Fopp

Spread over two floors this is a haven of awesome films, vinyls, CDs and books. Set back from Market Street it’s handy placement is a nice change from the vinyl shops in Northern Quarter. Perfect for the more commercial side of music.
I have bought both vinyl and books from the shop, and they usually have a really great selection of books downstairs on offer. Last time I visited they had a 2 for £5 offer on books, which is perfect for stocking fillers round the Christmas months.
The addition to the vinyl corner upstairs is a big selling point — with really great prices on vinyls. They’re usually a lot cheaper than other vinyl shops around Manchester, and there’s a great choice considering the space for records isn’t huge. I usually spend my Saturday mornings doing a tour of Manchester for new records and the stock in here is replenished with new records every time I go in.
The staff are all lovely, and I know a lot of them are musicians themselves so will have a good chit chat with you about music, and more often than not they will recommend you new releases that you’re bound to love. They always remember people going in and will always say hello, which obviously makes the shopping experience all the more enjoyable.
A must visit for vinyl enthusiasts, and with a huge selection of films and books to go alongside it it’s difficult to fault!

I love Fopp, it’s got a better browsing atmosphere than HMV ever had, and it’s cheap as chips too.
For the price of DVDs and CDs here I frequently take a gamble, and the addition of a few books and merch items make it a useful shop for gift buying.
I miss the little café that used to be downstairs (they had hot Vimto!) but I was so glad when they started selling vinyl too.
Well worth a look in, and just far enough from the madness of Market Street to make it a pleasant experience.

Have been going to fopp for years now making my dvd/​blue ray
collection even bigger.
The selection in side is great as have just finished getting my
24 box set complete.
I also like it for the wide range of old films you can get as have picked up
quite a few of the old black and white films like the 1940 king kong and
The creature from the black lagoon as well as some of the
old were wolf films for under a fiver each.
They sell movies from around the world and also have a large cd range
whenever am in town i also stop of at fopps and pick up a film to watch
for a relaxing weekend.
I agree with others you cant or wont leave empty handed!

It would be fair to say that a visit to the city centre would not be complete for me without a brief — and sometimes not so brief — browse around Fopp. I’ve picked up many bargains and, because they carry a lot of discounted CDs and DVDs, introduced myself to foreign flicks and classic albums I wouldn’t normally have had opportunity to watch or listen to.
Long may they survive and thrive on the high street.

With Christmas around the corner, Fopp was number one on my list of shops which hold the majority of presents people directly ask for; DVD’s are a real fail-​proof present in my family so we all end up visiting Fopp at this time of year.
The selection is always great, from standard chart films to obscure world cinema, and draws in a whole range of people. I even spotted Jimmy Carr here the other day, browsing the comedy selection. What more do people need?
As well as browsing the offerings for Christmas goodies, including selected seasons of The Simpsons for £8 and The Sound of Music for £3, I often go to Fopp to simply pick up something new to watch. Watching films is one of my ‘things’ and I have an ever expanding collection but Fopp never drains my money — I Am Legend for £3, Cop Out for £2. The pre-​owned section is always worth the effort to flick through as they are all in great condition. The till point is currently surrounded by books and DVD’s meaning you can be caught off guard when going to pay, suddenly becoming distracted by the ‘£3 with any other purchase’ stickers.
Keep doing what you’re doing Fopp. Pay day is only around the corner.

Praise be to Fopp, the magical store of wonderment located just behind the Tesco Express on Market Street. Ghostbuster T-​shirts and Douglas Coupland novels for a fiver. Oh, it is truly fantastic. I haven’t a bad word to say about this shop. I have got a number of great things from here, including the aforementioned above items. I love my Ghostbusters tee so much. It looks all old and cracked, but that’s the design. It says, ‘Who Ya Gonna Call’. I might go change into it.
Fopp is fantastic, whether it’s DVDs, books, clothing, CDs, accessories or just a cup of coffee in a sanctuary from the craziness that can be central Manchester (yes, it has a cute little coffee shop downstairs), you’ve got it. Everything is reasonably priced, and my insider’s tip is if you’re about to go on holiday, sidle in here and grab yourself a bunch of bargains to play with on the train, plane or automobile. As I said I went Coupland Crazy. There’s nothing wrong with that. Good on you, Fopp, for having such ace literary taste.
When it was Morrissey’s 50^th birthday Fopp very cleverly gave the sentimental Mancunians what they wanted and decked out the entrance with displays of offers on Smiths and Morrissey albums, DVDs, T-​shirts and posters. Good work. When I met up with one of my favourite couples for a Sunday lunch in the Northern Quarter last year and while we were browsing around in Oklahoma afterwards we were talking about Fopp, as they had bags from there and had bought all their Christmas presents. And it’s almost that time of year again people…
In conclusion, I can’t recommend it more. The people of Manchester love it so much that when it was rumoured to be closing down, they started eleventy-​twelve hundred groups on Facebook in protest. I don’t know whether this has anything to do with its maintained existence, but it doesn’t half show just how much people care for it. Don’t leave us, Fopp. You’re far too lovely. Let me give you a metaphorical hug. Mmm, don’t it make ya feel good. (Hey, you can probably even buy Stefan Dennis’ song of the same name here. Remember, he plays Paul Robinson in Neighbours and had a short-​lived music career? YouTube it and thank me for it later…)

Whenever hmv and small shops have let me down in trying to find something, fopp seems to always have it! I love this little place, the lighting, the good vibe from the staff and the little café downstairs is cute. Prices are similar to hmv but sometimes they beat them and sometimes they don’t. I like the arrangements and displays in the shop and i love the fact they don’t overpower everything else. I once spent an hour in here browsing through the music and listening to it, so if it’s your first time visiting, dedicate some time and make sure you browse!

I absolutely love Fopp for exactly all the reasons cited in the posts above so I don’t feel any need to repeat because all the aforementioned posters hit the nail of Fopp’s charm on the head.
Its quirky, small but absolutely packed to the rafters of an eclectic mix of music, film etc paraphernalia. Plus, a little café in which to chill whilst musing over prospective purchases.
It beats its competitors hands down in my opinion and not just in terms of value for money but choice and taste.
Why FOPP rules for me;
Its exactly the kind of shop that would see in San Francisco or hidden away in the deep Manhattan underground. Unique and eclectic. The buyers have brilliant taste.
I know its rather a moot point but i love the little clear plastic bags. I always feel rather stylish when sporting the FOPP purchase look.
They always have some obscure but brilliant CD playing as a soundtrack to your shopping experience.
An amazingly diverse range of books. Who needs Waterstones anyway!
Thanks FOPP!

Really cool, books, CDs and DVDs. They’ve got a lot of cool stuff for a fiver and less.
Everyone’s already said all that should be said about this wonderful store, but I want to review it myself because it needs 5 instead of 4 stars.
Not sure what more people could possibly want from a shop of its kind!

Previous Unilocal on the subject of Fopp have really nailed it — a great selection of books and DVDs at decent prices in a nice shop full of interested and interesting staff. Fantastic stuff. My only real addition can be to point out how really, brilliantly excellent the world cinema section is. The shop carries a broad range from Hong Kong police movies (including John Woo’s testosterone-​drenched thrill ride ‘A Better Tomorrow’) to Mexican cinema (with the Oscar-​baiting ‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’ currently on offer). Even better most of these films are really, really cheap; Kieslowski’s ‘Three Colours’ trilogy is £15 and Jean-​Pierre Junet’s darkly funny ‘Delicatessen’ and at the moment you can get Ang Lee’s ‘Lust Caution’ for £3. Really, really worth a visit if you have half an hour and a spare tenner.
They also have ‘The Raw Shark Texts’ by Steven Hall for £2 at the moment. The same price as a Sunday paper and an infinitely more entertaining read.

Fopp is a godsend for anyone stuck for buying someone a birthday present or, indeed, someone who wants to buy a rake of albums on the cheap.
While it may not have everything you want (it gets as close as any in fairness), Fopp is an ideal place for buying all those albums you forgot to buy in your teens. So, for example, should you feel like getting an entire Bob Dylan back catalogue, you’ll discover that there’s a good chance they’re all in Fopp for £3 each.
It’s not just a big walk-​in bargain bin though. Fopp has loads of ace books and films (great for ‘World Cinema’ — a term I loathe but one that will convey well enough) and bits and bobs to idly fritter away your pay cheque.
There’s also some seating downstairs where you can have a coffee whilst you flick through your purchases.
It’s a great little shop, no doubt about it. And, better yet, the counter staff aren’t depressed hobgoblins either. A rare treat.

Without a doubt, this is a unique place for a music-​book-​art-​cinema fan. They always have a great selection of old and auteur films (i.e. Eisenstein, Godard, Hitchcock, etc.), and I’ve normally been more hooked up on their books and cinema selection than music.
Whenever you go in there, you are always sure to find something interesting in books. They have a wide choice of Taschen editions, a magnet for those who seriously love Art and Design.
And best of all, you can flick through your books or relish your DVDs in their cosy café. I don’t know how FOPP manages to preserve their casual, scholarly, and cosy spirit year after year, but this is exactly what they have been doing since 2004 when I first discovered it. Well done, guys, and keep it up!

Fopp really is one of those places you should cherish and never take for granted, for as has already been proven once, it is all too easy for it to vanish into the aether. It’s one of these chain shops with a façade of independence, but that’s alright because what it offers is so cheap and good that no-​one really cares.
They stock CDs, DVDs and books, and this includes random selections you won’t find in the really mainstream shops, so it does seem to be trying to cater for everyone. Yet another reason why we should be thankful that Manchester was one of the few cities to have a Fopp re-​open.
I know that nowadays most people spurn real-​world shopping of music and films for that of the internet variety, but there’s something to be said for handing over real money to actual people and picking up physical goods. It’s a lot more satisfying, and if you’re going to do it in Manchester, Fopp’s a good place to start.

Good things about Fopp:
— the name sounds like a funny fart. Phhhhhhhhup. (whaaaaat, I grew up with a brother!)
— everything is cheap. Expect to pay no more than £10 for any item.
— the range of DVDs is fabulous. As well as pseudo indie flicks, they stock a hell of a lot of foreign cinema, and seem to have the entire catalogue of the Tartan Collection (nowt to do with kilts)
— the staff are ace. Friendly folk who know their onions, and are always on hand to advise.
— coffee, for a quid, in the wee caff downstairs. It’s good coffee and a great atmosphere.
— they stock the Fabric CDs. Nuff bloody said. The Fabric CDs are incredible, cutting edge, wonderful bits of music history,
Bad things about Fopp:
— it went under that time, and that scared me. You hear me, Fopp? Don’t you ever, ever scare me like that again!!!

As a teenager my local Fopp was in Leamington Spa and as well as bargainous new CDs, they also sold second hand CDs and local bands’ releases. I loved this shop, and was really upset when I heard about Fopp’s financial problems and the smaller Fopps all closed down. Thankfully the Fopp in Manchester remains, and still retains its independent and local feel. There is a rack of CDs near the door with the latest albums by bands who are due to play at local venues.
The books are also fantastic. Although there is not a huge range, you will find your Dave Gormans alongside a small selection of Penguin classics and U2 autobiographies — all for much cheaper than you’d get them in any other shop in town. Today I spotted Tim Burton’s The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy for just £2 — get it if you haven’t already.
The staff are always really friendly and clearly know about music — on more than one occasion they’ve commented on my purchases and recommended similar music, not because they’re told to, but because they have a passion for music.
I don’t really enjoy shopping in town, but after being crushed on Market Street a visit to Fopp always makes everything alright again.

Hooray for Fopp! I’m so glad that HMV decided to save this wonderful little record shop from the claws of the evil recession. Otherwise, where else would the cash strapped and the downright stingy go to buy their records?
Fopp doesn’t just do music though — it also does DVDs, books, posters, t-​shirts, and even coffee! Hell, my credit card starts burning a pocket from the moment I walk through the door. It’s pretty much impossible to leave this shop without carrying a bargain or three in your bag. And if that wasn’t enough, they also have a brilliant «suck it and see» policy — meaning that if you don’t like your purchases, you can just return them free of charge.
Fopp also used to do gigs in its downstairs area, but that seems to have petered off in the past few years. Here’s hoping that its owners see sense and start hosting the crème de la crème of local musical talent in its basement again.

I think Fopp has a place in every music fan’s heart. For so long the antithesis of HMV and Virgin Megastores, it came unstuck when Fopp over-​expanded in 2007 and suddenly had to fold.
It left many genuine music fans gutted that a shop they really believed in had suddenly closed. Luckily, a few of the shops soon re-​opened, and Manchester was fortunate enough to be one of the cities that benefited.
Fopp stocks CDs at reasonable prices and an interesting selection of books and arty DVDs. What’s more, their staff are friendly and actually interested in and knowledgeable about music. I love Fopp. So should everyone else.

Staying on a music tip, does anyone else find it impossible to leave Fopp without a bag bulging with new CDs and DVDs?
I’ve tried and failed so many times it’s no longer funny. It’s not that the store is particularly seductive or that the staff try to persuade me to buy just one more record, it’s that they always have so much great stuff in. We’re talking awesome funk, soul, bluegrass, country, jazz, electro, hip hop, bollywood, rock, pop, psyche-​folk and dance albums. Some of them are normal prices but the vast majority tends to be marked £5-£8, sometimes even as low as £3. The DVDs are equally as impressive with shelf space given to lots of world cinema and cool independent flicks as much as mainstream blockbusters.
New stock arrives on a daily basis and although you can guarantee they’ll always have new releases, some of the re-​issues and box-​sets tend to disappear pretty quickly. I’d give it 5 stars but the vinyl section keeps getting smaller and smaller and we all know how much I love my 33s and 45s.

I don’t particularly like HMV. I know, controversial, but it’s just a big shop, there’s nothing good about it, yeah you can buy Cd’s and DVDs here, great, but I don’t particularly like going. I download stuff from iTunes instead, I’m down with the kids.
However, I love Fopp. Fopp is ace. Fopp has a Waterstones sort-​of-​feel to it. They don’t just sell music, they love music. The staff are ace and really helpful, the selection is amazing especially considered the size of the shop and they have this great little coffee shop bit downstairs, it’s a bit like being in Afflecks.
When Fopp closed last year, it was a tragedy. When HMV came to the rescue and bought it we were all a bit confused… I mean of course we were relieved but why did it have to HMV?! Was Fopp going to change into a mini HMV?
A year later and I am happy to say it’s still the same Fopp. Alright they’ve started selling those band t-​shirts which no one likes because we all know if you want a band t-​shirt, you buy it at the band’s gig. The prices have gone up a little too but it’s a small price to pay (literally) to have Fopp still in our lives.
So thank you HMV. I still don’t like you but thanks.

Guaranteed bargains galore every time I turn up makes Fopp a favourite friend of mine– all of my other friends come with baggage like women trouble, life crisis’s, careers stalling but not Fopp. When I’m with Fopp it’s just DVDs for £3, Cd’s for £2 and when I grow tired of looking through his exhaustive collection, I go downstairs and he makes me a coffee! With my other friends it’s always me making the coffee.
Though a chain store, there is a definite indie feeling about Fopp, maybe it’s the backstreet location, maybe its the piss poor décor, I’m not completely sure, all I know is that if Jack Black was going to berate a mature gentleman for attempting to pick up a Stevie Wonder LP for his daughter then this is where he’d do it!