Rainbow Bargain

I spent ages trying to work out a) where Rainbow Bargains was and b) why they were advertising on a church.
So, imagine my surprise when I realised it was a shop IN A CHURCH! Not just like an old chapel or building that used to be a church but a church with a spire and everything!
Unfortunately it is less splendid inside. The roof has been lowered and it is really quite dingy. I expected to see the vaulted ceiling with bargains galore below. But no — it is just a bit of a cheap shop and actually feels quite claustrophobic. It isn’t particularly well organised and I’ve always gone in with high hopes, but never come out with anything. But, if you want a bargain then you can but try!

Using places of worship as shops has always been a contentious issue.
Nevertheless, this store can provide a number of rites of passage for the modern woman and has enabled me to embark on moments which would make my mother proud. Here are the highlights, brought to you through the medium of a shopping list:
A WASHING UP BOWL AND MATCHING DRAINER IN A DELIGHTFUL AQUA BLUE — This has enabled me to happily settle in my new home and show my unsuspecting house-​mates what an excitable character I am. Rainbow Bargains has also taught me the power of restraint and delayed gratification; the matching bin is now on my Christmas list.
MY FIRST HAMMER — An item which was used to hang my first painting. A momentous moment in anyone’s life, no?
A SET OF NEEDLES — Goodness, I do sound a homely type, don’t I?
PLASTERS — See hammer (above)
The baffling layout of the shop also provides the venue for a very exciting race. My best friend and I found the new game of ‘Hunt the Hammer’ especially exciting when carrying round a large Rothko. If you have to ask for help, you lose ten points; if you manage to get everything you ‘need’ without going back on yourself, please message me with some tips!
As someone setting up a new home, this place is ideal. And, true to its origins, it’s even open on Sundays.
URBAN CHALLENGE: Play Hunt the Hammer (see instructions above)

It’s always rather sad when a once beautiful church is sold and turned into a business. In this case, I get a particular case of heritage sadness when looking at picture frames and greetings cards where the pulpit once was.
On another note, the church hasn’t been knocked down and at least it’s being used for something.
Rainbow Bargain has quickly turned into one of my regular shopping destinations. Okay, so not for presents, but anything household related it is unbelievably good value.
Some of the pricing doesn’t make a great deal of sense to me, for instance; I bought some brown laces and could either buy one lace for 50p or an assorted set of 16 for £1.19. I bought the set, it should last me until I’m and old, old man.
It sells everything you might need for your home, garage, car or garden and whilst some of it isn’t the best quality, it doesn’t need to be. Any shop that makes ‘Savers’ look cheap has got to be doing something right.
When I moved into a flat in Roath, Rainbow Bargain was a real find (and conveniently just around the corner) and I couldn’t have done without it. If only they did midnight mass…

Didn’t Jesus go bonkers when someone used a church to sell some stuff? Well clearly Rainbow Bargain do not fear the wrath of God, as they’ve set up in an old Methodist church and haven’t tried to hide the fact (to be fair, the steeple is always going to give it away).
If you regard Poundland as being that little bit too organised and too well lit, or if you regard Poundstretcher as a big fat lie, or if your heart aches for the return of Hyper-​Value (and don’t fancy catching the train to Barry Island), then this right here is the shop for you.
Crammed with tat, useful items, tat, potentially useful items, and tat, Rainbow Bargain will take the pound that’s burning a hole in your pocket and replace it with something that was probably made in China… or Taiwan
So if you need a new bathplug, or have to buy a card for someone you don’t particularly like, or require some placemats with pictures of paella on, then head to Rainbow Bargain. The place is Double Rainbow!

Rainbow Bargain occupies the former Methodist Church where Wellfield Road meets Albany Road in Roath. It seems an unlikely, and slightly uneasy marriage of the commercial with the once ecclesiastical, with remnants of its previous use in evidence inside. It even has the pulpit in situ; a beautifully carved pulpit at that… but this has been partially faced with MDF and painted white, and then surrounded with a plethora of household products. The image jars a little!
The store is not as big as I was expecting when I first visited the place. Having lived in Devon for a few years I am accustomed to shopping at Trago Mills, a cavernous bargain basement store that contains a universe of discounted tat. By contrast, Trago stocked far too much stuff for me to contend with and I often found shopping there an overwhelming experience. I was known to ditch my basket and run before making it to the checkout on more than one occasion. It goes without saying that I’m not the worlds most assiduous shopper!
When in Bristol I shop at Rajanis, which I estimate to be eight times bigger than Rainbow, and being Indian owned, it is brilliant for kitchenware and textiles etc. Rainbow is owned by a mixed raced couple with fabulous names. Tiziano Cirillo is from Italy and his wife Hui Cirillo is of oriental origin, most possibly Chinese. Both are exceedingly lovely, and have their hands full in running the place. At Rajanis there is a whole army of blue shirted workers swarming in the aisles, but not at Rainbow. It appears to be manned by the couple alone, which is startling if it is true. Although small by comparison, they still carry an inordinate amount of stock, some of it very heavy and I can’t imagine the shelves being replenished by only two people. May be they get the crew in to do this when the store is closed? I hope so!
I called in the other day to buy a number of items, and found that I could get most of them despite the limited ranges on offer. I got some great CD storage books for 99p, that are adorned with tropical fruits and as kitsch as you like, and are water-​resistant, (I’ve already spilt a glass of water on them, and they’ve stood up to the test admirably), a pink washing up bowl, (that I don’t need, but couldn’t resist), this again was 99p, as well as a 10 meter double plug extension lead for £10.99 and some garden wire and secateurs amid a few other sundry items. The secateurs were less than two quid, and are a little better than useless. There was a much more sturdy looking pair for about £2.49, which I am sure would have done the job better. But the British mage garden sheers that I got for £4.99 more than compensate for the shonky secateurs! They’re brilliant!
So, the prices are great, and the quality of the stock is quite high in my experience. I knew better than to buy the cheapo secateurs, but the cost was so low that I couldn’t resist giving them a go!

Rather like a Hypermarket or Poundstretcher but housed in a lovely former church, Rainbow Bargain sells super-​cheap household goods from pots and pans to can openers, plus DIY stuff, stationery, textiles, toys, greetings cards, and even the odd item of furniture.
Most of the greetings cards are hideous, if I’m honest, and there’s a lot of tat to be found generally across the store, but if you can be bothered to shop carefully (I can’t) you can occasionally find some bargains. Outside at the front, for example, they currently have some pretty outdoor plants, as well as hanging baskets and tubs (although they only seemed to have the tacky plastic variety, rather than any nice terracotta ones). I also spotted some plain, slatted, wooden fold-​up chairs for £6.99 (reduced to half price) and a few other decent garden items.
I don’t often browse around in here because there’s just too much rubbish to get beyond before you find anything decent, and more often than not I’ve ended up walking away empty handed. If you’re a bargain-​hunter with more patience than I have, this place is probably worth a good look around.

A place like this is always going to look better (and probably get a better review, as a result) when the day is fantastic and the sun is shining. The building itself is just beautiful. I wasn’t paying that much attention (I’m sorry, Unilocalers, I’ve let you down a little) so I don’t know if this is a church for half the time but I think it must have been at some point at least. Anyway, the building is lovely. The staff were really friendly. Again, this must be partially the sun’s influence. Everyone is nicer when the sun is out. The sun also (see, so many things that the sun gets involved with!) means that there can be a lovely display of flowers outside. A nice smell will always get me inside a shop. This is a haven for bargain hunters — people who want things like plain coloured plastic bins will find themselves surrounded by possible choices. It’s quite clearly not a place to get fancy things for your home but it’s a lovely place, with lovely staff and some really good cheap stock.