Shops you've never bought anything from

[LudoBear]

What shops have you never bought anything from?

These are all in my local area and I've never bought from them.

Next
New look
Joules
Boden
M&S (was given a £20 gift card from them, struggled to find anything to buy so sold it)
Waitress
Fat face
Mountain warehouse
Costa coffee
Starbucks
Boots (use pharmacy but never bought from the actual shop)

@Floralnomad hol lister is an unpleasant shopping experience due to the low lighting, perfumed air and loud music and I say that as a 26 year old! CS are better for the environment and sometimes you can get some great bargains especially if you go to one in a posh area. A friend of mine got a £200 coat with the tags still on for about £10 iirc. Not to mention that second hand stuff is way better for the environment than fast fashion like Hollister.

“We don’t make clothes for people as big as you”.

What an absolute cow!

As someone who is used to a tight budget I'm surprised that you've never bought from some of those shops.

Debenhams, Marks and Spencer and other similar shops have fantastic sales. This week I spent some Christmas money online with Debenhams (I'm really going to miss them). £52 bought me two dresses, one jump suit, sandals and some statement earrings. The quality is so much better than Peacocks so they will last me longer saving money in the long run.

I've always preferred to buy in sales as the price is usually comparable, sometimes much better.

@PattyPan , when I’m in hollister I am not buying for me ! honestly can’t say I noticed the low lighting or particularly loud music but as I haven’t been in a proper shop for a year maybe they’ve changed . I don’t think I will ever be persuaded about charity shops , just not my thing , bit like sales rails in shops I don’t do them either .

@PattyPan

I’ve never been in a Savers although there is one here. What differentiates it from eg Superdrug?

Savers and Superdrug are the same company.

Savers is from the pile it high sell it cheap school of retail.

You can get absolute bargains in there. I always go there for tubs of Nivea at a fraction of the cost of anywhere else.

I've only been to Zara home not clothes as I am a 18/20. Ditto Mango et al. Not been to Victoria's secret - looks rather tacky. My niece got some vanilla perfume from there (that put me off too!). Any trendy teen shops though I did nosey in at Topshop once to look at the make up. I know some shops do a plus range but that is usually on line or mainly t shirts and dresses slashed to the cleavage, short enough to show your knickers but also somehow very high necked (yes Asos I am looking at you!!).

Also never been to StarFucks. Hate American (non) coffee!

All high street shops, Bluewater et al do nothing for me.

H&M sizing is awful they don’t have shoes bigger than a 7.5 - I’m a shoe size 8.

Zara and Mango same it’s not inclusive at all.

As for shops I’ve never bought from:

Lakeland
Lush - can’t get within six feet without feeling a migraine coming on
Any perfume shop for same reason

You can get brilliantly cheap food at Waitrose about 8pm at night I do at least once a week. Same reason as you very small budget.

I also go into bookshops to have a nose then buy secondhand from Amazon bookseller

River island
All sport shops
Matalan
Boden
Seasalt

I find it odd that m and s are very expensive some things are according to ludobear
Def not well off either

Bon marche

I also havent shopped at
Joules
Boden
Fat face
Mint Velvet
The Range
River Island

I dont generally shop at Waitrose but I've been in for the odd item.

Harvey Nichols in Edinburgh.I am firmly of the view that there is nothing there for me. Around the corner from there, Swarovski, Mulberry, Pandora. Quite a mixed bag.

Also Zara
Mango
Bon March
I dont drink Coffee but I've bought soft drinks or snacks in costa or Starbucks when there are no cheaper alternatives (ie not very often!)

From your list OP

Next - 4/5 years ago
New look - never
Joules - never heard of it
Boden - never heard of it
M&S - 2/3 years ago
Waitrose - never (none near me)
Fat face - never
Mountain warehouse - regularly but we are all involved in the Scouts
Costa coffee - pre-pandemic all the time
Starbucks - pre-pandemic occasionally
Boots - 2/3 years ago

Mostly my go to places are Tesco, ASDA, Matalan, Mountain Warehouse, Yours Clothing, Garden Centres

• Zara - same as a previous PP re sizing
• Harvey Nichols
• Harrods
• Whistles
• French Connection
• Victoria's Secrets (I'm more M&S)
• Louis Vuitton, Versace and all similar
• Never bought from an auction

Joules - never heard of it
Boden - never heard of it

This is fascinating to me! Not that you e never bought from them, but that you've never heard of them.

@PattyPan

I’ve never been in a Savers although there is one here. What differentiates it from eg Superdrug?

It's got a wider range than Superdrug (depending on store size). the on in the next biggest town sells alcohol, but there's cleaning stuff/laundry/dishwashing/bin bags etc along with the lines of medical/smellies that Superdrug would stock.

Yours Clothing Not aware of that brand at all.

I've never shopped from Boden, Zara or Top Shop.

This thread has made me realise just how much I'm missing shopping in actual shops. I find it so hard to choose clothes online. Although it's not like I've had anywhere to wear them anyway.

H&M sizing is awful

Not if you are long limbed. Both DH and I have long arms, and H & M is one of the few places where we can buy tops and jumpers with arms long enough.

I had no idea that Savers were part of the Superdrug Group.

This thread has made me realise just how much I'm missing shopping in actual shops

Same here. And I don't have anywhere to wear anything to either

Tk max, I know other people rave about it, but it just feels like an overpriced glorified jumble sale where people are only buying shit for the label.

@SinisterBumFacedCat

Tk max, I know other people rave about it, but it just feels like an overpriced glorified jumble sale where people are only buying shit for the label.

I agree. I think I've bought a suitcase and a notebook there. I gave up looking for clothes after about 5 minutes, because they hang by size.

And when you're not familiar with the brand, you could be more or less any size. So you'd look on the rack of 14s and might find some trousers you liked, but of course, you'd also need to try a 12 or 16 and the chances of them also having a 12 or a 16 in those trousers and if they do, being able to find them in that size section is approximately zero, so it doesn't seem worth the effort.

Plus half the stuff in there is 'exclusive' TK Maxx brands, which means they can make up any RRP they like, so they tell you the top is 'worth' £60 but they're being kind enough to sell it to you for £20, so you think you're getting a bargain, but the reality is that they're selling you a £20 top but make you work even harder than normal to find it.

Might suit the people who enjoy browsing random racks of clothes on the off chance they might find something they like, but when your clothes shopping MO is 'I need some black work trousers today as my others are looking tatty and I want to spend as little time as possible finding them before I get on with my actual life' then it's the last place you'd want to shop.

Lush
Just walking past it makes me break into a sneezing fit lol

I can't "work" tkmaxx I don't understand the rail system I've held bags and coats for children whilst they rummaged but I've no patience.

I agree that TK Maxx is rather jumble saley as well, but some shops are better than others. It is brilliant for kitchen bargains though.