Frenchgate Shopping Centre is a modern-day "Fawlty Tower's" and is one of the worst indoor shopping…read morecentres, I've seen serving a large town or city. The mall had a kind of sad atmosphere, many units were left empty or abandoned, with many of the store's that remain being small/poor stores, such as a Sainsbury's where I couldn't find anything which I needed. The security staff seemed unhelpful and lazy, they didn't care or stop children running around and playing ball games, shouting and screaming around the centre, it felt like a place for unruly troublesome thugs than a place to shop. The mobile signal in and around the centre is also non-existent, despite Doncaster having 5G, and my iPhone 12 Pro Max supporting this, I was barely able to access 3G! I also think it was frustrating that the majority of stores within the mall close at around 17:30, which is pretty early, even Sainsbury's shuts at 7 pm. There was some construction around the mall, which seemed unsafe and many lifts were not in working order. They did have a small number of eateries, but a lack of big brands in that regard, with Nando's and a pizza joint (such as Pizza Express) missing. 1* - A big letdown for the people of Doncaster, if you need a shopping centre in Doncaster, head to the train station outside the mall and head to Meadowhall, which is a twenty-minute journey.

The Frenchgate centre was revamped and massively extended a couple of years ago, and the difference…read moreis enormous. There's loads of parking (although it is a little on the pricey side), good access to the railway and bus station and loads of the usual High Street names. It can be a bit confusing to navigate around - I still get a bit confused as to which way I'm heading when I'm in there, and take careful note of where you've parked as if you go back up the wrong stairs you may never see your car again! There's not much of a foodcourt but right at the end of one of the sections there are several eateries - you need to be looking for it though, you won't just find it as you're passing as you'd expect in most shopping centres. Watch out for the loos - last time I tried to use them they wanted to charge for the priveledge! Not a chance!

This Matalan is pretty big and has a really wide range of stuff…read more It's on the Wheatley Hall Road retail park, so it's generally easy to park and there have been recent improvements so there's less congestion in/out of the car park (although I'm not sure how much of an effect that's had), and this store is the only one that I know of on the park with toilets! I'm not the biggest fan of the own-brand clothing in Matalan - I think it is a bit cheap and nasty, but they also sell brand names too, not designer, but generally good quality. These are discounted a bit and although probably not the cheapest they're generally good prices. Good for homewares although better if you're just browsing and picking up the odd thing than looking for something in particular as they have a wide range of products but very little choice in each category.

Matalan is a bit of cheap-man's Marks & Spencer. They have the same departments, but at lower…read moreprices and usually lesser quality. They also sell so-called 'designer' brands, but these are generally just High Street names which had over-inflated prices in the first place. I bought a suitcase from them a few years ago which promptly fell to bits first time it was used, so I avoid their luggage like the plague now. Their homewares are ok, not bad prices, and the clothing is not too bad for the price you pay. Good retail park, lots of parking, although it is a bit of a bottle neck at busy times.

Debenhams: the shop that you walk through to get to the car park! But they really do try their…read morehardest to make the most of that status, as there are heavily painted ladies at each corner ready to spritz you with any number of fragrances, and big promotional displays as far as the eye can see. If you do venture further into the store, it's actually quite good, especially if there's a sale on. They've got loads of concessions instore and many of what I call almost-designer brands such as John Rocha, Jasper Conran, Ben Sherman and the likes. These are definitely overpriced, but when they've knocked the obligatory 50% and 20% blue cross discount on top then they're not bad at all.

Debenhams is one of my absolute favourite shops in Doncaster as it sells so much and every so often…read moreit has a sales event where everything is up to 20% off, a huge saving on some of the more expensive items like occasion wear and shoes. I purchased my bridesmaids dresses from there, originally £80 each picked them up for £32 each, total bargain as well as shoes down from £90 to £40. There is a lovely cafe called style cafe which does meals and there are some great jewellery and cosmetics counters to browse and try.

This is a M&S Clearance store, so totally different from the normal High Street branches…read more Everything instore is discounted - often heavily, and it's a bit messier than a normal store, but that makes it all the better for bargain hunting in! Some items are pretty poor, either with very little discount or really badly designed and you can see why they're cheap. But there are some real gems there and you can get some complete bargains. I got a gorgeous pair of chocolate winter cords the other day for £2.99, a kids hoodie for £1.99 and a bra for 99p. Look out for the rails of final clearance stock - these are the best value. They have fitting rooms like normal M&S stores, and the staff at the checkouts are always very friendly and polite as you'd expect. They mainly have womens clothing, with different ranges including Per Una and lingerie. There is a decent mens section as well, and a small childrenswear area to the back beside the fitting rooms. They so sell some homewares but only minimal and it is mostly towels, pot pourri and that sort of thing. This shop and Next clearance are the main reasons that a lot of people bother making a trip to the outlet in the first place. If M&S wasn't there I know I wouldn't bother half as often. Highly recommended for bargain hunters!

My wife is always dragging me to Lakeside (the Yorkshire Outlet) just to go to this shop. The 5*…read morerating is therefore based more on her opinion than mine! It's good mainly because it's cheap. There's nowhere near the selection you get in the normal M&S stores, but what they do have is discounted quite a bit off the normal store price. They also have 'special purchase' items which are only sold in their outlet stores, sometimes because they're slightly lesser quality, other timesjust because! The best bit is the clearance section that you find at the back of the store. I got a pair of work trousers in there for £2.99 that had originally been £45, and they're really good quality. Also lots of kids things in there for 50p and £1, so it's well worth a good look. Great for pressies for elderly aunties!

Very knowledgable and comprehensive harware/garden store. Specialising in large scale machinery and…read morefacilities (ride on mowers, bulk purchases), invariably helpful and forthright, even if that means pointing us in someone else's direction to do our business

A proper blokes play pen. I could spend hours just exploring. Now I understand why my wife is…read moreusually in a shoe shop for half of a day!

You can pick up some really good bargins here,but it can take you ages to actually find anything…read moresuitable,there are huge rows of clothes and they are nearly all just one or two of each item ,the sizes usually are all mixed up aswell so it can be dificult browsing ,Iv been here before and found a designer skirt for just a couple of pound ,but ive also been here and looked through row after row and not found anything at all ,so if you have the time and are after a bargin it is worth coming here The toys here are excellent value,they are a good price anyway ,but if you come when they have sales on then you really can pick up amazing bargins,every year I always intend to buy next years presents in the sales,but to date ,I never have any money left in january

Ok, so I wrote the review below a few days ago based on previous knowledge. I'll leave it there, as…read moreit was my opinion at the time, but I'm going to add an edit at the bottom Doncaster TK Maxx is one of the better ones. I think the management there are quite strict because the staff always seem to be hardworking, and the place is quite tidy. It's in the retail park on Wheatley Hall Road so there's plenty of free parking although it does get busy at weekends. They've recently improved the access/exits to try and cut down on congestion - last Saturday before Christmas will show whether or not it has worked! The store has an excellent range of designer goods at unbelievable prices, as do all TKMs but this one makes it a little easier to find what you're looking for as it is a little tidier. Watch out for the returns policy - max 14 days and you MUST have a receipt or you're stuffed. EDIT: I was in this TK Maxx yesterday and it was absolutely appalling. The place was a complete and utter tip - I don't mean a usual TK Maxx jumble-sale style tip, I mean an absolute earthquake struck tip. You could hardly get the trolley through the aisles, especially in the handbags, toys and menswear. There were only 2 tills open with about 6 people in the queue at each, and each waiting for a price for an item (not surprising as there were LOADS of things without prices in the shop, and no visible staff on the shopfloor). I was told to go to the service desk to pay, but when I got there it was unmanned. When someone eventually arrived, she had the most un-customer-focussed attitude I've come across since I'd been in TK Maxx Cheadle (don't start me on that one!), and was totally unfriendly. I had two items without prices among my pickings. The first was a wooly hat that I'd picked out of a heap of rubble in the menswear clearance section. She sent someone off to find a price while I waitedand waitedand waited. Eventually this person reappeared and said they couldn't find anything similar. So I was told there wasn't a price available. She said she'd have to phone round all the other stores until she could find one the same because we can't guess, you know. Lol. She gave me a red pen and a red piece of paper off the till roll to write my phone number on - great idea. I used my own black pen, but haven't had the call about the price. Perhaps she's still ringing around The second item was a little baby book which I'd picked up off the floor in the mess that was the toy department. Now, we're talking about a book with half a dozen cardboard pages, about 3 square, with a little bit of rubber at the top like a teether. Perhaps a quid or two, maybe double that if you bought it in a posh shop. Mrs Super-service decided it must be part of a set but duly despatched her trusty sidekick to get a price. About 10 minutes later, the phone rang. She came back and said that the book was £9.99!!! I said that I thought they couldn't make it up, and she said they'd found another the same. Complete and utter ballax. It wasn't a 'designer' name, it was a little book with pictures and ABCs in it, for babies. I asked her if I could see the other book with the price on it, but she declined and made some carp excuse about the girl being on a break now. Hmmm, surprising. Or maybe it was because she was talking out of her backside. So, excuse the rant, but beware that the service in Doncaster has gone downhill big-time.

This is such a great shop for all the sorts of things that you need but can't think where to buy…read morethem! The Frenchgate store isn't the biggest in the world but there's still a really good selection of stuff. Especially good value is the hardware - screws, sockets and the likes, as these are a fraction of the price you'd pay in B&Q. They sell toys but I think this is something they could probably improve on as I've never seen anything there that I'd want to buy for my kids. It all seems to be lesser quality but full price which is surprising as the rest of the stuff instore is really good. Parking isn't great as you've got to pay for the Frenchgate car park and if you're buying larger items then you've got to lug them through the shoppers and all the way back to the car. For that reason, it's probably best to use this store for smaller essentials than bits of furniture (unless you can borrow a strong bloke for the day).

This wilkinson is based within Frenchgate shopping centre. It's a good size store and ofers…read morehomewears, pet supplies, DIY/Decorating supplies, Kitchen/Cookwear, Garden items, toys, Games, Storage, Stationary and Cards. There are always great prices on offer and they offer some great toys and games around Christmas time. Regular offers in store means that you can often get extra savings on products too. The staff are helpful and know the layout of the store well so can quickly help you find what you're looking for, they are also willing to let you know alternative places to find things if they don't stock it.

I love these old House of Fraser stores - they're just so dated inside, it reminds me of being a…read morekid and getting dragged round by my parents, and the old fashioned lifts which had an operator in them! Sadly you have to press the button yourself now, and there have been some half-baked attempts at modernisation in places but on the whole, this is the nearest thing you'll find in town to a traditional department store. This store is a step above Debenhams, and a step below the proper designer stores but a good place to look if you're searching for something nice. Their sales are good, and their own brand, Linea, is generally good quality. Parking is non-existant for this shop, you've got to find a space on street, or in one of the car parks and it can make it more bother than it's worth so sadly it's a shop I don't visit as often as I would like, but if you're in town anyway and feeling flush it's worth a look.