Manchester Souvenirs & News have had locations popping up all over the city of late as the…read morenewsagents' chain look to expand - this is probably one of my favourite stores they have in the city, and I do like it much more than their newer locations at Arndale Centre Exchange Square, Shudehill and Deansgate, as well as their other location at the other side of Piccadilly Gardens. Refurbished of late to include a Post Office, this is one of the latest opening Post Offices in the area which is open from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening throughout the week, opening a couple of hours later on Sunday and 8 - 8 on Saturday. The Post Office inside this newsagents is all the more important especially with the Town Hall's refurbishment meaning the Post Office there is out of action for now, and this one does seem a little quieter with less queuing compared to the other Post Office in their other store at Piccadilly Plaza. Despite being located in an older building on Mosley Street, close to Primark and Metrolink services, the inside of the store is pretty modern including multiple friendly staff working the store and Post Office checkouts as well as a pretty decent drinks/news selection, although I do find the prices to be a tad higher compared to nearby. 4* - A very innovative idea to add a Post Office into this store after the Town Hall's closer for refurbishment was announced which meant there would still be a Post Office on Mosley Street, while still being a useful store in a good and central location too.

Euronews is a huge newsagents right on Piccadilly Gardens…read more It also doubles up as a mobile phone shop that is a convenient place to come and get your mobile phone unlocked if that's what you need. That's it basically. It's a newsagents. Crisps, magazines, papers, sweets, fags, gum and polo's are its thing (as well as phones, obviously).

Yeah Euronews! Nothing to do with Europe. I thought it was an absolute find, because I always come…read moreback from holiday with somewhere between 7 and 30 Euros knocking about in my wallet. You can imagine my joy when I saw this shop, and imagined myself redeeming my Euros against a large pile of newspapers, fizzy pop and sweets. It was terrible news then, when I discovered that you are expected to pay in British Sterling. Jokes aside, it's a good little newsagents. Especially worth a look at is all the Haribo style sweets, that are not Haribo branded, but taste the same, and are about half the price. The selection is great. Plus its got some strange random items that tourists might be interested in. This is just speculation though, as I don't know any tourists.

Obviously the Northern Quarter is all about cool record shops, trendy vintage clothes and kitsch…read moreaccessories. However, all of the cool people around still need to buy gum, cigarettes and a can of pop every now and then. Just like the rest of us. That's where Walia News comes in. It's located just around the corner from Piccadilly Records, sandwiched in between an exclusive t-shirt shop and a drugs accessories shop, appropriately enough. Walia News has an almost ridiculous number of filthy magazines on its top shelf. It's a long top shelf. But for the less filthy-minded amongst us (me), there are plenty of normal magazines and papers on offer too. The guy serving at Walia News is kind of stern. We're not going to best friends. Apart from these things, Walia News is just a newsagents innit.

Newsagents in the middle of a very vintage lane! It is surrounded by vinyl record stores, vintage…read moreclothing and accessories. It is a typical newsagents but the amount of magazines it has stocked up is kind of the first thing you would notice! Every kind one could ever think of! (For the very clean slated minds as well as the perverted kinds) Apart from the magazines, think chewing gum, cigarettes, food and anything a newsagents could have. It comes in aid of the needs for all the vintage loving people dwelling in here!

I don't know how or why I've never reviewed Newspoint before when it is one of the main and only…read morenewsagents in the Arndale Shopping Centre, and something I use quite regularly. Newspoint is situated on the top floor of the Arndale, very close to both Subway, Greggs and ALDI as well as the toilets across the way, so it is in a good location, also close to both Nando's and Bella Itallia and even the main car park lifts. This newsagents is quite small, and simply acts as a to-go store mainly specialising in stuff you'd need while around the arndale, such as a good selection of drinks, a reasonable selection of snacks which looked quite depleted and understocked on my visit, and a decent yet not fantastic range of newspapers. Here, they stocked a good range of drinks including San Pellegrino and Lipton Iced Tea's, they have a large amount of names here which is good, however they seem to only stock few flavours from these brands, meaning they is big selecton for brands, but for those brands - it is a small selection. The staff here seemed okay, although a little dis-interested, they were 2 staff sat behind such a small counter, which wasn't really needed, and he seemed to be their for company rather than helping for work in a busy, central attention and therefore I didn't feel like I was getting the attention I deserve and should get, as a customer to his store. They have a small range of Manchester merchandise here too, but other than a few measly postcards and fridge magnets, and I mean a few they isn't a lot here and this isn't really a place you'd go for souvenirs anyway. The store is quite small and narrow, hence the selection is limited, despite a large drinks fridge on the back row, and it could appear narrow meaning you have to near enough walk in single file, and it is hard to get around with wheelchairs, due to the small cramped nature, it can be hard to miss certain items, and of course they can't stock everything which they would like, and which the customer would like too. I like this newsagents, but it really is a little too small, I feel it would have deserved 3 stars but this just shows how staff play a role in the business, and due to them looking like the "owners" of the store but yet dis-interested and not really friendly, I feel I can only give a two.

A newsagent tucked away in Arndale. Pretty efficient in being a newsagent keeping an array of…read moremagazines and newspapers. The guy serving is very jovial and often would indulge you in a chat about his latest business acquisitions. A good laugh as well. The collection of drinks, crisps and cigarettes keeps everyone in the Arndale a happy person.

WHSmith at Manchester Piccadilly is a pretty good branch, especially for a travel store, the prices…read moremight be really high, to the point I can't understand why as there are multiple rivals nearby selling many of their items or similar items for less, but they do have a pretty good selection if you're in a rush, ahead of getting a train. I do like the special events they seem to have on here, they sell Airpods and more recently they brought the Carabao Cup here ahead of 2020, giving supporters the chance to get a selfie with the trophy, this was a pretty cool experience to lift the trophy right before Manchester City defeated Aston Villa to retain the trophy for the third year in a row at Wembley back in 2020. (This was an experience offered by Carabao as part of their trophy store, but it is nice to see the store arranging experiences like that) They do also sell the IRN-BRU Energy drink range here, they are one of the few stores outside of Scotland to do so, I think it tastes terrible and at 2.5x the price of Carabao, it isn't worth it, but if you do love IRN-Bru, you'll probably like it. 4* - For a travel location, this branch of WHSmith is good, although I do prefer grabbing my drinks and travel stuff from the Co-Op just outside the station as the store looks a little better inside and is much cheaper.

The Observer? Tick Sunday Times? Tick…read moreTelegraph? Tick Mojo magazine? Tick Elle magazine? Tick Food and Travel? Out of stock. Thanks WH Smith for almost making my Sunday afternoon.

They are selling fake cigarettes from under the counter, the man took out the cigarettes from…read morethe cabinet behind him, then looks like he swapped it from under the counter, flimzy box and packaging, cigarettes harsh on throat and feels flimsy also, but charged as if selling me originals

This newsagents is on Piccadilly, and sells a few international newspapers outside which I always a…read morefind to be a nice touch. It reminds me of being on holiday in France and trying to find an English newspaper to read up on the football. They have loads and loads of magazines in here, all the major titles as well as seemingly most of the obscure ones as well. And for what we all use newsagents most for, they have a truly excellent selection of sweets, chocolates, crisps and cigarettes.

The gentleman who operates the shop is always welcoming and helpful when I send or collect parcels…read morewith Yodel or FedEx. The shop is well presented and very clean.

When I came into Mirage News I thought it was just a bog standard newsagents. Crisps, sweets,…read morecigarettes, bottles of fizzy pop and few newspapers. That kind of thing. That's certainly what it looks like from the outside. And it does sell all of those things. But what it also does is tobacco. So what I'm talking about is cigars. In fact a couple of cabinets full of the things, with a wide range of types. They also sell tobacco, in flavours such as apple, banana and toffee, all weighed out to the amount you would like. They also sell paraphernalia like pipes and lighters. The guy serving is nice enough too. What Mirage News is really great for is its tobacco though.

I have to give a major shout out to Paramount Books - a fantastic independent bookstore nestled in…read morethe sometimes overlooked and forgotten Shudehill area of town. Ok so there may be a million KFC ripoff takeaways and a few random shops that have seen better days around it but Paramount stands out as a well looked after 2nd hand book store with loads of character! I was pulled in on a wet and windy Monday by their comic book sale - in fact there's a whole area in the back dedicated to rare comics and graphic novels (fantastic selection) - inside there's a fantastic selection covering everything from music and film to politics, history and philosophy - really good to browse and possible pick up a tome to take home (wow that rhymes...) The best part of this place is the owner who basically is exactly what you'd be looking for if casting this place in a Hollywood movie. With glasses dangling from his neck and a scholarly look as he sorts the shelves - the classical music in the background makes you really feel what a unique place this is in the world of chain stores and amazon. Make sure you check out Paramount soon and enjoy a slip back into yesteryear!

Thank the lord for Paramount Book Exchange…read more One of the few independent bookshops left in Manchester, it's a strictly DIY affair run by a genuine book lover. The sign outside suggests it's only open Fridays and Saturdays but it's usually open Monday to Saturday unless the owner has popped out for something. The lively window displays give a great indicator of what's in store with stacks of new, vintage and secondhand books everywhere. Fans of cult fiction, sci-fi, horror, crime noir, queer fiction, biographies and pop culture will find much to treasure here as the stock leans more towards William Burroughs, Poppy Z Brite and Neil Gaiman than Harry Potter. There's also a small selection of 60s-90s vinyl for crate diggers. All they need is a coffee machine and I'd happily move in!