Rajani Superstore

I love that you can follow the progression of this Bristol store by old shop signs at increasingly bigger stores up Stapleton Road, up to its current destination in Fishponds Trading Estate.
It is difficult to describe — basically a homeware shop with a bunch of oddities on top — think pictures of Jesus standing beneath holographic waterfalls.
Apart from the sheer fun of going round here, during the heatwave five years ago this was the only shop in Bristol still to stock fans. Genius.

Rajanis is the stuff of legend for the cheap and cheerful. Only if you’re prepared to trawl through a warehouse of junk, tat and odds and ends to find what you’re after. And if what you’re after is a job lot of chairs, or a mop or a big bag of mixed sweets.
I’m doing it an injustice. Wholesale is the right name for it (despite selling to the average person off the street too). They stock a whole host, floor-​to-​ceiling — gifts, cards, stationary, candles, ornaments, mirrors, luggage, beauty and cleaning products, household goods, crockery, catering supplies, DIY products, pet supplies, gardening goods and furniture, curtains, towels, cushions, blinds, bedding, toys and electrical goods. All at warehouse discount, bargain basement, super-​duper low prices.
The Xmas decoration section itself is breath-​taking — you could decorate an entire village with what they have here — tinsel, baubels, trees and lights a go-​go.
Rajanis also has a café on site, a cashpoint, delivery service and pensioner discounts on a Thursday. Phew… it’s like an entire new city of stuff.

Rajanis is a Bristol legend for cheap and cheerful stuff. A huge place offering warehouse prices on a whole range of stuff — gifts, cards, stationary, candles, ornaments, mirrors, luggage, beauty and cleaning products, household goods, crockery, catering supplies, DIY products, pet supplies, gardening goods and furniture, curtains, towels, cushions, blinds, bedding, toys and electrical goods. Oh yes, and Christmas decorations are on sale at the moment!
It’s a great place to get stuff for kids party bags, party supplies and stuff for any other sort of event. The prices are great, very economical. I’ve got some good bargains here but there’s also quite a bit of tat. Rajanis also has a café on site, a cashpoint, delivery service and pensioner discounts on a Thursday if you have a membership card. Its open seven days a week and open late on Thursdays.

Rajanis is one of my favourite shopping experiences in Bristol. It’s cheap, carries a phenomenal range of products, and it’s as eccentric as you get for this kind of store.
I last visited Rajanis a couple of days ago, on bank holiday Monday, in the hope that they stocked a driver belt for my broken washing machine. Although I was disappointed in my quest, I still came away having spent £65 on other, less pressing, items. My shopping trolley consisted of two faux leather beanbags, some faux Tupperware, genuine cotton socks, three chrome finished poles and a hose head. The latter replaced my previous hose head, purchased at Rajanis three years ago, which was a clunky affair that cost just over two quid, and was the outright loser in a debacle with a cement mixer at the weekend. (And yes, it was me who left it lying around on the ground in harms way!) Instead of a direct replacement I opted to go for the deluxe version this time. Costing just under six quid, and more ergonomically designed, this particular hose head possesses much more graceful moving parts. Unfortunately, the end result isn’t as good as the old one for the application I use it for… but it is unquestionably superior in terms of typical use.
As usual, people were out in their numbers. Families spewed from the aisles in relentless throngs, badly behaved kids straggling at the rear. With tall ceilings in this warehouse set-​up, Rajanis enjoys good acoustics, and so the noise levels are always a tad challenging. (Perhaps this is why they’ve been going all-​out to load as many products for purchase on-​line).
Grid-​locked aisles, and petulant children are certainly not the aspects of the store that I appreciate most. Instead, it’s the dizzying array of kitsch, and the affordable tools and DIY supplies that keep me coming back with relentless regularity. Rajanis has everything for car, house, garden and home, and a lot more besides. I’d be hard pushed to buy any of their furniture as the quality’s not great, but I’d happily fill my cart with pretty much anything else. Being a reluctant DIYer, I don’t need tools to last, and so I tend to buy them for a single-​fix job. Chinese tools are perfect for this, but are generally not robust enough for long-​term use. Nevertheless, I often see paint-​caked tradesmen cruising the hallowed corridors of the home improvement section. Bet they’re all called Jerry!
Aside from the often bizarre selection of products, there are other idiosyncratic aspects to shopping at Rajanis that I absolutely adore. The fact that they invariably get someone who is speech-​impaired to make all of the announcements cracks me up every time. I don’t know if the poor lady in question has had a tracheotomy, or if the nocturnal gremlins have paid her a visit and tied a knot in her larynx, but the result is peculiar in the extreme. The breathy, husky, practically indecipherable announcements are enough to stop me in my tracks and have me chortling out loud in unabashed amusement. But what does it matter? I’m just another crazy, crazy shopper in a crazy, crazy world!