B&M Bargains

Boy was i surprised when i stepped inside this B&M. I had a day to waste and thought i would pop down and see if they had any cheap canvass. Boy did they!
First of all the shop is much bigger then you think it will be. The staff are obviously doing a great job as it never looked picked over. It was well stocked and they work hard to keep it that way. In shops like this its rare to see workers on the floor very often. I watched many on the shop floor checking everything looked perfect.
The stock itself is of a much higher quality then i expected and priced really well. I wish i knew this was here when i had just moved in. The amount of stock is quite amazing, I’m sure if you are looking for something you will find it in here.
I came out with 7 new canvass one of which is just beautiful it looks far more expensive than it was. Do yourself a favour, have a walk down and a look about. Its a lot of fun!

I expected to hate this store, as I expect to hate most things and humans on the planet, but boy have I had a slice of humble pie thrown in my face! Don’t let the gaudy design put you off: B and M is a bargain shopper’s dream. In fact, it may just be a general shopper’s dream, especially if you hate shopping full stop. You can buy everything from garden furniture to tins of soup to ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!’ merchandise — anyone for a box of chocolate witchetty grubs? No? Spoilsports!
There are proper food brands at a fraction of the price you’d pay in leading supermarkets, and you can also find lots of nice wee trinkets for around the house. Shops like B and M make me nostalgic for the time I lived in Germany, as most supermarkets there seemed to be set out like this, sporadic and cheap, but oh so very cheerful.
The only niggles I have is that there were plenty of pens on sale, but no A4 books of paper. As a trainee English teacher, I need paper, and I don’t really want to spend £4 on it from WHSmith. Also, I’ve not got a lot of time for the staff. Maybe I’ve just been in at the wrong times, so forgive me if you’re a happy, helpful person who works for this company (though if you’re that happy and helpful, you will). I was served by the world’s slowest and surliest assistant today, not even a gum-​chewing gormless teenager but a woman of a certain age who should have grasped the concept of customer service by now, which left me having murderous fantasies, and that’s no way to leave the happy happy cheap shop. So instead of committing a terrible crime, I’m knocking a star or two off the review. Nyah nyah, B and M! Nyah nyah!

Filling the void that Woolworths left B&M has surprisingly managed to step up to the mark — although still not a patch on good old Woolies. As the previous reviewers have mentioned, they stock a lot of tat as you would expect but also more useful items such as garden rakes and hoover bags. It’s a huge store and chances are after rummaging around you will find more than a few items you actually need.
The staff are also very helpful and if you know what you’re looking for then they will be able to point you in the right direction, cutting your time spent rummaging here by about 10 hours.

For two years I have been searching for a cover for my poor old passport. Not a bright pink one, not a Micky Mouse one, just a simple, understated one that will protect my already battered and bruised copy which is very much on its last legs.
I was beginning to question whether they even existed, having searched high and low to no avail. Thank the lord, therefore, for B + M Bargains.
You see, while I fully expected this shop to be a two star staple of cheap junk, B + M excels at providing those niggly items you can’t find elsewhere. Cheap children’s toys, cheap picture frames, cheap household items, you name it, they probably have it, albeit with a slightly altered brand name (e.g. Ultrapower Batteries).
No sooner had I entered than I found a boxful of covers, even offering me a range of colours. Red, green, blue, black (which is what I opted for, if you’re interested), for the grand total of 89p.
B + M = bloomin’ and marvellous.

For me, the fall of the mighty Woolworths was the saddest moment of the recession. Where on earth would I go to get all those odds and ends you can’t find anywhere else?
But my tears dried the instant I entered B&M Bargains in Shawlands. From the outside it looked like a dump that sold a load of crap. Well it did sell a lot of crap but in amongst the crap was some genius stuff at ridiculously cheap prices.
My boyfriend picked up a faux leather passport holder, something he had needed for ages, at the not to shabby price of 90p. A passport holder is exactly the sort of annoying thing you can’t find anywhere. I found a great Bob the Builder kit for my toddler nephew which included a plastic saw, goggles, a name tag, a hammer and some nails for only £3.99. We saw some lovely cheap photo frames that would cost double the price in another shop. There was also a massive toiletries section with some great bargains.
Annoyingly I live ages away from Shawlands but I will definitely be back.