Range and variety of items High quality of customer service. Value for money. Ease of movement…read morearound the shop

Everything is very cheap (as you would expect), and a very piquant odour. Right next to the tip!read more

When you absolutely, positively have to visit a Kmart AND a Woolies, then get a disappointing meal…read moreall in one stop, make your way to Eastlands! The Car park is always crammed to the hilt and poor parking abounds at the best of times. There's precisely zero available spots in the area facing the bus mall, with cars of all sizes in a predatory orbit awaiting the first spot to open up. Inside, it's two stories with the usual clothing shops, phone/repair shops, nail salons, and massage spaces, and the aforementioned Kmart/Big W on one end and Coles AND Woolies at the other end. It's long overdue for a facelift.

Hobart's obnoxious multi-storey (two) shopping centre, featuring Big W AND Kmart, Coles AND…read moreWoolies. Oh, stop. No, go on. Sure, it's also full of a whole bunch of specialty shops (lots of clothes) and overpriced cafes, just like every other shopping centre? Yes. Plenty of parking available (and a great affordable carwash in the multi-level carpark around the back), this is a bright and mostly clean complex but is absolutely riddled with Hobogans. Enter at your own peril, and leave as soon as you're done. No dawdling.

What can you say about Centro New Town? It's a shopping centre! It has shops!…read more There is little selection -- at the time of writing you will find the following facilities: - Coles; - A meat place (not so good); - Baker's delight; - A little cafe (untested); - My State bank; - Newsagency/Post Office (very good and great opening hours); - Wendy's (Service is lacklustre); - A hair place (dunno); - A 24 hour kmart; - A couple of ATMs; and - A discount chemist. There's also a Kmart Tyre and Auto around the back, if that kind of thing floats your boat. So, a stock standard shopping centre, complete with Christmas decorations displayed wayyy too early. However, plenty of parking, and enough variety to get through the day to day bullshit of life.

World of Kawaii gifts is just up the road from Valhalla Ice Cream. I spent many a sunny Sunday…read morelicking ice cream cones, gazing wistfully in their window and vowing to return during the week. Of course, I didn't. It was only this week - more than 6 months after first finding them that I drove past the store while it was open. There are SO many cute things in store. In the end I pick only one to take away (a singular cat brooch), but I need to go back soon. It turns out this is a one-woman-show. Belinda makes all the felt items in store -- often while sitting behind the counter during the day. She also stocks 'kawaii' Japanese gifts and paper. A perfect place to pick up gifts for the small or big girls in your life.

This is the kind of place that should be in NoHo, or Battery Point, or the CBD even... but not down…read morein Uni Row! Maybe I'm biased as a NoHo regular, but schlepping down to Sandy Bay just for some GREY and FELT good times makes me a sad panda. Having said that, G&F is one of those beautifully curated shops that you want to photograph, and one where you kind of fear looking at the price tags. Having said that, I finally headed into G&F after finding out that they're Hobart's only stockist of Shanghai Suzy lipsticks, which are amazingly cheap for what they are, at only $12.95 a pop for a crazily pigmented nourishing lippie in exceptional on-trend colours. As it turns out, I also happened to first visit the week of G&F's first anniversary. No anniversary sale, so I managed to purchase my lipsticks and escape back out of there... mentally adding a few things to my wishlist as I went.

Speaking as someone who's recently relocated from Brisbane, I certainly don't view this as "just…read moreanother supermarket" - because not even in the centre of Brisbane would you find a Coles open from 7am until midnight every day! But that's what you get at Coles Sandy Bay. Dang, Hobart, what is UP! I thought only Melbourne and possibly Sydney had the glamour of late-night grocery shopping. I'm going to go here at 11:30pm one night (ANY NIGHT OF THE WEEK), just because I can. A decent amount of on-site parking, plenty of self-service check-outs, clean aisles and well-stocked shelves. This Coles runs like a well-oiled machine. It's still a Big Guy, though, so make sure you still support the Little Guys who're sold at Coles and don't buy that "Coles Loves You" branded stuff. Even if it's half the price of the other stuff. Because that's how independent, family-run businesses are being run right out of business, and it's sad.

A smaller than normal supermarket, has all the basic necessities, but suffers from too many…read morecustomers and not enough space. They just got self service station which adds a bit to the speed at checkout.

Inside is one of those dangerous places where my wallet starts shivering with nerves even if I just…read moreglance in its direction. I can't help myself, though--the window displays are part of them problem. They're so fine. They're always so attractive, and I just have to have a look, and then I just have to peek my head in, and then I just have to do one full circuit, and then I just have to treat myself to just one thing, but oh the sale table's just here too, excuse me, bye forever. Stocking Nancybird, Elk, Kip & Co, a plethora of wonderful jewellery makers... I could work at this list for ages or I could just encourage you to go into the store, so maybe just do the latter. It's worth it. See if someone else will mind your wallet for you.

Gifts galore for young and old, handy place for stocking stuffers and other assorted XMAS stuffread more

In the middle of ongoing renovations, the Cat & Fiddle is still popping out shiny new stores left,…read moreright and centre. With two levels of shopping, the arcade manages to encompass a good block of the CBD, linking Collins St, Murray St, Liverpool St and the Elizabeth mall through its belly. A number of the Cat & Fiddle shops will allow you to walk through from a shopfront on any of these streets to the arcade itself--being a newcomer to Hobart, more than once I've casually sauntered through an unassuming store to find myself in the middle with the fiddle. My favourite of the shiny new stores in the arcade is Tasmania's first T2 shop, on the corner of the shiniest and newest end of the arcade at Collins St. Tasmania's only JB Hi-Fi is downstairs (with another entry from Collins St, a few shopfronts down from T2). There's a huge Priceline (I think this is also accessible from Elizabeth Mall) and a Target (definitely has a second shopfront on Elizabeth Mall), jewellers and shoe shops and clothing and more. The cat & fiddle (which came first, the arcade's name or these guys...?) still remain on the wall, of course, so keep an eye out for them.

Woolworths is one of the two main grocery store chains in Australia alongside Coles. The name…read moreWoolworths is a familiar name as there was a department store chain of the same name in the US. The two chains are not related, though this grocery chain did use the name of the US chain as it had not been registered in Australia at time of founding. This is the same thing with the Target stores in Australia, though it is the reverse scenario as the US Target chain is the predecessor. I was visiting Hobart and was staying in the Hobart CBD. I wanted to grab a couple grocery items so I pulled up the Yelp app to find the closest grocery store. This Woolworths seemed to be the only one within the CBD that I could find so I decided to look for it. Had some trouble finding the store. Got lost as I walked through a parking structure before noticing the entrance. It is easiest to walk over to Argyle Street. When you see the car park, walk past it and enter the next building which is where this store is located. Upon entering the building, look for the Woolworths sign and take an escalator downstairs. Perhaps it was because I visited the store late in the evening, but I found the lighting here to be quite dark and dimly lit. Though I did find the store to be spacious. The prices here are comparable to Coles, which is my preferred store of the two since they seem to have better deals. Grabbed a large bottled water which costs the same at Coles along with a bag of packaged banana bread which was on sale as I didn't have time to eat out for breakfast the next day since I was going on a tour. I really liked the banana bread as it was very soft and each slice was packaged individually inside making it convenient to take as a snack when touring the island. In addition to the regular checkouts, they have self checkout machines here. And while grocery stores in Sydney still offer plastic bags to carry your groceries, it is banned in Tasmania as of a few years ago. Hence, you need to bring a grocery bag with you or buy a paper bag here for 15 cents each. If you need to grab some groceries in the Hobart CBD, this Woolworths is the most convenient option. You will probably find what you need here as the store is large. But remember to bring a bag unless you want to buy a paper bag or can hand carry your purchase.