I bloody love Makro, just the thought of it makes me giddy, I think it's the whole thing about…read moreeverything being larger than usual - when you're walking round and you walk past a 4 litre tub of Helmans Mayo you feel like you're in 'Honey I shrunk the Kids' (anyone remember that movie?)! Anyway on to the more serious stuff, Makro really is a god send if you're organisning an event or a party, the whole idea of it is that you can buy items in bulk and save some money at the same time. This Makro is about a 10 - 15 minute drive from Belfast City centre but is just off the M1 so is pretty easy to get to! There's a huge car park too so don't worry about it getting too busy. They stock everything you could possibly want from electrical items, kitchen supplies, meat, cigarettes and alcohol. Set some time aside to go because it's huge! To give you an example, yesterday I bought 50 premium beers for £22 which is amazing value in comparison to supermarket prices! One thing to note is that you need a Makro or Booker (recently bought over) card to get a discount but you can apply on the website if you have a business or run any large scale events.

Yes Makro is a good spot if you're looking to buy in bulk - boxes of crisps, chocolate, sweets, not…read moreto mention the actual food. You can buy huge packets and boxes of meat, chicken, etc., and if you have the storage space you can make some good savings. IMPORTANT: YOU WILL NOT BE PERMITTED ENTRY TO MAKRO WITHOUT A MAKRO CARD. The off licence is open to the public, but you need a Makro card to access the rest of the store. Often people tell others about Makro and forget to mention that you have to have a card, which you have to apply for and include details such as VAT registration numbers for your business. I know a lot of shoppers will find that disappointing, but better you find out now than travel up and get refused entry at reception. That being said, a lot of people go here to get the big boxes of washing powder, big bags/cases of dog food, as well as boxes of blank Cds etc. It also has a lot of electrical equipment (TVs, computers, digital cameras, etc), sporting equipment, clothes... the list goes on. There are some great offers available when the "Makro Mail" comes out, which is their fortnightly publication which details their special offers for that period. You usually need to get there on the first day of the offers though (every second Wednesday), as Makro tend not to have huge stocks of these goods which are effectively their "loss leaders". They also have a "sale mail" which they bring out occasionally in addition to the Makro Mail. (You can look through the Makro Mails on their website). There are savings to be made too in their off licence, especially if buying cases of wine or availing of special offers. What a lot of people find frustrating is that the prices listed are exclusive of VAT, as the store is ostensibly intended for retailers who reclaim VAT, so some people get a bit of a surprise when they get to the till. If you know someone who has a card, they can bring two people in as guests. It's a great store you could spend hours in, and the off licence is accessible without a Makro card.

Better Value, Better Quality, It must be Dunnes Stores! Remember this old TV jingle for Dunnes…read more Anytime anyone mentions the place that recycles in my head. So all I can say is the ad worked. Anyway Dunnes Stores eh? What can I say, it is a bit of an institution in Northern Ireland and Ireland, it is kind of the same deal as Primark. Low quality clothes but at an excellent price. For instance I think I have got a few white shirts for various occasions from Dunnes stores. I would say its target audience is the older generation as I do not see too many young people go in and out of Dunnes. But it must be doing okay as it has been in its unit in the Flagship centre for years and years. If you need the basics in terms of clothes and don't want to spend too much money then I would go to Dunnes Stores. The flagship Centre is right in the centre of town and there is on site parking and ATM's galore.

Dunnes store is a classy department store situated in the centre of Bangor. Although it is moderate…read morein size it is all on the one floor and does stock a good selection of children's, ladies and men's. There is also a good quality stock of household goods. I have never been dissatisfied with anything that I have purchased from this store wether for me or as a present. It really is value for money with prices being very affordable for the quality provided. The only problem I have when shopping here is that there are so many nice things to choose from, just when you think you have got what you want, you see something else that had a bigger wow factor!! It is a lovely clean and bright store and the layout always stay the same so there is no valuable time wasted trying to find the section you are looking for. All in all I can't really say anything negative about this store except that I really could shop till I drop when I go into it but I always manage to come home with one of those great bargains that we all love to get our hands on !!

This particular Dunnes Stores is a bit hit or miss. It doesn't sell groceries but instead…read morespecialises in women's, men's and children's clothing and some household items and fabrics. A large store and definitely worth visiting. However, the quality is sometimes great and at others it's terrible! I've had to return a couple of pieces of clothing to Dunnes in the past as they literally fell apart in the wash! At the same time I've a few items bought years ago which are still as good as new. A bit of a lottery really. Nonetheless prices are low, selection good and customer service great as Dunnes Stores always exchange or refund without any hassle.

Dunnes Forestside has had a makeover and I had to go for a nosey around. The store hasn't…read morecompletely finished refurbishment, as the lifts were not working so I had to carry my toddler up to their all new first floor. This is where they have the kids and homeware departments. Sometimes you can get cute little kids clothes at good value. The store wasn't very busy, which was strange I got a good wee nosey around their homeware range. There are new designer concessions in store, but nothing really grabbed me. Maybe when they have fully finished the store there will be more interesting additions.

Wow Dunnes has actually gone downhill quite a bit since my last visit to the Belfast megastore. I…read morepopped in when I was over here in October to see if much had changed and all in all, I was disappointed. I started with the top floor which was totally devoid of any people. Just overpriced homewares. Even the restaurant was all boarded up, and to enter the toilets you had to either insert 10p or get a token from a staff member if you show your receipt! It reminded me of the old dated system in BHS! The lift I used was violent and shakey, and it felt like the floor was about to fall through. Some maintenance in this department please Dunnes Even the food hall was a disappointment - dwarfed into a small hole at the back corner of the shop. Much smaller than I remember. It's all downhill from here. Sorry Dunnes, but I'll be taking my custom to Debenhams and House of Fraser...

On a recent shopping expedition I managed to lose my wallet, It transpired that I had dropped it in…read moreDunnes Belfast. As I retraced my steps and was ringing around I was fortunate enough to call Chriss (Not sure of spelling) She was very helpful and after establishing that it was indeed my wallet informed me that they had it. I called and collected it. Tremendous help from good people. Thanks Guys

For my 345th Yelp, I am sharing one of my favorite shopping places! I enjoy shopping at M&S,…read morewhenever I am in the UK or Ireland. I can count on them for clothes that suit both my style and my budget. Today they were short staffed. Very few registers open and no one on the selling floor to help when I needed it. This afternoon I purchased some jeans for myself, some toner and I grabbed my husband a few wee colognes from this place. The toner was a great buy for my travel weary skin. The colognes are outstanding, make hubby smell like the dashing Irishman that he is, and the jeans hit these curves correctly. Terrific food selections as well. Once I had them cater an entire Christmas Dinner. This was several years back. But again, Mark & Spencer's quality was evident; their prices are fair. Again...They never disappoint.

I was excited to visit a M&S while visiting Belfast and this particular location didn't quite live…read moreup to my expectations; as far as department stores go, this one felt like a basic Macy's back in the US. There was a major sale underway and the store was busy - but I didn't see anything that looked much higher end than an H&M.

We started doing our weekly shops online - I find I'd rather spend 20 minutes on the laptop at home…read morerather going on a Monday evening after work. I thought the website was simple and easy to use - you can add your shops to your favourites which is handy if you ended up getting the same sort of things every week. Sainsburys were doing £15 off your first shop over £60 and £10 off your next four shops over £50 - which was why we decided to shop with Sainsburys- I love a wee discount. You can amend your order before 11pm the night before your shopping is due to arrive. So If you notice you've run out of something you can just log on and update your order. Sainsburys do not process the payment until they've packed your order. You can also choose hourly slots for your shopping to be delivered - starting from as little as £1 ranging up to about £5. I also noticed that if your shopping costs less than £25 the delivery will cost £6 - ours would never cost less than £25 so we didn't have to worry about that. I would recommend shopping with Sainsburys online. I also find the quality of Sainsburys food slightly better than Tescos or Asda.

This is one of the larger Sainsburys I have been to and it has a few really great features. First…read moreup it has an underground car park meaning that if the Belfast weather is doing it's usual you don't even have to get wet while pushing your trolley to the car. There's a large alcohol, home and electrical section making this a real one stop shop. Hosed in the Kennedy thriving Kennedy centre there's not much to dislike about this supermarket. Although you can only buy your groceries at 1pm on a Sunday you are able to browse and fill your trolley much earlier and you'll avoid the queues when the tills eventually open.

Went in today to avoid the rain and an hour later I emerged!!! This really is a stalwart in…read moreBallymena and sells high end Furniture in Ballymena and beyond. There is a paid car park behind and a cafe on the first floor. Staff are amazing and very helpful. Now the furniture that I saw on the ground floor was fantastic. I must make a point to visit the other levels!!

Camerons is part of the history of Ballymena wether youre after a newspaper, fashion, furniture,…read morecds/dvds, toys, video games oh its way to much to mention you will get it here all under one roof. Their instore cafe is one of the best in the area with a wide range of treats at reasonable prices. Multifloors but they do have an escalulater if you are unable to climb stairs. staff can be a little stuck up but this is only a minor problem and wont ruin your shopping experience

This department store is fantastic! It is one of three stores in the Province. There are two in…read moreEast Belfast and the other one is in Ballymena. You can buy everything for the house from cleaning products to furniture and the nice thing is that the prices are very reasonable. I love browsing round the store as I always come out with something a little bit different for the house and if you are looking for a gift with a difference either for a wedding or child's birthday you can always count on finding it in store. So if you are looking for something of good quality and reasonably priced give this store a visit. You will always find the best selection of Christmas trees and decorations at that seasonal time of year which takes the hassle out of hunting around. Go on , you won't be disappointed !

Wyse Byse is a Belfast institution. It is what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris, Big Ben is to London,…read moreand the Leaning Tower is to Pisa. Well, maybe not quite, but it's certainly up there. It has everything you could possibly want, within reason of course. Furniture, stationery, toys, household appliances, confectionary, toiletries to name but a few. In fact there's so much variety that nearly every time I go and attempt to find what I need, I have to ask a member of staff where it is located. And they nearly always have it. In recent weeks I have purchased nail brushes, non-powdered gloves, a stapler, huge bags of sweets, hairspray...all cheap as chips too. Probably cheaper than chips to be fair, they're awful expensive these days. Cannot recommend it enough. Go and grab yourself a bargain!