TK Maxx: The not so surprisingly secret behind so many people's designer clothes…read more The good: - You can get some real bargains - It stocks a brilliant range of clothing, from ball gowns to trekking boots. - It's not just clothes: check out their shoes, bags, sunglasses and accessories. - You never know what you're going to get - Often it's reduced just because there's new stock in the main stores now; most of it is good quality The bad: - Sometimes it's obvious why nobody's bought it - some of the items here are hideous! - Sometimes there's the perfect item but only in the wrong size. - Clothes are arranged according to size, but as there's such a variety of brands, the sizing isn't very consistent - It can feel like permanently hunting through sales bargains, including loads of clothes strewn all over the place and people barging their way around competitively.

TK Maxx - what can you say. Cut price fashion, but its not for everyone. You do have to search…read morearound for things, but you can really find some excellent bargins. You have to make sure you visit after they have had a delivery as some of the shelves (esp shoes) can be a bit bare. Look for the clearance areas and have a good rumage. Always confirm sizing on the garment as the tags can sometimes be wrong.

While on a trip to London we made a quick stop here to purchase a delightful umbrella for my wife…read moreto use during our travels. Fair price, helpful customer service reps, and a clean, well-lit store... I've got no complaints at all and we would gladly go back again if we ever visit Oxford again - hopefully we will.

I love this shop. It used to be a real rabbit warren of a place, a bit like an old fashioned…read moredepartment store. (Think 'Are you being served') It was gutted a few years back and although the building looks the same on the outside inside it's a totally different place. There are three floors (as per usual) which are jam packed full of things to peruse and buy! The womenswear floor is large with a wide range of items for women of any taste. They have a Coast branch inside and a big collection of fancy dresses to suit. The homeware floor is big as well with quite a decent range of kitchen utensils which is nice because a lot of stores skimp on things like this. All in all the store is nice and bright, it can get a bit congested on the escalators and in the lobby though so be careful.

When in the UK I always make sure to do some shopping at M&S. Besides the amazing food sections…read more(and the M&S Foodhalls all over the country), it's the loungewear that gets my attention. Quality is there, it lasts for years and years. This store here had a very good and wide selection of both loungewear and underwear. Lots of other great stuff in this store. Found what I looked for and bought a whole bunch of them. Prices were quite a bit higher than three years ago when I last visited. But still a lot better - especially given the quality - than in my country. Surely a place to come back to when back in the UK.

Every day is a darn good coffee day. We've taken more and more to go into environmentally conscious…read moreM&S cafes as we spend a month touring England. They are bright, clean and spacious, and the seating areas and toilets are kept clean. We more and more opt to avoid the big coffee players like Starbucks, Nero, Costa and importantly for us we trust M&S to ensure that the food and drinks we buy aren't crap laden. They choose their own fair-trade coffee beans and have a coffee on their Cafe menu that they advertise as Magic (Spanish cortado style) which is £3.15 and it's darn good coffee. It's coffee we want. Simples. We don't really want these Starbucks drinks (other chains do exist) that flog you coffee so full of cheap sugar, topped with cream, swirled with some vegetable oil based topping that you means that you are consuming a full days worth of calories in a sickly sweet overpriced cupful. The seating is spacious, the staff are real friendly and the free WiFi is fast. There's always a decent selection of hot and cold food but it's cake for us, usually Victoria sponge and they usually have it. It's become more and more value for money too. Another advantage is that there's a large retail store attached to the cafe - what a great concept and it means I can get an Eccles cake for later from their in-store. Sheer buttery perfection is M&S Eccles cake.

Next is fantastic for men's and women's clothing. There is now also a homeware section and…read morechildren's clothing as of recently. The clothing is great quality and quite reasonable for what you get. There is a large section for smart/work clothing and also in that evening/going out dresses, tops and bottoms. The casual section has jeans, slouchy bottoms and great t-shirts and tops. Right at the back you will find shoes and underwear, they also have stunning jewellery including some sterling silver. The watches are lovely too and give a 3 years warantee which is great if you want to give it as a gift. The mens clothing is upstairs and includes smart and casual wear with some great jeans.

This Next is probably the smallest I've ever seen however still stock the usual selection of Women,…read moremen's and children's clothes. I find the quality of Next is extremely good and value for money. They usually have 2 massive sales a year a good time to stock up on work clothing shoes, shirts tie's etc. Although never managed to find a matching suit in the sale!

This store has got so many bad reviews that decided to exit Google, so you can't find any Google…read morereviews for this shop anymore. Those reviews here belong to a long time ago when an old lady was managing the store and customers were happy. As long as Abdul, the new agent is running the store, it is awful! In fact the current seller of this shop is not a normal person at all. The shop pretends to be a cheap place, while has some bad quality stuff with triple the price of similar stuff in other shops and never cuts a key which can work at all. The man in the bright day light takes your money without any shame and then accuses you of racism! He charged me £7 to cut 2 keys, not working. twice I took them to the shop for a refund. The third time he refunded me on my debit card. The next day I checked and realized rather than refunding he had taken another £7! I went there, burst into anger and asked for my £14 or will call the police! He was laughing at me what did the police do? When he noticed I was serious, refunded me in cash. There was a CCTV there, recording all that happened. He lied to the police I spat on him and called him a bad name! It is now recorded in the police station. In the future, be aware if he wants to play the race card, he has at least one record in this regard at the police station BE MINDFUL WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD, HE GETS MONEY OUT OF IT WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT AND WITH NO SHAME, IN THE BRIGHT DAYLIGHT!

I really wish I'd discovered this sooner. It makes up for the lack of a Woolies in the town centre…read more Bits 'n' bobs and everything in-between with an old-fashioned service and casual, friendly attitude which you rarely see anymore. The prices are great, the quality can be beaten but is good considering the price, and they're bound to have what you want. The only trouble is trying to find what you want and leaving without buying hundreds of extra gadgets that you really can't live without!

I first came across Wilkinsons whilst holidaying in Great Yarmouth. I remember thinking what a…read morefantastic shop, how we could do with this in Aylesbury!!! Woohoo my wish came true and a few years on (I think) the shop has gone from strength to strength. Everything in my opinion is very well priced and of a good quality. I mostly go in the shop to buy DIY bits and bobs as once I've looked around B&Q for 5 mins I always know i'll get the same item at half the price as that shop. The staff make me laugh, numerous accents and differing levels of education, so when its time for till its like a little adventure. If you need perfume you MUST make sure you pop into Wilko first and check out their prices. Ok they might not have it but read my words "IT IS DEFINITELY WORTH A NOSEY!!!". I managed to buy a £40 bottle for £17.95 and my wife who likes Lancome - Tresor or similar managed to pay just over £21.00. It was more like £50 at Beatties. I couldn't help but question whether it had come off the back of a lorry and between us laughing of course it had to have I promptly moved on to shop 20!!! Great overall shop - keep it up Wilko.

Wilko's rocks!…read more Excellent for cheap stuff. Worth visiting for the picture frames as there are some real bargins here. No real parking out the front but there is a pay and display just around the corner.

One of my favourite places to go window shopping in Oxford, and in fact anywhere. Don't be put off…read moreby the idea of expensive breakables - this is like a miniature art gallery of beautiful crystal and glass sculptures. Check out the miniature animals - they make a wonderful wedding or baptism present, or just as a cute present to tell someone how special they are. If such sentimentalism isn't your style, you can at least goggle at the expensive jewellery, which is far more than just necklaces: they do brooches, charms, cufflinks, bracelets and more. You can get gift vouchers if you're afraid of buying the wrong thing for someone, but they'll need to be quite a lot to get much! This is definitely somewhere to indulge in your decadent side, and it's fine to browse.

I just love window shopping in this store. I used to browse the counter at the department store…read morebefore it's demise but it's even better now that it has a dedicated shop. As with all Swarovski shops, the merchandise does have a seasonal aspect as well as a core range. I've always wondered if you could actually use the champagne flutes :-) however whether they are purchased for use or gift, they do look beautiful as do all the goods in the shop. Of the jewellery I have bought from other Swarovski shops (closer to work - I only ever window shop at the Oxford shop), it's all been good quality.

After going into all the other well known shops that have stationery like whsmiths, post office,…read morewilkos I was directed to go to Barstows Stationery. It did take me a little while to find the shop (thank goodness for google maps!) but once I found it, the staff were very helpful with advising me what to buy and were very honest. They also didn't have an item that I needed for my project but were able to order it in for next day which was excellent considering I had already left it to last minute! I have definitely found my new go-to shop!!

Very rude people, cramped shop. Avoid if you can actually find it.read more