To find Trago Mills one of the weirdest shopping experiences I've ever had...

[Nancery]

On holiday last week we ended up in Trago Mills as we wanted to buy DS (22m) a tractor as we'd gone on holiday with no toys. I'd heard vaguely about it via my former partner who used to bicker with his mother about it (he refused to set foot in the place due to it's bizarre political messages and umpteen other reasons, his mum thought he was being ridiculous as it's cheap!) but didn't know loads. Well... From the signs around the building informing you you will be prosecuted for stealing the plants around the moat, the signs about shoplifting and the consequences almost everywhere you look, the having to queue to to have your receipt and bags checked, the extraordinary statues of the 'money grabbing tax man' or anti Europe posters - I am
Bonkers. All of it! And more than a little bit sinister.
And the place was bloody packed!!

I've clearly not lived have I?!

I'm off on my holidays to Devon this summer so after this thread I'm putting Trago Mills on my list of places to visit. Local colour and all that.

Giggling now !

Enjoy!

If you get out without a migraine,a curver box full of plastic tat or having had a family row- respect!

ikeaismylocal I've been with my forrin husband and half forrin children and we escaped alive. Sadly we are used to going places covered in UKIP posters and listening to rants about immigrants, where my relatives live have plenty of them. Weirdly enough, all the UKIP supporters we know have children that live in foreign countries, or have married immigrants (like Nige himself). They just don't see that putting up posters like 'Say No to Immigration' in their gardens might make us feel a bit uncomfortable.

The Trago guy was anti-Europe before UKIP was invented though.

My mum bought a Boden dress off eBay recently. Also had label cut out. Maybe it's so you can 'to try and send it back to Boden?

My brother lives in Devon - we are sooooo going to this place next time we visit

Thanks for the reassurance thetallesttower we might brave it next time we visit! My dp might be horrified, I try to hide certain British things from him, he once accidentally watched Jeremy Kyle, I think he sees me ina slightly different light now ;)

There is really nothing at all like Trago Mills

Oh my god I thought I dreamt that place! My ex and I took my mum there once when we lived in Newquay a very long time ago.

thetallesttower thank you! I do remember it being very like are you being served in there. I recall the toy department clearly (being the place I spent most of the week).
That was a great week all round really, rained constantly and the only day it didn't we went strawberry picking and then discovered I was allergic to strawberries and spent the rest of the day in A&E.

Plymouth was never on my destination list after that

It is horrid. I remember it from one rainy day years ago when on holiday. Lots of people recommended a visit but actually we found it to be really quite rank.

My mum used to drag me around Trago as a child, usually bribing me with the promise of a pasty. My parents were bit crap when it came to days out. She loves the place and buys a lot of cheap garden and decorating stuff there.

My Dad teases her about shopping there and calls it Janner Disneyland.

CSIJanner I'm astonished they still use the same jingle - though it clearly works as I have instant recall...

I noticed I ended up with 2xt at the end of Newton Abbot too - the perils of a crap internet signal, that post was my 3rd attempt to add to the thread!

Oh, for the pp who mentioned Dingles, there used to be one in Plymouth, I think it's House of Fraser now. We had Dingles and Debenhams and I could never remember which one I was in. Plymouth was all bright lights and big city to me. Aaah, Trago - the shop that bemuses most who cross its path.

I love Dingles! It's actually John Lewis in Plymouth now, although still called Dingles. Their restaurant is bloody lovely now they have had a revamp. It's more like Debenhams these days.

Derrys Cross was a hotchpotch of shite though.

Oh yes, not John Lewis - House of Frazer. That's what I meant.

It's easy to sneer but it's cheap, cheap, cheap. Le creuseut kitchenware, V-tech toys, branded waterproofs, branded baby sleep bags etc, we've bought them all in Cornwall at a fraction of the price of any department store or even TK Maxx.
The range is far bigger than any pound shop and unlike the supermarkets they don't depend on you ordering online, everything is actually in the shop, useful for those without easy internet access.

Handy in a part of the country where the average wage is far below the national average.

I used to go get dragged to the Liskeard one all the time as a child. My most vivid memory of it is seeing a small child sitting on one of the display toilets in the DIY section with her pants around her ankles

The carpet department is amazing - loads of gorgeous Persian rugs

I'm N Irish and my DH is Scottish- do you think they will let us in?

Please do keep sneering.... if you must buy your wares from shops that add pounds to the purchase price so you can buy the goods off posh shelves, with lovely lighting, all stacked singly, specially for you, just stop knocking the wonderful pile it high wonder that is Trago.

I'll happily buy slightly dusty items from a mile high pile of cheap, high quality goods. I am just annoyed that the nearest shop is 200 miles away and I only get to go when visiting my sister.

I don't see where anyone is sneering? I see lots of people discussing the idiosyncrasies of a store and it's rather eccentric owners, but not sneering.

I went to one of then with my grandad last year, bizzare bizzare bizarre!
Loved it of course .

I never said I didn't like the fact that is is piled high and cheap, I would probably go quite frequently if it was near me. However it's not, so it was a holiday visit and DH and the DCs hated it. I didn't know about all the xenophobic, customer hating stuff from the former owner though.

Loki... read it back. I always feel unclean, it was quite rank/weird, I cannot bear it... just within 10 posts.

WhoKnows....would you like to join me in a petition... Get Trago's out of Cornwall - and into the rest of the UK?

The former owner was a real throwback... xenophobic didn't really cover all of his weird acts and decrees. He really did demand that all customers be treated like thieves, spot check on bags, checking against receipts in the little box area between till and door, he really did write the most amazing and vile diatribes that various local papers carried (he paid a lot for advertising, so they usually gave him a voice).

But it hasn't been like that for ages. It is still piled high and gets dusty and messy, but it is such good fun rummaging through it all. I spent about £30 last week and got enough crafting bits and bobs to last me for a year... and a lovely bucket with poppies on (I didn't even know I needed a bucket ) and their fabrics... omg!!!

I want/need/demand a Trago Mills near me - NOW!

Nomama, I think we've established it's a weird place. Thats not in question, most people who have been there seem to concede it is weird. Yep, a couple of people call it rank and one calls it 'unclean'. Given many posters are referring to it as 'dusty' again I wouldn't take issue with feeling unclean after coming out of a dusty store, you yourself admit its dusty and messy and if you are rummaging through it all then yes, you are going to feel quite unclean after.

I'm sure if you started a thread on Poundland or B&M Bargains you'd probably get similar comments but I wouldn't class any of them as sneering especially.

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