What's your most missed shop(s) in the UK?!

For example, in my opinion, Chemist Warehouse is inferior to Boots, and the Tatts outlets are nothing compared to WH Smith.

Mens' shirt shops in the Piccadilly area. But I don't miss them, I just can't use them.

m&s and next its gotta be i wish they had them here
lesley x

M&S! Yes, indeed!


Their ''jocks and socks'' are worldleaders and their food is superb.

Australia doesn't even offer an equivalent of M&S.

Rounder Records in Brighton Square, Brighton

H&M

And NEXT clothes are the best I've bought for the money.

It all feels cheap quality here, no matter what you pay.

Mothercare - there are no dedicated baby shops in any of the shopping centres I've been to - you need to go to the outer retail areas for specialist shops like that and then the choice is a bit limited.

lol i miss the fact i cant go online order whatever i need and it appears in 3 days
lesley x

I've bought quality spending more than I needed to, but not as much as I could.....

The sheer range of products available in the UK (not to mention the range available online with quick delivery) is something I REALLY miss A LOT!

There's so much you can't find anywhere here. If you ask they look at you like you're crazy for even enquiring.

Australia has less specialist shops in general.

do you think if you had known about this it would have ever put you off your move to oz? i think a lot of it you dont realise you had in uk and when you get here it hits
you hard and then you think oh my god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
lesleyx

I used to be a slave to Next, but I have to say the last couple of times in the UK I thought it was lousy....still selling the same old stuff it did 5 years ago.

For me it's GAP - I bought loads and spent hardly anything in there at Xmas.

I miss high street jeans from the UK. You can spend not a lot and get something with a decent cut that fits well. For the same in Aus I'd get a pair of flat fronted stone wash denims with an elasticated waist band (slight exaggeration ). To get what I'd call decent jeans here I'd be $200 lighter.

Thank god for that
Not and never have been convinced about Next quality
When we were back there in July, we were looking for a pressie for a friends baby and couldn't find a Mothercare for love nor money
Wow, you've been to every city and town in Aus? I'm impressed.

I used to miss my butcher big time but have now found two equally good ones so all good.

This is what I have referred to in other threads as the Aussie defensiveness - some expats adopt it also. They get a little upset when they think someone is criticising Australia and start trying to 'bite back'. Happens all the time, sadly. And I do mean sadly.

One does not need to have experienced every shop in a country to comment on such a thing. People don't go to the whole of the UK or every state of the USA but still form a view of it. So that's an empty and unfair thing to say.

There are specialist shops for almost (I am deliberately saying ''almost'') every hobby or craft you can think of. If not in UK itself, they're in Europe and will ship to UK.

Even my Australian wife and her siblings agree that there isn't as a wide a range of shops in Australia as in UK.

What have you got against NEXT and M&S? Have you got the good old ''if it's not in Australia it isn't worth having anyway'' philosophy going on?