I love Noa Noa, and have bought plenty of eveningwear and sweet summer outfits from them. They are…read morehard to resist! Producing individually designed, well made clothes at exceptionally good prices compared to the commensurate offerings from the top end of the clothing chain shops, this Scandinavian shop has my loyalty! I have to admit that I often wait for the sales. They really know how to shift stock fast to make way for the new season. Incredible bargains are their only ploy, which suits me down to the ground!

The problem with me reviewing this place is that I'm not really the target market. I could really…read moresee that from the window display but I thought I should give it a go. In case you are wondering why I would be so foolish, I have my cheerleading ball coming up soon. I had found a dress but then it was sold out of my size. In desperation (after looking at many MANY dresses on websites and driving my housemates to distraction) I turned to the shops I hadn't visited before. The staff were really lovely, though none of them seemed genuinely pleased to help me - this is probably because they knew that I wouldn't buy anything... The fact is, though, that I don't think my mother or grannie would shop here...

I'm sure that the name of this business has more to do with clothing fastenings than it does the…read morelegal intoxicant that was broadly used, particularly in gay nightclubs, across the UK back in the 80's! Ah, the heady smell of Amyl Nitrate! Nasty! There's something I'm less sure about... Does Beverley, the owner, know about this other meaning? I guess not, but I can imagine that she'd find it amusing, like myself. Beverley Soar is as laid back as any of the business owners on Pontcanna Street., and she's got a sense of humour. When I called in recently she was inspecting the damage done to the huge plate glass window that fronts the shop. The phantom tagger had paid her, (and everyone else down the street), a visit, leaving their tag, or signature mark, etched in the glass. The damage to all was going to cost the insurers a small fortune. Beverley was taking it in her stride, and seemed surprisingly up-beat, considering the disruption and mess that the repair would cause. She owns a particularly beautiful shop with some pretty expensive stock.... clothes by Grea, Annette Gortz, Hebbeding, Indies, Krines, Ischiko, Sonja Marohn and Oska... and I haven't met a tradesman yet that doesn't move everything so that you can't find it, and leave dusty footprints in the carpet! I guess she just reconciles herself with the knowledge that if it needs to be done, it needs to be done, and that's that! I like Beverley as much as I like her shop. The street wouldn't be the same without them both. With customers ranging from their mid thirties, up into their nineties, (her oldest customer is a very well dressed 96 year old, who has lost none of her sophistication and sartorial taste with the passage of time), Poppers is responsible for some of the best dressed women in Cardiff!

I ventured into poppers rather hesitantly as I thought the prices would be way out of my league!…read moreAlthough not exactly cheap, the prices weren't to bad, I saw a stunning black dress for £125 (it could have been worse)! Poppers is probably more suitable for 45+ (I won't be falling into that category for a long while yet), but it did have some very stylish numbers and on the sales rack I spotted a rather nice urban style top reduced to £20 (not bad)! Poppers also stocks a small range of jewellery and bags but at £54 for a necklace, it certainly isn't cheap!

Went to Luxor with my best friend, staff amazing with supporting you with what will suit you,…read moreclothes for lots of occasions, we bought some amazing clothes, we are very happy with all we bought. Staff very helpful and kind as usual we are looking forward to our next visit to the store. Thank you Heather and Kavian we love all the new stock keep up the good work making us look lovely at our events. Thank you Lucie and Ceri

Luxor is managed by a very knowledgeable woman called Heather. She seems to know everything! And I…read moredon't mean just fashion! She also knows everything there is to be known about the other shops on the Wellfield Road. This area is nothing if not a tight knit community! She also knows a thing or two about sartorial taste, branding, and what works well in this part of town. There are clear aspirations to the business that she runs. It is targeted to the 16 to 45 age range and offers unique clothes at affordable prices. There is nothing smug about Heather, but there is a calm confidence born of the understanding that she occupies a niche in the market that has allowed this Persian owned business to fair quite well throughout the recession. The fact that the owner is Persian is no small influence in the success of the shop as well. Not only are the Iranians world-renowned for their sophisticated taste, but this also means that he has access to clothing manufacturers that no-one else knows about. It's perfect recipe for success! Original, intelligently designed, well made clothing, stocked at reasonable prices, with no repeat stock, keeping the look of the place really fresh and eminently enticing!

This is a great shop to have a rummage through, and you're likely to find something incredible…read moreevery time. Because this is vintage clothing, you often have to spend quite some time in this shop to find what you're looking for. This is sometime a bit frustrating when you've found something that you love, only to realise that they don't have it in your size. This isn't a high street store where they have everything neatly lined up and labelled; you have to really work at shopping in this store! And, of course, the staff have to be very helpful because of this. And they are. If they've spent 20 minutes searching with you for something, you feel terribly guilty if you then turn around and say you might give it a miss. The only issue with this place are the the high prices, as have been mentioned time and again by the frustrated shopper of Cardiff and the lovely other yelpers.

Probably Cardiff's best city centre retro / vintage store, Hobo's is a vibrant little shop that…read morecrams a lot into its tiny and rather cramped space. The shop mainly sells clothing and accessories spanning the decades since the 60s, although in the window display you'll also some odd gifts and novelties such as greetings cards, purses and even bathtime rubber ducks with bizarre designs - including one with a Rubik's cube theme. From second hand jeans, old leather jackets, and retro t-shirts to brightly patterned summer skirts and dresses, they have a really good clothing range and seem to update and add to their stock fairly frequently. You can also pick up retro style sunglasses, old belts, hats and other accessories. As is the case with most vintage stores, the prices aren't cheap - but for those of your who are students, Hobo's offers a helpful 10% discount.

@ Fab are a bit of an anomaly to. They seem to have a confusing array of stock that does not adhere…read moreto any kind of focus or logic. 'Random' is possibly the word that best describes the fashion choices that they espouse, but may be this is due to the fact that they appear to be trying to appeal to absolutely everyone's tastes, from kids to teenagers, 20-somethings, young professionals, middle aged women, and of course, centenarians! Every time I glance into this shop I wince a little. I think that it makes it worse that the little segment of Wellfield Road that @ Fab occupies is populated by businesses that really know how to specialise. Noa Noa and Luxor, to name but two of the well focussed and targeted businesses that flank this inconsistent boutique that defies definition, although 'pretty awful' would be a good generic start to the proceedings! They have a few A4 posters by the entrance, offering to 'price match' identical items found at other shops... but I guess that they are pretty safe in this territory, and are rarely called to, if ever, sell clothing at a lesser price than is advertised on the label... there really aren't too many other outlets that are stocking the same clobber!!!

The main thing about this shop is that the window displays sometimes seem to suggest that there are…read morenice clothes inside. Then, you'll find that there are actually none at all. At other times you will think that the window display is hideous (at all times the display suggests that the shop is stuck in the 90s, but there are moments of brilliance) but the stock inside will be pretty good. The staff are lovely, which is more of a must than a plus, when the stock is so hit and miss. However, the prices are cause another problem. Some items are cheap and some are more expensive - too expensive for what they are. The only way to shop here is to search long and hard, check every price and every label. However, once you get to the till and talk to a staff member, you'll be happy again.

Always lovely service, with decent prices and a wide selection of different types of bags and…read morepurses to choose from.

'A handbag?' Oscar…read moreWilde knew the dramatic potential of handbags, bless him. I can't leave the house without one, I'm snail-like dragging my life around with me - I'd love to be like my friend Clare who just takes a credit card and her phone, maybe her house keys and chucks them all in my big over the shoulder satchel but I'm not. I like to know I have pens and a notebook and a novel or poetry collection and my make up and my phone and wallet and keys and charger and more hair bands than anyone could ever possibly need, just-in-case. Naturally bag theft leaves me wailing, a long mourning period ensues. I voodoo doll the thief a bad end. Anyway I digress. Hennessy's sell handbags. And wallets and purses and shoppers and wheelie granny trolleys and rucksacks. I don't like any of them, I'll be honest, but you might.

I don't know whether this is actually a factory outlet. I assume that there would be no other…read morereason for them to call themselves that but there seems to be something lacking... I think it's mainly just the location and the size which threw me because neither were what I would expect from on outlet. Really, this is actually just like a charity shop (Albany Road has a good number of charity shops so I'm going to lump it in with them) and so it's good for picking up simple things like t-shirts, vest tops and the like. It's defintely not a place to find exciting items of clothing (though there is a good selection and you might just get lucky one day) but the service is good and you will probably find something's that you say 'Oh, I'd like that if it didn't have that' to.

Buzz has managed to retain its position as one of Cardiff's coolest shoe shops despite stiff…read morecompetition from chains such as Schuh. With Converse, Blowfish, Vans, Draven, Dr Martens and lots of other popular brands in stock, Buzz appeals to students with fresh loans or people looking for mainly non-work shoes - although it also stocks some great boots in the winter. The staff are generally really helpful and quick to serve you. By making sure their stock is constantly changing and bang on-trend, Buzz has stayed ahead of the game and - with its independent status - has that added cool factor.

This is an amazing shoe shop. Staff were so helpful and…read morepatient. I'm so fussy about what I like. They gave me an honest opinion too, rare these days.... Need new boots so making the journey as well worth it. Thanks guys...... much appreciated. See you soon

I'm pleased to offer a much needed review for this store, as it sadly has gone without one for a…read morelength of time which would be exactly 7 months on Tuesday, considering this is a city center location and one of the busiest shops on Queen Street and in St David's, I'm surprised to see this. My local branch of Primark in Manchester has in a way put me off the brand alltogether, being such a big store filled with huge queues and just smelling and feeling cheap, and sweaty, but this store feels nicer than that, and is still a decent size and still follows a typical layout which one would expect from a Primark, a large clothing company based in Ireland. They did stock a decent range of stuff here especiallmY y in the mens department on the -1 Floor, and there are multiple other floors as well, as far as I'm aware there are 4 floors, with kids clothing on the top and the ground floor having an enterence onto Queens Street and also into the St David's mall. The staff also seemed quite friendly, at the till and also in the store, trying to get the lifts moving as quick as possible. The signal throughout the floor can be a little poor, but for a large store with a basement, this has to be expected especially with my poor signal from O2. My server also didn't mind me paying with lose change, and it did seem quiet enough, as in short queues to do that and even made jokes about it. Overall, this is a decent branch of Primark, a typical Primark in a way and deserves a solid three stars.

I too love Primark but will now only ever go in this store during the week because its just far to…read morestressful on a weekend, or in the school holidays. There is never enough space to have a good look at what's on offer unless your willing to go to war with a handful of other determined shoppers and then when you find something you have to wait ages to try it on and even longer to buy it. Yes this store is huge, and full of all the usual bargains. It has an especially large section of accessories and sun glasses at the moment. Is it worth the stress? Not always. Primark please, please open another store in the city centre to take the pressure off this poor place!

I'm surprised I'm only getting round to reviewing TK Maxx in Cardiff, having visited around a month…read moreago now in Mid-August but I'm pleased to make this a landmark review in my way, which is my 443rd this year of 1099th in total, finally beating my review total of what I conducted in 2015, just 270 days into 2016. Moving on to my review now, away from all personal statistics, this TK Maxx store is located in The Hayes in Cardiff, one of the welsh capital's main shopping streets, really close to the St David's shopping complex. This branch is set over 4 floors, but in some ways the layout is quite confusing, with the ground floor and a slightly raised level on the other side, accessed by a total different lift which is both quite unusual and confusing. It is worth noting that the Men's section is on the top or second floor, with home in the basement. As mentioned in other reviews, it is in a way like a "treasure hunt", with mainly one of every product in each size or at least very few, at least in the clothing, so if you see something you can only pray it is your size, which is really annoying. I class myself as a lazy shopper, I like things being done for me so I strongly dislike the format of TK Maxx, and the staff didn't seem too helpful either, and other than on the ground floor, they basically were so few in number. The store in general was quiet, it felt like a jumble sale due to the layout and didn't have a good vibe. It was also frustrating one of two lifts was out of order, which would cause a slight delay if you needed to use it. Another unusual practice used was that the store opened earlier than it should, I entered on a Sunday and I wanted to checkout and buy something, limited on time as I had a train to catch in a few hours, I was shocked when he said he couldn't serve me, probably due to the Sunday Trading hours (Big shout-out to the SNP who voted against Sunday trading hours being lifted in England despite being able to open when they want in Scotland) - This probably isn't the store's fault but there was no sign for this, and for someone who wants to get in and out of the shop, this was just a stupid policy to have, and with no prior warning was misleading. Sadly due to unusual practices of both this store and the brand in general, I sadly feel this store deserves a single one star.

I came here with my partner to get him a new and affordable winter coat as his had a huge tear in…read moreit. After browsing for 10 minutes, we managed to purchase a very warm wind-proof coat at a great price! ~ Atmosphere: TK Maxx is HUGE but despite its size, it's also very crowded. Granted, we did come during a weekend close to Christmas-time. Still, I can imagine TK Maxx being constantly crowded as I'm sure it's a very popular place to shop given both its location in the heart of Cardiff's city centre as well as the prices. ~ Variety: There's plenty of variety here in TK Maxx. Their section for mens coats was MASSIVE in itself and could amount to a small retail shop on its own! Combined with the fact that it has multiple stories, you'd probably be hard pressed to find something you *don't* like here. ~ Customer Service: Not bad at all. Despite how busy it was, it still didn't take too long to queue up and pay. The employees were decently friendly and efficient as well. --- TK Maxx definitely does the job if you're looking for fashion on a budget, without skimping on quality either. My partner loves his coat so much that it's hard to believe it only cost £50!