intu Derby has had various names over the years, it became intu Derby after the centre was bought…read moreout from Westfield in 2014, but before then it was known as The Eagle Centre. Located in Derby city centre, around half a mile from the train station it has 199 stores over two floors, with the upper level mainly being occupied by restaurants. The largest anchor stores over 3 levels are Marks and Spencer and Debenhams. The mall is modern in most areas, however, other parts could certainly be done with some improvement which seemed so poor, it looks like two different shopping centres in comparison. The mobile signal around the mall was terrible, It even got so bad I had to go into the Three store, who is my mobile operator who explained it is bad and they normally have a signal booster which wasn't working. Luckily the centre did have wi-fi but even that was pretty poor. The centre is the largest shopping centre in the East Midlands region in terms of area and is the 14th largest in the country (Just 227 meters squared larger than intu Milton Keynes & thecentre:mk) The security staff gave me a bad vibe, they seemed like they were wanting to cause trouble and didn't seem as friendly as elsewhere in the UK, which could be said about the mall staff as a whole, but it is still one of the better shopping centres in the area with some nice brands including the city's only Starbucks store, you can also find stores from Nando's, Carluccio's, Jack Jones, Hugo Boss, WHSmith and more, so it is one of the best places to shop in the city even if it does lack multiple brands which can be found at smaller malls in Nottingham and Leicester such as Currys PC World and Apple. 3*

Now, I'm not normally a fan of shopping centres, but I have to confess I was seriously impressed by…read morethe new (opened in October 2007) Westfield Centre. It's seriously large inside, with 175 stores anchored by a large M&S and Debenhams. But what I liked was the bright, light and seriously minimalist finish to everything, and apparently all to a very high standard. It was about as far from a crappy British shopping centre as I have ever seen. On the inside, it also steers clear of that horrible cheap and tacky atrium style of architecture. It looks as though someone has at least tried to put some thought into it all. The stores were - unsurprisingly - mostly the familiar set of High Street names, although there were also some clearly local outlets, too, although a few of these looked perilously close to discount stores. But, overall, I was impressed - and surprised, because Derby isn't that large a city. Only 4 stars? Well, for such a huge place, their signposting and mapping wasn't that great, even with the hi-tech touch-sensitive store and location finder. (Nice technology, shame about the map). They have the usual range of services (toilets, parking for 2,000 cars, etc) as well as a cinema. It's slap bang in the middle of the city, so it's hard to miss.

Gorgeous department store situated near the cathedral, a world away from the modern hustle and…read morebustle of the new Westfield shopping centre. It's deceptively large, with its own coffee shop upstairs and departments for kitchen ware, china and glass, toys, garden gear, and a lovely little specialist food and confectionary section. It is especially enjoyable to visit at Christmas time, as they always have an enormous tree that is beautifully decorated, and many stunning special christmas ornaments on sale. Traditional, maybe even a bit old-fashioned, and with that comes old-fashioned excellent customer service and very polite sales assistants. Bennetts is always a pleasure to visit, and brilliant for unusual gift ideas.

Love this place. Fantastic kitchen ware and china department. Lovely cafe and chocolate shop where…read moreI found chocolates I haven"t had since I was in Germany.

Marks and Spencer is one of the larger and flagship stores of intu Derby. It is a pretty large…read morestore which as well as the regular clothing and Food Hall ranges also features a Cafe, Opticians and Bank, the latter strangely houses their third-floor toilets (Surely putting them closer to a cafe then through two doors and past the small bank area of the store would have made more sense) The staff in the store seemed friendly enough around the store but I was a little disappointed with the Food Hall selection, especially for a store of its' size which makes me think it is spending too much time offering a lot of services, even parts of the store such as the Bank and Opticians which were empty and this is causing them to slack off in the things they are known for doing best - I did find a lack of fresh food and counters as well as not stocking fresh juices which were a shame as Marks and Spencer's two branches closer to my home in Manchester city centre, both offer freshly squeezed orange juice which you can either do yourself or have been done earlier the day by the staff. One of the larger stores in the intu Derby mall overall but it really should be back to basics for a store which is still okay, but if it did the essentials better before focusing on additional services, it would be a lot better once more. 3*

Overall: Great place to pick up some "fancy" food and the odd bra…read more My, how M & S has changed over the years... With this M & S being one of the flagship stores for the Westfield Centre, you can expect even more! The Derby branch used to be dowdy - dowdy clothes, dowdy staff and well, just plain dowdy! It was a place that your granny used to buy clothes from. It wasn't until they decided to change the focus on a different type of clientele, did I start shopping here. Although the clothes still aren't as "young" as I would like, there are some acceptable lines. They also have a great selection of underwear and lingerie. But the best part of this M&S is the food hall, I'm almost in heaven here! They sell everything you'd expect from a supermarket, but some items are more specialized.

When I heard CostCo had opened a few branches in the UK, I nearly lost it ! It brought back…read morememories of the USA .. Sweet sweet memories ! CostCo is a large retail store selling items mostly in bulk from toothpaste, drinks, crisp, cereal to singular items such as perfumes/colognes, clothes, TV, jewellery etc. If you want to waste money, go to CostCo! I went to the one in Derby and although it had many items and it was a reasonably humongous store, it's nothing compared to the USA especially the free samples! There is also a Pizza Parlour where one can have freshly made pizza made by CostCo staff. I've heard they're good but never tried any so when you do , let me know! There are too many good things to say about CostCo but that'll fill a few pages. However, the negative is that it's members only and one has to be one of the following as far as I can remember : Occupation: Bank/Finance Education Local government / police force / fire and rescue service Civil service / armed forces Post office Medical health service such as the NHS Airline Insurance Qualified as : Certified or chartered Accountant Doctors / opticians / dentist / pharmacist Chartered architect Chartered engineer / civil etc Chartered surveyor Individual membership costs around £30 including VAT whilst Trade costs £24 a year. The CostCo Gold card would be double the prices at a slight discount. Note: * Be wary of the VAT as it's not included in the prices however, the total sum is always summarised near the product. * The owner and primary user of the membership card can take two people in with them when shopping at a time. If it's children, they have to be under 16 and can go in as two pairs.

Costco is great, and Costco Derby is probably my favourite. It's got everything you would except…read morefrom a Costco but because it seems to get less busy, it's a much less stressful experience than say, Costco Glasgow! Don't forget your hot dog when you leave!

It sure does live up to it's name. This store is full of ideas of great gifts for anyone…read more My favourites are the gorgeous water features. There are different sizes available from £5 up to £50. You can't actually review all the lines that Ideas sell as they are always changing. At the moment in there is really nice dining sets and lots of cushions. They also have lots of themes mirrors in the back of the store and those canvas bedroom sets. The staff in there are really nice. Even if they have to stop doing some housekeeping to server you, you don't get any attitude from them. They are nice and chatty and and send you off with a smile and a cheery goodbye. The prices are what I love best. Nothing is too expensive that you won't think seriously about buying from there. It is nice to treat yourself from time to time.

Matalan is located on a small retail park near Woolworths and Argos & opposite the Westfields…read moreCentre in Derby. It specialises in clothes for all the family and has an impressive homewares department. Membership is required to buy from Matalan which will set you back £1. I personally find their womens range is a bit limited, but their jeans are great quality and affordable. I've had one pair which have lasted me 4 years & still looked great. Homewares was a godsend to me when I moved to university as stuff was modern and cheap. I wouldn't recommend the shop if you don't like to rummage through stuff. To find good stuff you need time & its position in Derby means you have to walk a way to get to it.

The most annoying thing about Matalan at Bradshaw Way is the parking. Be aware you'll need change…read morebefore you get there as it is a pay and display (which is refunded if you spend in one of the outlets so remember to present your ticket at the check out). The car park is cramped and small. Once inside the shop it is large and relatively spacious but always noisy. The clothes ranges ebb and flow in quality. The jeans and branded jeans are good value but the general day to day way tends to be poorly cut and lower quality. The footwear range is often good for fashion shoes that you only plan on wearing for one season. The homewares section is more appealling and there are some good bargains to be ahead. once again it is largely dictated by fashion so it is a good place to shop if you are staging a house or just want a quick accent change to your decor. What lets Matalan down the most is the presentation. It is invariably messy with clothes on the floor and boxes and trolleys abandoned in the shopper's way. The changing rooms can also be a bit whiffy! For make do and mend items Matalan can be a good shop but it is not inspiring.

This is a smallish out of town shopping centre that is also the site for one of the Park and Ride…read moreservices into the centre of Derby. The D1 service runs every 15 minutes or so into the city Monday to Saturday. At one end of this centre is the Odeon (formerly UCI) cinema, Deep Pan Pizza and a pub called The Master Locksmith whilst at the opposite end is a large Morrison's Supermarket and a McDonald's. The stores in between include Focus DIY, MFI, Magnet, Staples, DFS Furniture, Topps Tiles, Mostyn's Factory Shop. PC World, Benson's Beds, Pets at Home and several others.

Nice place to shop, big names such as PC World and Morrisons supermarket…read more Odeon cinema showing all new releases