I have been looking for a second outfit for an event I am attending and haven't been finding what I…read morewant... or think are appropriate for the event. So when i found out there was a Zara in Bolton, I thought surely I would find what I need there. Zara was my main source of business casual dress when I previously worked and lived here in the UK. I love the blouses, skirts, jackets, etc. I like that I can look professional and fashionable at the same time. This Zara store is a lot larger than I anticipated and was very clean, no items on the floor like some of the other stores I have been to. However, the store seemed to focus more on casual dress than anything else. Maybe it is the season, but I was a bit surprised that it was all casual dress. The ground floor is all women and upstairs you'll find clothes for men and children. I think this might be one of the few times I have walked out of Zara without a purchase :(

Zara is situated within the new Market Place development in Bolton town centre…read more There are car parks which are pay and display around the town and the bus station is close to the town centre. From the outside Zara's store front is modern, bright, attractive and the window displays are wonderful and fresh and inspiring. Zara is one of my favourite stores and I am pleased that it has come to Bolton, it is a welcome addition to what the shopping centre has to offer the shopper. Inside the store is spacious, clean, well layed out and has a great atmosphere. There are lots of different ranges to browse and all at competitive prices, lots of displays match the clothes together really well and make it easy to imagine how the clothes will look on you. There is ample space for a sale without making the store cramped and sales are worth a look. The checkout area is centrally located and normally well staffed. Staff are friendly and helfpful. This is one of my favourite Zara stores and I can highly recommend it to others. And, once you have enjoyed browsing in Zara there are plenty more shops within the Market Place for you to visit, including Jane Norman, H&M, Next, La Senza and River Island. If that is not enough then the town centre has more to offer and is a lovely area that has shops including Dorothy Perkins, Marks and Spencer and New Look.a very large New Look which is great, oh and also a Primark too! You may be pleasantly surprised.

Making 30 year old dad's fashionable again all over the country is the seemingly the life mission…read moreof Fat Face. Maybe I'm being a tiny bit unfair actually, Fat Face has seem really well made and cool clothes that work if you're a few years under 30 as well. The vibe is basically a bit surferish, a bit environmentally friendly, a bit build-your-own-eco-home. But cool. Billabong and Rip Curl this is definitely not. Their store in the Trafford Centre is clean and well laid out, with a small selection of shoes and accessories, as well as lots of slightly hippyish clothes for girls and boys. It's alright, really!

Jack Wills is a brand I have become more aware of in the past couple of months, and I came into…read morethis store today simply to do an online return. This is quite a decent size store but still just lacks a good, welcoming feel to it. The main entrance does have steps but there is another through a side-street off the main road which is also used and does have a lift, the lift is quite slow and is up a really steep slope so in regards to access especially for prams and wheelchairs, and older people who would struggle getting up such a steep ramp, they have done an awful job. The store is quite spacious especially as you walk in through the non-steps enterence and there is some stock there, and not always staff. One thing I don't like about Jack Wills is that the staff lack uniforms and it is hard to tell who is who, I didn't notice anything which stood out and after waiting a few minutes, I actually thought I had handed my return to a member of the public, posing as a member of staff and he had stolen my coat worth £129, luckily it wasn't and he eventually came out and sorted it. The member of staff didn't seem too friendly and welcoming, in keeping me updated and actually know what was going on. The store was slightly larger than other branches I have visited such as the one in the Trafford Centre, mainly because this store isn't as restricted to its size as it isn't in a mall, and is just on a shopping street (King Street) in central Manchester. Overall, with access and staffing issues being a strong factor in determining my rating for this store, I sadly feel they deserve a single one star and this store does let down the Jack Wills brand, which to me has more of a high-end image without the service you would expect from a store of that kind. It was unwelcoming and that was sad.

Wandered into this store today, after being mocked by a colleague for not knowing what (or who, I…read morethink I asked) Jack Wills was. I was very pleasantly surprised. The interior is great, with separate rooms on two floors to maintain a high-end boutique feel with lots of whitewashed wood panelling and clean, fresh-looking fixtures. The ethos of the company is "the University Outfitters, Fabulously British", although to me it looks more preppy Americana fodder. There's lots of Uni-style logos on sweat pants and track tops, but also a good assortment of less sport-orientated day wear. I noticed a lot of 'ditzy print' for women - the new, more fashionable chintz prints. Very summery. Womenswear, Menswear, underwear, bedding, towels and little bits like pens, Iphone covers and headphones were among the things I noticed they stock. To give you an idea of price, I saw a gym-bag style holdall for around £30, a summery skirt of the afore mentioned ditzy variety for £59, and a lovely branded dinner plate for £16. The University campus look isn't something I particularly buy into, but for the right person there are some lovely pieces. I imagine it's for the same sort of crowd as Hollister draws. Definitely worth a visit, and hopefully it will draw younger customers back toward the shopping areas of King Street and St. Ann's from the Arndale.

I hope the company behind Fat Face didn't pay a consulting company to come up with a great brand…read morename for them. Short of Thunder Thighs and Amazing Ass, I can't think of a worse name for a store. Judging by the size of their flagship Manchester store however, it hasn't done them any harm. A big retail space in St. Ann's Square, it's packed floor to ceiling with contemporary men, womens and kids clothes. Since the brand's niche is 'clothes for an active lifestyle', there's casual jeans, tees, hoodies, sweaters and accesories for each season. There's also bikinis, sneakers and trunks for swimming, cable knit jumpers and jackets for ski-ing and snowboarding and vest tops for cycling, running and rockclimbing in the summer. If I was the sporty, outdoor type, I might be tempted to try a few things on. As it is, I'm still finding it hard to get my head round the idea of wearing anything called Fat Face!

I really like Fat Face. True, it does have a faintly ridiculous name but that's just about the only…read morething wrong with it. The clothes here are all about being a bit surfer-ish, without being covered in "Vans" or "Animal" or "Rip Curl" slogans. What's so great about Fat Face is that there clothes are different to almost everything else on the high street, where as clothes in Next, Gap and H&M often seem exactly the same. The staff in Fat Face are cool and friendly, and the shop has a nice, relaxed vibe. If you're a Fat Face fan, pay a visit to this flagship Manchester store. There's two floors packed with all the great Fat Face clothes you could want.

Manchester Airport has loads of little shops and boutiques, it's quite good really. Also, most of…read morethem are pretty cool. Fat Face being a prime example of that. I really like Fat Face, I must admit. And when I was in Manchester airport at 6 in the morning I did have a gander in Fat Face to while away a few minutes. Whilst clearly not as big as the bigger Fat Face stores in central Manchester, it's still got lots of dad style surfer clothes that I actually kind of really think are great. Furthermore, the lady working in here was surprisingly perky for it being so early in the morning. Excellent!

Credit must go to the store for trying to improve, while it isn't the largest Primark anymore with…read morethat title being held by their Birmingham location, they have begun to expand and now offer a Friends themed cafe, Harry Potter section and a Mills Barbers (Pretty poor service there, but one of the cheaper cuts in town). The main emphasis remains clothes. While it still seems like a never-ending, busy hell-hole most of the time, especially at weekends, if you go outside of peak times it is bearable, it is also located in a nice, large building opposite Market Street. Service is meh in general but if you're willing to brace it, it offers mediocre cheap clothes and as far as Primark locations go it is A-OK but it wouldn't be my first choice for fashion in Manchester. 3*

A great place for low cost items. The only setback is the obligatory 15 minute wait in the checkout…read morequeue !

There's a horse from a carousel in the middle of this Mulberry boutique on King Street. I quite…read moreliked that. Mulberry is very designer basically, the kind of place that doesn't have a lot of things in the shop because it's all about quality, not quantity. They do a lot of very leathery and expensive looking handbags, as well as a few dresses. I went in looking for a gift for my girlfriend. The Scottish lady serving me had an incredible accent and suggested a couple of purses and lockets in the shop's display cases. £50 for a purse or passport wallet! That really is quite a lot of money in my book, especially when the design in Mulberry is very traditional and not that interesting.

Luxury English fashion. Supposedly inspired by the city and craft of the countryside mulberry is…read moreall about leather crap. From leather handbags to well sort of leather shoes and stuff. My mum goes here as well, before you get any ideas again. I can't see any one who actually has an interest in this stuff going to yelp for a review of their store on king street. If you are reading this with an inquisitive nature though its a nice shop, it looks just like the website does (which is where I recommend you check out). Not a lot in there too see as mentioned before, its all about the minimalist fashionista shite that lots of folk buy into.

Topshop is situated in the Market Place shopping centre in Bolton town centre…read more There are car parks which are pay and display around the town and the bus station is not too far away from the town centre. The store front of Topshop is modern, attractive and clean. The window display is eyecatching and up to date.great. The inside of the store is large, clean and spacious and there are lots of displays which are imaginative and inspiring. This branch of Topshop has the capacity to hold a good range of lines and also has room to accomodate a good sized sale without causing cramping. There are shoes, underwear, bags and accessories too. The products are reasonabley priced and high quality. There are changing rooms within the store and these are clean and spacious. The checkout is to the right of the store in the centre and is normally well staffed. Staff are very friendly and very helpful, knowledgeable and efficient. The atmosphere is good. This is one of my favourite Topshop stores and I would highly recommend it to others. The store is within easy access of the other stores within the Market Place.....including DB3, Zara, Jane Norman, Mark One and La Senza. The town centre shops are nearby and also Crompton Place shopping centre.Large New Look in town......

The Bolton Topshop store is quite small in comparison to other Topshop stores. They still have a…read morefairly good range of clothes but I am finding less and less clothes I could actually buy that would suit my body shape here. I think Topshop is now much more for the person who can pull of the current fashion trends and fads as most of the clothing they sell isn't really all that practical to wear.