A really nice shop which sells many other things including a good range of greetings cards. They…read moreare reasonably priced and well laid out for browsing. I noticed that there were Christmas cards on sale today (which shocked me a little but I dare say there are people out there who like to buy them this early!!) and 2013 calendars too. You can also buy good quality wrapping paper, colourful crepe and tissue paper, decorative boxes, bows and other 'accessories'. There are also dolls and fluffy toy animals for sale too. The man who took my money at the till this morning was really friendly and I shall definitely call in there again. Easy to find in the main pedestrianised shopping street in Kilmarnock.

I always pop into this branch of River Island when I visit Braehead. It's a really nice shop,…read moreeverything is alway very organised, its easy to find what you're looking for and the staff are really helpful. River Island is my favourite place for trousers as they're the only place that I can ever manage to find my size, every other shop the trousers are either too tight, too big or too long. I also adore their accessories, especially their belts and hats. River Island is a strange place though, sometimes I go in and want absolutely everything and other times I can't find so much as a pair of socks that tickle my fancy. That's probably not a bad thing though as it's not the cheapest place and probably does my bank balance a lot of favours.

This is a really big store and everything is really well laid out. Nothing worse than going into a…read moreshop thats crammed full and you cant move! There is a great selection of clothes but also quite a big shoe and accessories department also. Normally quite good for sizes in here. There is quite a large mans department in this store. Very impresssed ith the overall size of the store as some of the shops in Braehead are tiny but this ones definitely one of the bigger ones!

What better place for a Poundland than The Forge Shopping Centre, right in the middle of poverty…read morestricken Parkhead. You'll always find this place packed with pram pushing, trackie wearing Vicky Pollard lookalikes, all filling their baskets with pound purchases. Poundland is an amazing store, which is always queued right up the length of the store. Sure, it's unashamedly tacky, and some of the items aren't worth the pound you pay for them, however you'll find some decent essentials in here such as toiletries and stationery. I'm amazed that anywhere can afford to sell absolutely everything for a pound, however it's always incredibly busy, so I imgaine it'll be around for a very long time.

I had never been in this til very recently, and was very surprised that there were actual genuine…read morebargains among the tat. Their selection of big names like Charles Worthington, and Revlon is amazing and of course very cheap. Often the only difference is the packaging. The household stuff is also great as I grudge spending a lot of money on basics like bin bags or clothes pins. There are also bargains to be had in their food aisle, but you need to be pretty vigilant checking expiry dates etc. They now also accept cards, as long as you spend £5 minimum. The only downside is that the credit crunch is encouraging a lot of people to try this place out, so it can get very busy with the queues.

Henderson's is a lovely shop which sells beautiful jewellery and gifts. The staff are older women…read moreand are very helpful and seem to know everything about every item in the shop! Prices are reasonable, and they do a lovely range of rennie mackintosh jewellery and gifts.

If you ain't knocked out by the whiff of lavender when you waltz into this joint then you'll find a…read morelovely wee store selling home wares, gifts, cards and general bit and bobs....you know, cushion covers, candles...girly stuff. Its all very nice and the store feels very welcoming and cosy. One thing to note however is the price of the gear. Its definitely at eh higher end of the market, however a quick glance shows that the gear is of a high standard and i'm sure much of it would be welcomed as a gift. With friendly staff and a nice feel, this is a cool wee store for the girls to browse and a good joint for the guys for the odd emergency gift.

I love browsing in this little shop. There are always lovely things and I've bought quite a few…read moregifts from here and would buy more but it is a bit pricey. I have treated myself to the occasional piece of funky jewellery, cards or little ornament for the home over the years and am always greeted with a friendly smile. I love the layout, there's always something new to see. Although it can be difficult to manoeuvre and I'm often scared of knocking something with my bag as it's just a small place but crammed with lovely things.

Based in the Milngavie, the beginning of famed walk the West Highland Way, which eventually leads…read moreto Fort William, Scottcrafts obviously targets tourists by selling a selection of tartan trousers and Ceilidh cds. The small and cluttered shop seemed pretty outdated but the man behind the counter was friendly. I guess a shop such as this does have a market in an area which is on the West Highland Way.

While I wouldn't exactly be overjoyed with a gift from here myself, the presence of one tourist tat…read moreshop in this neck of the woods is acceptable given Milngavie's status as the beginning of the West Highland Way. An abundance of tartan, Mel Gibson postcards and Jimmy Shand DVDs, it's all here and it's all bound to excite your American relatives.

It's a pretty good testement to the place that the Maranatha Centre has been in Motherwell for over…read more50 years. My mum and dad used to go to it when they were young and my mum was even in the infamous Maranatha choir who toured Scotland. The centre sits in a mildly dodgy area of Motherwell (well, dodgy-er) between a pub and two churches. Pub-0 Churchs-3. It provides the centre of the Christian community, and thrives on being a place for young and old to come and socialise. They run all different events which they post online. They used to run a disco which was alcohol free, and done the upstairs of the centre up to look really cool like the inside of an exclusive nightclub. I went a couple of times but it wasn't really my thing. Good place to go if you want to get away from the pubby-clubby nature of Motherwell.

The store is fine and all the staff there were helpful. However the courier service they use is…read moreterrible. I kept on getting multiple messages saying the delivery dates had changed, then if they delivered a package it would just be left on my doorstep for anyone to take. I have also ordered 2 couches (2 seater & 3 seater) which were meant to arrive already, when they did arrive on the weekend it was just the 2 seater and they have no record of the 3 seater. Now I have to follow up and try find where my couches are.This is unacceptable! All of this was ordered online in your store.

I can't believe I only discovered this place on Christmas Eve 2015, but it will certainly be a…read moreChristmas Eve I don't forget quickly... Parking up, it doesn't look that impressive, but when you pass through the doors (of what I assume used to be a gigantic Homebase) you are blown away by the sheer awesome scale of the place. You can literally buy everything here, from greetings cards and stationary, to salted nuts and crisps, white goods and domestic electronics, and a huge selection of pet supplies. Top tip if you are visiting for the first time, either set yourself a budget or come with some specific things you want to purchase otherwise you might find yourself with a trolley, a huge bill and a very random selection of well-priced but potentially non-essential goods!