New Street is the main, flagship street of Birmingham city centre, starting at the city's shopping…read morecentre, the Bullring and going down, along the street you have a couple of hotels, banks, shops restaurants and coffee shops and even a cinema, it is even home to the city's Apple Store and largest train station, of the same name. (Even though New Street has never had direct access to Birmingham New Street station unless going through Grand Central). Some Businesses you should expect to find here: - Apple - Britannia Hotels - HSBC - JD Sports - McDonald's - Nando's - Odeon Cinema featuring Costa Coffee - Second Cup - Starbucks - Virgin Money - Wildwood You do occasionally get the odd street performance or stall, similar to what makes Market Street in Manchester so hectic, meaning you could be flogged any random rubbish with those stands seeming to do nothing more than annoy you and get in the way. 4*

New Street is the Central shopping street in Birmingham City Centre. There's not many other places…read moreyou can find a plethora of shops, spa's, restaurants and bars in one place! As you get off the train at New Street, it's the first big street you will come to (noticeable by the hoards of harassed looking mothers, students and street entertainers along it's length). On one side is the Bullring (a bit of a haven for brand addicts and high street shoppers) and the other side is Victoria Square (a lovely spot to grab a coffee and people watch). It's a real mish mash of posh, ordinary, cheap and unusual businesses. You can find everything from Primark to Morrissons, so its definitely worth a walk down. As a bit of a tip (sounds silly, but true), look up! Firstly, some of the buildings are gorgeous and have a bit of history behind them. Secondly, there are loads of "second floor" businesses that you might not be aware of unless you do. From November through December it's also the focus of the German Christmas Markets. These are often loved by visitors and lamented by locals, but worth a pootle along to have a gander at the food, drink and products on sale. There is a lovely atmosphere around the German Markets, but it is often VERY BUSY. As a pro tip, if you're looking for somewhere to eat and drink during this time - head a little off the beaten track to Bennetts Hill, Bacchus bar or somewhere like The Old Joint Stock (where it's often a little quieter).

This is a great store that houses most brands under one roof. You can print off your photos at one…read moreof the stations, purchase makeup from one of the many concession stations - new lipstick anyone? There is also a gift area - cards and wrapping a mother and baby section and that all important holiday section to stock up on suntan lotion and accessories. The staff are friendly and are happy to recommend products if you are not sure what to buy. There are no self service tills here, but to be honest dealing with a real person is better! A great store that is often not as busy as some of the high street stores what with it being on a business park. A welcome change which means you can browse at your leisure. Wunderbar!

Boots is one of a few shops in Shirley Retail Park which is also known as Sears Retail Park. The…read morecar park is big enough to accommodate the number of shoppers it sees, with a limited number of disabled and baby parking at the front of the shops. Boots is next to Argos and the sports shop. This is a large store over the one level. This Boots branch has a pharmacy which is a midnight pharmacy, photos, perfume, toys and childrens clothing departments on top of everything you would expect to see in any Boots store. I have never had any complaints about the staff they are always professional

Went for first time in four years today and luckily not too many customers. The shop assistants…read moreprobably outnumbered paying customers, but they were all so helpful and obliging, everyone we met showed tremendous knowledge of the items in the store and ideas. We could have stayed there for hours. The cafe is just that, a standard snack serving cafe, nothing outstanding but the service was exceptional. But the greatest benefit is the massive selection of women's and men's clothes, from the ordinary to top quality. Something for everyone. It might have been an 80mile round journey, but worth it and we will go again before Christmas to get a few more bargains.

This one goes out to all the senior citizens... boy, I get cooler by the day :P…read more Be warned this place can be terrifying. It's so big when you enter that you can't even see the far walls beyond the vast sea of clothing stands in front of you, all arranged in a grid that forces you to move pac-man style through the aisles whilst dodging slow-moving pensioners on all sides. I think it's my uber-cool little sister's idea of hell. Not exactly my idea of a good time, and I'm not about to suggest it should be yours! But they do have a huge range of middle-aged-to-elderly mens and womenswear, much of it from branded labels at outlet prices (think Austin Reed, Moss Bros, Jaeger, Hobbs etc), plus things like bed linen, books, perfumes and stationery. Whilst I may have turned 30, I haven't grannyfied my wardrobe just yet - I'm actually suggesting you earn some good grandkid brownie points by bringing your nan here to browse and bargain-hunt. Yes it'll be two hours of your life you won't get back but it's well organised, saves them the stresses of the big malls, and the pensioners love it (there's always plenty of them enjoying the cafe at the back!). As well as doing something nice out of the goodness of your heart, you might just strike it lucky as I did and find one of the handful of things in the store that someone under 40 might actually wear (and my little sis approved of!). In my case, a gorge Adrianna Papell work dress reduced from its £139 RRP to a £30 outlet bargain, that I'm proudly wearing to the office to combat the back-to-work blues today. Boom :)

This is one of the best toy storees I have been to, the advert is so right millions of toys all…read moreunder one rooff, but they also sell cot, nappies, everything you will need for a new baby. Staff are happy, always helpful, Which is what you need when you go into a toy shop with kids wanting everything hahaa Shelffs are usually full of the item but if not can easily be ordered in. There are always deals throughout the store and you can pick up a bargain, specially before Christmass happy shopping!

I love this toys r us!! After dragging the kids round the rest of the shops for ages taking them…read morehere for a run around and look at the huge selection of toys always cheers them up! The only problem I ever have when we visit here is trying to convince the kids to leave, oh and there was the time my little sister got jammed in a ride on car and 3 members of staff ahd to help get her out lol but they were very nice about it!!

this store is the best new look i have ever been in, its 3 floors have everything ranging from…read moreyoung girls, teenagers and childres, lots of shoes and accesories for all too. Shopping here is good as the lines are always fashionable but not expensive

A decent sized store spread over three floors with a good range of womenswear, lingerie,…read moreaccessories and shoes. Also menswear, plus size and maternity sections. The staff are generally helpful if you're having trouble locating something.

I came across this new Japanese toy store on Corporation Street, it's like a Manga and retro store…read moreTokyo toys shop. The store is really eye catching and it has toys and merchandise anime/manga Items ranging from "cosplays" and replica weapons to keyrings, phone charms, pillows, wallets, snacks and drinks. It's a small store and kinda cramp but has a cool vibe to it.

Want to rock the latest, trendiest trainers in town then head down to One Aways on Corporation…read moreStreet. They sell various brands like Adidas, Nike, Supra and more. The first and last purchase I made there were a pair of Supra trainers which I bought for over £70 and they are nice :) I've only worn them like 3 times because I'm keeping them clean! Why buy trainers, I hear you say....because the one's from One Aways are not like any other trainers, these are special. Also, the carrier bag they give you is amazing. It's one of those carrier bags you'll want to keep for a long time. Another friend of mine, he hasn't binned his One Aways carrier bag because he's so in love with it, lol! I'd say it's not cheap though to shop there but many trainer shops aren't to be fair. If you go into Footlocker I'd say they are about the same price really ; maybe Footlocker is slightly cheaper but then One Aways has trainers you won't find in Footlocker.

Touchwood Shopping Centre might not be the largest shopping centre, but it's a pretty cool place,…read morewith a good number of brands, making it excellent for a small town like Solihull, meaning people can shop without making the short trip into Birmingham. It can be easily accessed via public transport, with many buses stopping right outside and Solihull Railway Station a short walk away, I do find the buses can be confusing if you don't know where you're going, due to the many different stops even to the same destination (Some buses to Birmingham take longer than others for example) Brands located here include Apple, Footasylum, JD, Nespresso and Lush. There is also a large John Lewis store here, which is all the more useful after their Grand Central location closed. This also features a Joe and the Juice. Food and beverage locations within the mall include Joe and the Juice, TGI Friday's, Nando's, Starbucks, Pizza Express and Wagamama. Most of the shops are on the Ground Level, while the restaurants seem to be on the upper level, there are exemptions to this rule, for example, Starbucks is on the Ground Level. I did like the contrast of the modern and older parts of the mall, I did find a lack of lifts/staff around the centre to be a slight problem. 4*

A very poor experience today!…read more I found myself with 45 minutes to spare in Solihull before my meeting so I walked into the town centre and into Touchwood to take some photos to share with you here and on twitter for my 100 Days of Birmingham photos. I took a portrait photo of the closest shopping arcade and then turned my camera to take a landscape photo. A security guard walked up to me and asked me what I was doing. I told him I was taking photos to share of the shopping arcade on twitter and he told me that I was not allowed to take photos. Ironic since there are already 12 photos on here. He suggested that I was taking photos of the people in the shopping centre which wasn't the case. He then asked me to DELETE my photos. I tweeted from BrumHour's twitter account about my experience and received a reply back that said they can ask people not to take photos. As its private property they are well within their rights to do so.