Regent Retail Park is a decent no thrills retail park, the retailers here are mainly focused on…read moreessentials, a large Sainsbury's superstore for essentials, and a JD Sports for sportswear, which also includes a gym. Other outlets here include Costa for a coffee, Boots for a chemist/pharmacy, a couple of discount stores, pound shops and a pet store. It is classed as part of Salford, but it is a short walk from the western edge of Manchester city centre, just head straight down Liverpool Road from the Hilton at Beetham Tower. It's fairly easy to follow and find the stores you need here, but for a smaller retail park, this has to be expected. There isn't anything in terms of food options outside the supermarket, but KFC and McDonald's are across the way. It is easy to access as a pedestrian, and for cars, there is a large car park centred around Sainsbury's. 3*

Not exactly a lot I can write about a retail park. It is what it is, a place of convinience with…read morestores you can use for essentials. Although I still avoid one of the stores like the plague, choosing to travel 4 miles to my nearest equivalent, I do use nearly all the other stores several times a week. With Sainsbury's, Boots, Argos, Home Bargains, Sports Direct you pretty much have everything you will ever need in these stores, not to mention the others. So its a good location and a decent selection of stores. My only downside is the layout, featuring two four way roundabouts in quick succession, it can become rather chaotic at times, especially with idiots and the speeds they drive. But all in all its a good place.

A good selection of shops in a good, central location within Stockport Town Centre, Merseyway is…read moreOK, although the selection of shops is much smaller than Manchester, which is only a couple of minutes away via train some stores here include Waterstones, Vision Express, Clarks, WHSmith, Superdrug, Primark as well as most major banks and UK mobile phone providers. Many of the shops are in the outside area, and due to the nature of the shopping centre, it is pretty open so it might not be the best place to go on a chilly day. Most of the shops do close slightly early, with 5:30 to 6 being common (when they are allowed to open of course...) The interior is pretty modern and OK. It can be useful to cut through here if you're heading from the Railway/Bus Stations into other parts of the town centre, including ASDA and Tesco. 3*

I come to Merseyway every Saturday. I you want something, I gurantee you'll find it here. The area…read moreis kept clean and has a great environment. Buses and Taxis are available at any time or within minutes. Food/Cafes: - Greggs - Marks and Spencers - Thorntons - Simon Dunn Chocolatiers - Debenhams - Sandwich Shops - Gabbots farm - Love Coffee Shopping/Clothes/Make Up: - Primark - BHS - Solewish - Blue Inc - Kiwi Fashions - The Fragrance Shop - The Body Shop - Marks and Spencers - Debenhams - Glance - New Look - Boots - Superdrug - Next - Topman - Topshop - River Island - Republic - Candy - Monsoon - Accessorize - Ann Summers - Clarks Eletronic/Games/Phones: - Vodafone - Game - Orange - HMV - T-Mobile Other: - Argos - Waterstones - The Works - WHSmith - Mothercare - Disney - Firstchoice - Sports Direct - The Card Factory - Clintons AND LOADS MORE

Spinning Gate Shopping Centre is a small shopping centre in the town centre of Leigh, there is a…read moresmall number of shops including various banks as well as Ryman (which has a Post Office), Costa, WHSmith, B and M as well as many smaller brands. The main part of the mall was clean, there were some empty units, it is easily accessed via the Bus Station Many smaller retail parks and "supermarkets" have a much better choice of shopping while in Leigh town centre now 2* - Not terrible but certainly nowhere near what it used to be.

This is very accessible by public transport or private car. It is a well designed shopping centre…read morewith a wide variety of shops available. I hadn't visited here for quite a few years and was disappointed in the market hall as the open market used to be superb. Amongst other things, we used to go here for the excellent Leigh Toaster the best cheese in the world for cheese-on-toast or cheese and onion pies. On this visit, we couldn't find any, yet Warrington Market has it. At the entrance to Spinning Gate is The Goose a decent pub (despite the big screen tv's everywhere you look) with some good beers on offer.

Birchwood shopping centre is in dire need of a facelift, it's run down and often looks in need of a…read moregood clean. However it is convenient for the local area, inside is an Asda and Iceland aswell as some chain stores such as New Look and Argos. Parking is free and there is plenty of it, making it easy to come here. The shops tend to be the cheaper end of the high street stores, newsagents, charity and sports shops. At Christmas they often have a small grotto and a Santa which is nice for the children. Birchwood shopping centre is probably not somewhere you would go Saturday shopping, the range of shops is just too small but it is nice to have a quick look around the shops if you are going to one of the supermarkets anyway.

We use this station for day-trips to Liverpool. The reason for this is that trains from Manchester…read moreto Liverpool for some reason seem to take an age, and by the time you've got into Manchester as well you've more or less wasted half a day. Much better instead to drive to Birchwood Station, fairly close to the M62, park there (the car park always seems to have spaces to spare), and then catch one of the frequent trains to Liverpool: problem solved. Birchwood station itself is small but clean and tidy, with good signage and information about departures. The ticket office doesn't seem to be manned very often but the ticket machines (once you've mastered them) do the job. All in all: a good place.

Although relatively small, the Hardshaw Centre is always very busy as it caters for most shoppers…read moreneeds. The carpark on the roof is well maintained and not too expensive - £2 usually covers a full shopping trip. I always end up taking people to the Poundland or Poundstretchers whichever it is. They have an enormous variety of goods for, would you believe it, £1. Especially favourite with our clients are the four cans of fake red bull for £1 - they all say it's exactly the same, but I have to take their words for it as I hate the taste of all energy drinks. There are also many other shops from huge departments to small jewellers and most things in between.

The Hardshaw Centre is the best shopping centre in St Helens but that isn't saying much. The best…read moreshop is M&S all the others are cheap shops - it's certainly not as good as it use to be. The parking is handy and cheap and they do nice things at Christmas.

This massive glass building that houses a shopping mall sits in the middle of city centre just a…read morestone's throw from Manchester Victoria. It's modern, clean, and easy to navigate even with large crowds. They've got all the typical mall shops like NEXT, Sephora, etc. I've only been here one other time and that was a couple of years ago. My main purpose for visiting was to see an art installation that will only be on display until October. It's called MCR Made by Stanley Chow. The art is inflatable likenesses of Manchester icons such as the Gallagher brothers, Aitch, Ellen Wilkinson, Maxine Peake, Alan Turing, and others for a total of 13 figures. I was on the visit purely for the Gallagher boys. Fantastic pieces of work. In addition, while I was there, a Pride event was going on. It was great getting to watch the amazing performers. All-in-all this is a pretty decent mall for all your needs and wants.

Over priced £1 for pva glue what on earth caused such money…read moregreed not to mention is maze like structure and the so called reusable bags that I'm sure are recycled condoms

Shopping here is great! With plenty of main high street shops you're sure to find what you came…read morefor! The centre is always kept nice and clean and there are benches to leave your hubby at while you shop til you drop There's no river island or primark which is a little disappointing but hey! You can't fit every shop in here can you?! Parking is only £1 for upto 24 hours which is fab!! So no need to worry about ridiculous parking prices Definitely would recommend this place to family or friends, I often meet up with them here to have a coffee and catch up!

A great selection of shops all in one precinct. The large Peacocks store located next door to Boots…read moreis a favourite. Much larger than the Oldham one. Good selection of bargin shops including the pound shop and home bargins. Lots of seating to rest you tired feet and shopping bags in the centre. Everything from cafes to clothes to travel agents.

Manchester Fort is a large retail shopping park, just under a mile away from Manchester city…read morecentre. It does seem a little strange having a retail park so close to the city centre, where other areas of Greater Manchester are left behind but the selection of places to shop is fine, while the selection of eateries could be much improved, due to a lack of restaurants that aren't just fast food. There's a good number of coffee shops here, including Costa, Dunkin and Starbucks, the latter two have opened within the past 18 months or so, so are fairly new additions. Places to eat include KFC, Pizza Hut, Nando's and Subway. There is also a McDonald's right next to the Fort with a drive-thru (The Fort claim this to be part of the shopping park on their website) The selection of stores is okay and includes TK Maxx, Superdrug, Sports Direct, Boots, and Argos. There are also a couple of phone shops, nothing too exciting, but a decent number of stores that could save you a trip into the city centre. A couple of stores have closed recently, but with the aftermath of COVID and the fact the city centre (where many of these brands have stores, many of which are larger) is so close, this has to be expected. It is pretty easy to follow the layout, there are a couple of benches around the shopping park and some shelter to help stay dry if there's a light drizzle. Plenty of parking, meaning you shouldn't struggle to get a space somewhere. I do think the pedestrianisation could be improved for other retail parks, given the fact there are three main areas, which may mean crossing a road or going through the car park, if you're at one end of the Fort, you may have to use your car to get to adjacent McDonald's or Currys across the way. 3*

I have visited Manchester Fort regularly over the years, but I have been far more impressed during…read moremy latest visits over the past weeks, which is due to the discovery that the Shopping Park now has a Nike Outlet Store and a H&M. Since when? Fantastic! Although the H&M was smaller to what one would find in Manchester City Centre, it still has a good range of stock and very well organised, full of stylish shoppers. The Nike Outlet is, once again, smaller to what one would find in other Outlet Malls, but the range of stock, sale items, and discounts are very impressive. Personally I am seeking some new trainers for the gym, and found a great selection at bargain prices. The staff in the store are welcoming, friendly, and knowledgeable. They certainly have that US Customer Service mindset, which I welcome wholeheartedly. I can see myself becoming a regular here, especially when the Summer of Fitness is upon us. The Shopping Park also boasts a TK Maxx, which I am a big fan of, and I have often found that they have a good range of stock, and I have purchased some excellent items here from clothes to home decorations. The store seems to have had a recent refurbishment to extend the first floor space, which opens out the whole store. As well as, fashion and clothing, one can find a variety of stores at this Shopping Park, and not just clothing and outlets. Manchester Fort has: Halfords Store, for all car, cycle, and motorcycle accessories; B&Q, for all home and garden DIY needs; a technologically modernised Argos, full of tablet-ordering-system and a varied system that the normal Argos shopping experience. Other stores include: Clarks, Mamas&Papas, Boots, Superdrug, M&S Food, Card Factory, Game, Maplin, Sports Direct, Specsavers, Thomas Cook, Shoe Zone, Mothercare, Thomson Holidays, Trespass, and Pound World (you can never go wrong when you have a pound shop to hand. Big fan!) For food, one can visit one of Manchester's many Nando's and KFC establishments here. I love Nando's but I haven't yet visited the one here in the Shopping Park. I think I should, don't you?