John Bell & Croyden

This shop has declined in the last year since the old dead wood management pushed out the hard working team that were responsible for the refit. The shop looks impressive but the old miserable staff are here. The girls in the beauty area have appalling customer service skills and the staff are generally lazy and rude! The senior management are an absolute joke! I no longer shop here and wouldn’t recommend to anyone!

The shop itself is very good, but the customer service is terrible. You often have to wait 10 minutes to get served at the till, when there are other members of staff doing nothing.
I decided to use the mail order service instead. Two and a half weeks later I’m still waiting for items that were ‘in stock’. I’ve called and nobody answers the phone, ever. I’ve tweeted and had a reply three days afterwards, however unhelpful. You also can’t get a reply via email unless you wait a couple of days. Anyway, my parcel was delivered to the wrong address twice and they don’t give you tracking either. After all this, I’m still waiting, and am none the wiser what is happening with my order.

This used to be a pharmacy where you stepped back in time. Glorious swansdown powder puffs in pastel shades from Paris. Nail buffing powder, cosmetics, creams, potions and badger hair toothbrushes.
Now all has changed. The powder puffs are banished in favour of anti ageing gunk. The cosmetics are no longer there and a large area of the shop is devoted to hideous sports clothes.
Fortunately we obtained the badger hair toothbrushes and left without spending any more money.
Miserable experience, somewhat typical of the Oxford Street area.

Perhaps the nicest pharmacy in London, if not the world. I agree with the other Unilocalers, John Bell & Croyden seems to be too posh, too sophisticated, too decadent to be real.
What kind of pharmacy has plush carpeting and wood panelling and classical music piped in? Yes, John Bell & Croyden is the kind of place that makes you feel like you need to wear a suit to buy a tube of toothpaste.
Nevertheless even in my shabby attire of jeans and a simple t-​shirt, I found the service to be quite friendly and helpful and I found quite a few products that I couldn’t find at Boots. Indeed, there is a wide range of personal grooming appliances (electric toothbrushes etc), a whole section of just plasters, and a few endless isles of grooming products from around the world. The best news… I didn’t notice the prices to be much (if) higher than any of the high street chemist chains. Who subsidises the plush carpeting will remain forever a mystery.
Yes, 5 stars for a pharmacy seems rather absurd, but if you get a chance to visit you’d easily agree this is the most luxurious pharmacy in London.

I love this store every time I visit London, I always go for shopping at John Bell and Croyden near St. Christopher’s place and Oxford street market. Excellent service and low prices when compare prices with Athens and Greece .
Always, I use UK e-​shops for shopping when I am not staying in London even for two days on business trip.
Antonios Michalopoulos
Athens– Greece

I sprained my wrist and was looking all over London for a wrist splint and was having trouble finding a size small wrist splint — John Bell & Croydon had 4 types of wrist splints and every sort of physiotherapy equipment you could need. The store is pleasant and has a variety of beauty, health and exercise equipment and many items were offered at relatively reasonable prices!

I love this store, you can buy anything from lip salve to surgical equipment, wheelchairs. Has a pharmacy so you can collect your prescriptions.
Stocks lots of cosmetics, brands (Clarins, Crabtree and Evelyn), and rather bizarrely my dogs anti-​flea treatment!
You can pick up some unusual gifts here.

The best chemist in London without a doubt. An aladins cave of all sorts of bits and pieces.

This place is so much more fun than Boots! I had never heard of this pharmacy before, but the other night, I was walking along Wigmore Street and in need of ear plugs and found this place.
If you are used to the ever so cheap feel of say, Superdrug, you should come here. It feels so high end, if that is possible for a pharmacy. While it does everything that you will find in a Boots it has so much else going for it.
First, it has classical music piped in while you shop. There is a full range of health products, such as aromatherapy, and vitamins, as well as fitness products that I only ever see on shopping channels. Towards the back of the shop were all the mobility products and surgical aides. I don’t normally loiter in pharmacies but I could have spent hours here. I got my earplugs by the way.

This is a brilliant chemists, the Queens chemists no doubt. Along with the usual chemist products, there is a large section of colognes that cannot be easily found elsewhere, a large department specialising in disability-​orientated products for every problem, and a large alternative medicine section. The entire shop is wheelchair-​friendly, and has very friendly staff, who know more than your average chemists.

I love this shop! It sells loads of high end toiletries and has a large section of disability aids and equipment, and a disturbing array of surgical instruments, (a must for the serial killer wannabe!)
But the standout reason I love this shop is the game play; Spot the celebs in disguise! I have seen sooo many.