Magma

The staff knows well what
they are selling, and they are all helpful and friendly. It is the best
cookbook shop here in London. Variety of good selection of foods plus
hands on cooking classes. What a treat!

Magma is a print geek’s wet dream — and, seeing as I’m the daughter of a Printer (meaning I was made to memorise Pantone Colour Chart references from an early age), it’s not surprising that I absolutely adore the place.
Walk through its doors, and you’ll soon discover that it’s a veritable treasure trove of numerous independent publications — spanning everything from music to food to fashion to graphic design to independent literature. And if that wasn’t enough, you’ll also find numerous quirky little trinkets to scatter around your home, such as wind-​up Moomins, huge wall stickers and cooler than cool DVDs to name just a few of its numerous delights.
Best of all, Magma’s staff actively encourage you to browse. They’re obviously an enthusiastic lot who really love to go the extra mile to keep their customers happy. You can very easily waste an hour or so here flicking through magazines and various books to your hearts content, before spending your cash on a individual hand printed tote bag or oober hip sloganed t-​shirt.
Magma is the perfect place for art geeks and just geek geeks really. I only wish that every book store was as cool and passionate about the publications it provided to its discerning customers.

I could spend a small fortune in this shop. Based on Oldham Street it’s one of the highlights of the Northern Quarter. About a million miles away from the multi-​floored chain bookshops with their three for twos and special offers, Magma sells the type of books that are not always prominent in other stores.
Subjects include graphic design, advertising, fashion, photography, web design and art. Another big pull is their independent magazine section. Here you’ll find the sort of publications and zines that you can’t pick up at your local newsagent such as Wonderland, Wallpaper and Blag.
There are novelty items too such as Moomin cups, quirky journals and gadgets. For a little shop there’s lots to look at.
If you’re coming to Manchester make sure this is on your itinerary.

Another reason to be proud of Manchester!
What a great shop full of fantastic books and cool gifts. Everyone gets a present from me from here at Christmas. Great cards aswell. The shop is full of unusual books and magazines. It is simply awesome. If youlive in manchester and have never been… shame on you.
It can sometimes get too full of loud students who are on trips visiting m/​c but I can forgive this as it is sooo cool!!!

Now, you’re all about Art, Design, Fashion, Advertising, and Cinema. You are after cool magazines, unique comic strips, and clever useful books. As you walk in the busy Oldham St in the iconic Northern Quarter, you are ready to take a plunge into the depths of this small and funky bookstore, to emerge imbued with all sorts of creative ideas.
This may sound very personal, but this is exactly how I feel every time I visit MAGMA. The first few times I was literally glued to the shelves with Fashion magazines, browsing through the Italian Vogue. During my next visits I flicked through the Gaiman&McKean’s Sandman comic strips and contemplated buying a book on film-​making. I bought presents for my friends there, but my life-​changing buys at MAGMA were Paul Arden’s best-​sellers. And they also sell great postcards and gifts.
Enough to say, this is the place to go if you are after new food for thought and eye. The fact that it is located in a short walk from the quaint Nexus Art Café or the trendy Teacup makes MAGMA all the more appealing. You bought your books or magazines, why wait till you get home, to have a read? The thought itself seems very bohemian to me, never mind the actual experience…

Magma is one of those hip joints you only find in hip cities.
What I mean by that is basically, if Magma was a piece of consumer technology, it would be a lone iPod lit by a spotlight on a tasteful pedestal.
Of course, with that, you’ll get people who will stare at it wondering what all the reverence is about. By the same token, you’ll get people dribbling inside at all the trinkets and art magazines/​books.
If you’re less interested in useless metaphors, then Magma is a decent little shop that sells stuff on art, graphic design and cool toys for grown-​ups.
So, on entering, you’re faced with a load of ace stocking fillers and cool little gifts for people’s birthdays. Imagine badges that extol the virtues of record players, small collectible vinyl figures and Moomin books.
At the back, the racks are filled with books and inordinately thick magazines that only mean something to people in thick framed spectacles.
It can seem a little po-​faced, but it’s definitely worth paying Magma a visit. You’re guaranteed at least three «ooooh! Isn’t that ace?» moments during a 10 minute stay.
I like the place.

Great book store. As I am involved in the textiles industry, I buy a lot of books from here — usually at the expense of things like food and rent. Thanks for ruining my life, Magma!
Really cool store in the Northern Quarter and well worth hunting out for an unusual gift or just to indulge yourself

Cool shop, with loads of really interesting books & gifts which are hard to find elsewhere. Especially good for design buffs

It is, frankly, impossible to leave here without having spent the best part of a tenner, and often much more, on arthouse magazines. Believe me, Ive tried. The ‘gift’ section is a bit lame, all a bit ‘Hello Kitty’. But for Books and Magazines, there is nowhere close in Manchester. It’s got everything and much more besides, from the world of arty magazines.

Magma is a great place to try when looking for a gift which is slightly different to the norm. It carries a great range of marketing/​design/​art books which leaving you feeling ever so superior to those who have just gone and bought the latest Harry Potter. Its range of gifts is also slightly arty and quirky with origami notelets and animal-​shaped rubber bands.

This is a fab specialist bookshop that also sells some lovely gifts. The range of magazines is great too and you can find some really inspiring reads. Great if you’re arty and creative.

Magma is a bookshop that specialises in art, graphic design and alterative art movements. It is a small shop but the books it has can be quite hard to get hold of, you probably can’t buy the books anywhere else in Manchester. The books can be VERY expensive but the art/​photography is amazing and gives you a different perspective on art. The magazines are the ones to buy though, many are imported or are very hard to get hold of and are highly specialised– hold your breath though because even the magazines can be £10 and upwards. If you love art or beautiful books the you should head to Magma because you will love it. Forget the prices because I consider some of the books works of art!

coolest book shop in town — thoough a bit expensive. Nice décor and was fine addition to Oldham Steet. In this day an age, it would be better if it sold TEA to go with the books.
Nice

I love Magma, these outlet is so much better than others I have been to. Perfect size, great for art reference material, tokyotoy, and other odds n sods for the arty geek in us all, many a birthday gift had been bought here!

I was taken here by a friend and had she not, it would probably have remained one of those places I’d continue to pass by and never set foot in. I’m so glad she did though, as aside from all the unusual art and design magazines, it’s some beautiful books I wouldn’t have otherwise come across, great children’s titles and lovely quirky gifts and games.

Magma caters for all of your magazine needs. Even if you don’t buy magazines — why not pop in for, say forty-​five minutes to an hour, and read a magazine from cover to cover. The management loves that, it really does. Did that sound sarcastic? It wasn’t meant to. Anyway, pop in and have a read. Some of the magazines come in plastic covers that are designed to make the magazine look important and special. Don’t confuse this as being a barrier to you reading them. The best approach here is to very confidently declare that you are interested in making a purchase and would like a closer inspection first. Then proceed to open the wrapping and read the magazine from cover to cover. The management loves that, it really does. You might be surprised to hear that the magazines in this shop aren’t exactly value for money.

Magma
Magma books is possibly one of the coolest shops I have been into in a long time! Why you may ask? Because it sells MOOMINS merchandise and books! They sell all sorts of cool things here like books, magazines, swirly notebooks, cuddly toys (moomin ones!), eco friendly stuff which comes in the shape of recycled objects made into something else uselful, the mother board coasters are pretty snazzy! Like the other shops on Oldham street, its only small but the layout is perfectly set out to seem like there is so much space! I love it!

Brilliant shop with undoubtedly the best selection of design books available. Also books on music, architecture, advertising, photography, art etc. as well as some magazines and small gifts. Really interesting.

Situated on Oldham Street, but a hop and skip from the Night and Day Café lies this fantastic bookshop. I’ve been visiting this place for ages, even if it’s just to browse through the store and short list future gifts.
I’ve recently acquired some American Film Making/​Studies from there (the Steven D. Katz shot by shot/​cinematic motion — books that are usually pretty hard to get hold of unless you’re on the net.
This is one of those places where the staff know what they’re talking about and can help either find what you’re looking for or influence you enough to take a punt on their own expertly led recommendations in the vast array of different books and magazines in this store (increasingly rare in the accountant led ‘United Chaindom’).
It’s a shame many more shops were as enthusiastic and passionate as the folks behind magma… I know they can’t all be this way but it’s currently unfairly balanced. One large chain book store dominates now (and with unfortunately less choice, more celebrity led airport reading fodder) and with supermarkets getting in the act of the book market (albeit with a truly disturbing ‘array’ of ‘books’) we should be thankful that places like this are still open in our cities.
A large section of this shop sells magazines which are more like the aforementioned coffee table books the higher echelon of mags if you will. Film, Architecture, Typography, Illustration, Photography, Graphics, Fashion, Art, Design, Cities all these creative acts and scenarios collude together in the books and magazine range. They sell a top mag called ‘Specialten’ which is a ‘bi-​monthly collection of short films, music videos and exclusive interviews’ which comes with a DVD for the media. Just reminded myself to pick up the next edition as I type this…
This shop (alongside one or two in London village possibly the other two Magma’s as it happens) was the only such store to stock Daniel Johnstone’s graphics/​drawings books (and as such is referred to in the fantastic Daniel Johnstone documentary).
Reanimate your creative synapses and spare at least half an hour to imbibe the glorious fractions of the arts world we don’t see as much as we should.
It’s always a pleasure to walk into a store like this, find what you’re looking for (or see something jump out at you which grabs your interest by the book ends) and after downpiping your debit/​credit details into the 21^st Century piggy bank walk from the shop, freshly acquired book in hand. Rifling through the pages of a new ‘Ilva Table book’ in a nearby boozer/​café is one of life’s great, small pleasures.

It’s easy to walk past this little shop on Oldham Street and not give it a second thought, but when you wander inside, you lose yourself in the arty books and plush writing materials inside, little trinkets and creative cards on offer. This is a guaranteed shop for gifts for that person you know that is oh-​so hard to please.