I used to work right by this place and lots and lots of my friends have even worked here and it has…read morenever had a good reputation. Firstly, the place is always cold and never seems that nice or bright on the inside. It isn't a particularly nice place to be. The staff are all young, which means you can kind of tell that they don't really care about the service and that kind of leaves a bad taste in your mouth. There are always wee hoods hanging about outside, smoking and drinking and generally milling about which just adds to this place not being up to much whatsoever. It would be ok if there was a particularly good stock or service but this place is just average, when you add in the bad environment it means it gets a low score.

The Spar is located in the centre of Ashbury in Bangor and provides local residents with real…read moreconvenience. It stocks everything that a supermarket does as well as a few miscellaneous items. For instance I was at a party and it was lacking a little something so I went to Ashbury shops and found the perfect mood lifter....Crazy Straws! They got the party going alright before I knew it I was dancing on the sofa with my shoes on! But what I am trying to say is that The Spar is the king of convenience and the crazy straws are the jewel in its crown. It has an ATM on site and you can pay by card so never fear. From the outside it looks like some sort of gated community but I think this is only in place to prevent teenagers loitering, which can only be a good thing. My advice is get down to the Spar and get some Crazy Straws. Your mates will go wild for them.

Very handy little corner shop, small but has all the basics. Very little stuff is priced and the…read moretill operators know all the prices off the top of their heads. There's not many proper little corner shops left. Still nice to have one in the area.

An unusual spar as most have the same sort of feel about them and this one is strange because its…read morelike a spar meets Walton's country store. Id definitely go back if I'm driving in the area.

Traditional looking country store thats basically a maze inside, its a really big store and is like…read morethe tardis from Dr who, selling all the usual groceries fresh fruit and sweets, frozen foods. Plants at the front of the store too and ice cream. Cash machine outside and right beside the balloo house restaurant with plenty of parking.

It's been a while since I worked in city centre and the Centra used to be a quick reliable stop for…read morea nice fresh chicken tikka sandwich at lunch. My only problem was that it was tired and dated and a little dingy inside, trying to compete with a multitude of other retailers and cafe's that were fresher and in the same walking distance. That's all changed as this store has had a massive refit, and I must say the change is astounding. From the outside you are greeted with a much more stylish white and silver lettering Centra sign and a glimpse through the window of a comfortable tidy little seating area. Yes I know, seats in a shop! But that all makes sense when you go inside. The whole shop seems to have been refocused on catering to tea/coffee/lunch crowd of Belfast coffee culture. The whole shop is brighter and airier and is finished with crisp white tiling giving it the feel of a modern delicatessan. There is a service area for all your tea coffee and soup needs, and I mean all. The coffee machine itself is like something from the future. Finally at the back they have kept the trusty deli counter, but even that's been jigged up a bit. The whole disign is superb and if this is the future of Centra I'd say that high end retailers and the coffee shops of Belfast had better beware!

This Centra has recently been refurbished and is looking much, much better than it used to. It's…read moresuper busy however, which can occasionally mean queues. Nonetheless it's getting a full 5 star rating from me because of the new look interior as I really like the purple-pink and blue-green colour scheme. Also this Centra serves one veggie/vegan hot meal option per day over the in-store food counter. I tried the veggie homemade stew today and it was delicious. Great value too at only £4.00 for a meal deal consisting of a 500ml drink and huge tub of stew. I'm completely impressed as it was pure scrumptiousness in a tub! As few convenience stores offer vegan food it's fabulous to see one which does. Would highly recommend.

This used to be a Spar, and it was one of the worst shops I had ever been into. It was dark and…read moredirty inside with a terrible product range. Last year it got redone to be a mace and underwent a refurbishment that was frankly badly needed. Unfortunately the issue of a lack of space is an issue here but at least it uses its space well. The store has a fair range of most items ranging from tinned goods, chilled meats and other grocery items. It also has an ice cream stand and a slushie machine which are a big draw for the local hoodlums. Unfortunately the selection of particular items is poor, especially the frozen section which is one limited freezer of stock, with no lollies in the shop at all. The garage has a far better selection of everything than here: the only reason people come here is because its a closer walk, they don't want to be hassled in busy times by the garages busy forecourt or you have an issue with the garage on a personal basis. To be avoided unless the garage has ran out of stick in something or you want something on special offer!

great shop.. very…read morefriendly,very clean and well stocked. best fruit n veg for miles.way way cheaper than the garage. eg potatoes 1.00,garage 1.45. considering its size its got everything.great chilled food,deli,great range of bread,cakes and sweets.i think if declan looked he'd see the lollies are beside the ice cream machine. not all shops can be big,but boy this place really makes up for it in in every other way.it really gives the garage a run for its money too. try it folks,we all know in ballygowan that the garage has been expensive for a long time, and with possible the rudest staff and owners about. so good on ya mace, john d

As far as local convenience stores go this is a really good one in most respects, with only one…read moremain flaw which I will say before going on to praise the place! The forecourt is too small and parking is hard and quite frankly frustrating at times. The shop has grown and expanded over the years but the forecourt hasn't which makes it gridlock at times! Onto the shop though, and it is great. There is a surprisingly large of items in all the different areas: it is more like a mini supermarket than a convenience store. There are great selections of fruit and veg and baked goods, and there is a delicious deli counter, with a delicious old lady called Eleanor who works behind it ! ;D The staff here are really bubbly and friendly, which can't be said of a lot of shops of this nature. The prices are surprisingly competitive compared to other stores like spar etc, only the Big 3 stores can really defeat it! Oh I forgot another criticism. The name. It is a joke. That is all!

Petrol is more expensive but you have to pay for convenience when your driving and the red lights…read morelit up like a Christmas tree for fuel. Expensive but good service, ideal spot to stop and check your tyres for damage as the surface of the moon would be smoother than the roads around ballygowan. There's a coffee shop/cafe above and hot food counter downstairs. There's a much better selection of groceries in ballygowan thanks to the garage, before it was there all you could get was spuds. For anything remotely different you had to drive to comber or ards. Now there's any amount of choices.

This place is a wee bit like PRINCE or the artist formerly know as Prince, bare with me here I have…read morea reason for making this daft statement. Formerly known as Russells Cellars they've now dropped the Cellars as they want to appear more current and chart in the top 50 (that last bit was made up) - much like our old pal Prince did. See, told you that was going somewhere. Anyway, this morning I was undertaking some pre 9am arts and crafts and I needed a few bits of equipment (scissors and tape) so I popped in to Russells to grab them. At first I couldn't find what I was looking for but turns out they keep these items behind the counter. The diversity in stock sort of sums up Russells - they literally sell everything from wine to polly pockets - hear that students, they sell stationery, so stop asking your mates to borrow a pen in lectures and go buy some here. Price wise it's pretty good value, this is because it competes with The Centra a few doors down but the major difference is that it sells booze. All in all a good 'jack of all trades' convenience store. Good name change too, I think it works.

I think Russell's is one of the best convenience shops in Belfast and this is largely due to the…read morefact there's a very well stocked off license section instore selling a great range of wines, beers and ciders. Other than booze you'll find bread, olives, hummus, sandwiches, crips, nibbles, chocolates, snacks, some frozen and chilled foods plus magazines and newspapers in Russell's. A one stop shop for all your needs!

When I worked in the Ulster Hall, this was my local shop…read more It's not a particularly exciting shop (it is just a corner sop after all), but I always really liked it in there because the staff were so friendly. I used to have to call in in the mornings to pick up the papers and the girls there were always chatty and polite, which makes a change from some shops where you just get grunted at!

I like this shop because it is an independent corner shop in the city centre where you would expect…read moreall the big branders like Spar and Centra to be. I used to use it a lot when I was a student as I would walk here on my way to get the bus back to Derry and pick up the Derry journal so I could catch up on all the happenings before I hit the motherland. It sells all the usual stuff but the prices are slightly hiked up because of its location and I guess just because it can with all the passing trade and the business men and women nipping out for coffee, chocolate, papers and snacks. I don't care that it is a tiny bit more expensive, its convenient on the walk to town, friendly and it has a good feeling about it.