmade press-on nails by Pastel Ghoul. They looked fancy and cool. I'd probably have to trim them down, as I tend to keep my nails short. I was mesmerized by countless pickled veggies by Veggie Shack. I also saw jars of pasta sauce. Talk of the Town has a food stall here. It is known for amazing egg rolls and burgers. Sadly, I was there too early. It opens up on Saturdays at 5 pm. I liked visiting Another Spin Records and More. It had a decent selection of 80's records, from Duran Duran, to Howard Jones. It had more modern records, too, such as James Blunt and Alanis Morissette. You pay at the vendor stall if there's a person. Another Spin Records didn't have any staff present, so you can pay for items from this business in the Markets checkout area. I liked browsing at this market. I'd like to return, especially when I need to get gifts. I'd also like to check out Talk of the Town when it's open. (359)

Tip: Tent sales are fun, with merchandise being heavily reduced. Sales are final. However, you do…read moreend up with a coupon to use on any regular item the next time you shop here. A couple of Saturdays ago, I visited this Kitchen Stuff Plus (KSP). I am on KSP's mailing list and found out that this store had a tent sale. I've been to tent sales at my local KSP store in Markham. It's a lot of fun finding items that I have wanted to get, but didn't because they weren't on sale until I spot them at this tent sale. I ended up ordering a couple of items to pick up at this store. An OXO cherry pitter was on sale, as well as a storage organizer that I love. I got confirmation that they were ready for pickup. The toughest part was deciding whether to hit the tent sale, or pick up and pay for my items being held first. I decided to do the latter, but not buy anything else while in the store. I parked fairly close to the main entrance when I got to the store. I pulled into a parking spot, which felt weird as someone who regularly backs into one. I walked into the store. There was a woman sitting almost too comfortably where the patio display was. She looked like she wanted to take a nap. I enjoyed looking at glasses and plates. I didn't need any, but I like knowing what's new. There were fun shark and cactus bottle openers. I later saw them at the tent sale. They were heavily reduced in price over there. I liked the salad to-go cups. It's perfect for a snack or as a side. I don't think it would work for me for salad as a main. I would need a larger cup (maybe two), as I like salad and would need more. It was cool seeing my cherry pitter and storage unit at the store. I could have picked them out myself, but I do like reserving them for pickup. I wanted to ensure that I got them. I went to the checkout and let a nice woman know that I was picking up a couple of items. She asked for my phone number associated with my account and entered it into the system. She found my order and went to fetch the items that were behind her. I paid with a credit card. I tapped. Done! I ended up getting a bug zapper, as I had qualified to get it at 50% off. I haven't used it yet, as I finally got batteries for it the other day. I put my items in my large reusable bag. I thanked the woman and headed to my car to put my items away. It was tent sale time! I walked over to it to check out the items. I liked what I saw. I ended up getting a honey stick and a jar scooper with a long handle. The woman at the checkout under the tent was nice. She let me know that these items were final sale. I paid with a credit card. I got a coupon towards a regular item the next time I visited this store. Nice! I had a wonderful experience at the store and under the tent. I'd return again to shop when I'm in the area. (312)

Staff very friendly and helpful. Beautiful store but things are not clearly marked so hard to…read morenavigate if looking for specific items and not just browsing