Robert Dyas

This store is a blessing where it is based in Holborn as if you need something small, decorating tools or unusual items that you can only get from a local store out of town ie Homebase this store tends to have just what need to get on the way home from work without the need to pop out once you reach home or even wait until the weekend, like today I needed a small tube of Polyfilla which the store had in stock result! plus they sell a huge range of Kitchen electrical goods and kitchen utensils and many items for the garden too, and many types of different bulbs.

The most positive thing I can say is that it was the only hardware store I could find open on a Saturday afternoon.
I called and asked whether they have plumbing fittings, specifically parts for faucets. The guy who answered the phone assured me they have «loads» of plumbing /​faucet fittings.
I walked over there and they didn’t have the part I needed. The guys in the store were not particularly helpful or knowledgeable. Overall a complete waste of an hour, though a cappuccino from Workshop and a few slices from Pixxa helped ease the pain on the way home.
Otherwise looked like a decent hardware store — a few of everything except what you need!

For the love of all that is good and right in the world… as a home goods shop, why do you –not– sell laundry hampers of any shape, size, or variety? Arrrrgggghhhh!
Whew. I got that out of my system.
Lack of needed laundry containment unit aside, Robert Dyas has a shockingly solid selection of everything you’d want to clean, freshen, organise, improve, or possibly raze your home. And it won’t even cost you an arm and a leg.
But please… don’t make me haul my ass all the way over to John Lewis for a laundry hamper. Please?
NB: Plastic is accepted but AmEx is not.

I wanted to hate Robert Dyas. I really really did. I think I was already starting to.
Why? Because Robert Dyas is the stock answer to every inquiry I have.
Me: Where can I find halogen light bulbs for my bathroom?
Them: Robert Dyas.
Me: I need distilled water for my steamer; where can I get it?
Them: Robert Dyas.
I could go on but I think you get the picture.
I’m learning that part of the UK-​resident-​settling-​in-​process is letting go of the idea that your grocery store will have distilled water. It’s getting over your desire to have pharmacies also carry light bulbs, cleaning products and stuff to eat and drink (e.g. Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Duane Reade.) This is also the part where I mention how much I miss Target…
My bathroom is no longer dark thanks to the halogen bulbs I found at Robert Dyas. And my steamer will be so much happier when I give it a big swig of the deionised water I also got here (don’t get me started on the limescale deposits in London tap water!)
Moral of the story? If you need it for your flat, Robert Dyas probably has it.

Since the demise of Woolies, this Robert Dyas has provided me with much of the random house hold crap that I would have bought from there. Screw drivers, loo brushes, torches, hot pot dishes; you name it they have it. They don’t have it all though. They don’t sell bike lights or reflective clothing, they do however sell a pizza stone. Yup, a friggin’ pizza stone. What the hell is a pizza stone?
This store is tiny up top but below, down the stairs it’s an Aladdin’s cave of goodies.
So yes, they have a lot, and generally it’s not too expensive. It’s the kind of stuff you can’t get from anywhere else. Like ironing boards, steamers, rat poison, pollyfilla. I could go on but I won’t…

Robert Dyas to me, is like all of the things that get left out of «big Sainsbury» stores. Like when you go to Target for misc household stuff, cleaning supplies AND a dvd or something, but it seems like all the big Morrisons type shops leave out the housewares! So Robert Dyas saves me from my rantings and has the odds and ends that I don’t know where to find anywhere else. This one isn’t a particularly big location, but they’ve got a good mix of kitchen stuff and really random misc. The bigger ones delve more into home office, and some other stuff that would be helpful here, but near Holborn, I’ll take what I can get!

This is a small branch of the home and garden specialist which suffers from a poor layout. There is very little space at street level and the majority of the shop is down a very steep flight of steps to the basement. There are usually special offer goods arranged at the top and bottom of the stairs and sometimes on the stairs themselves (it’s quite a wide staircase) so it’s all a bit precarious.
As it’s a small branch, there isn’t a huge range of goods, but all the basics are there and you can often get a good bargain (often on something you didn’t know you needed).
I’ve never found the staff here as helpful as those in other branches, but I suppose that’s what you get for shopping in Central London.