reeni

We are heading back Feb 6th from Canada ....curious to those who have returned from here what do you miss? if anything?

Bevm

Shops. True, we've gone from a city -- Victoria -- to small places, but even when visiting big places I don't find the equivalent of Future Shop for computer and tech stuff, and though there are Staples here, the ones I've visited are pale imitations. I liked Michael's for masses of craft stuff, and where are the Fabricville equivalent. And Dollar Stores. The Poundlands and such aren't quite the same. Drug stores that have a vast array of stuff for sale. London Drugs had some really fun stuff, as well as excellent computer, camera, and home stuff.

Also, where does one get cheap but good stuff, which is how I'd classify Zellers, with really good weekly specials. I suppose it's good for the environment that we're not showered with masses of flyers advertizing sales, but I do kind of miss it.

OTOH, the online shopping is so much better here. Really good. It's just that I sometimes want to see and touch things before I buy, and at others I fancy wandering around stores like the above and I haven't found them yet. PC World, for example, has a kind of cold, sterile feel.

That's about it, though!

If anyone knows UK shops that fit any of the above, let me know,

Bev

Danny B

Dixons?

reeni

maybe there is a best buy close to you... https://www-ssl.bestbuy.co.uk/StoreL...reLocator.aspx


Clothing equivalent of zellers is http://www.primark.co.uk/page.aspx?p...904e7007d1551f

and Asda Supercenters are a close idea to the zellers here in Ancaster

BristolUK

I always thought Primark was equivalent to Giant Tiger and Zellers was much better.

I can't think of anything in the UK like Dollarama. Poundstretchers was just plain old tat. A lot of crap in Dollarama too, of course, but plenty of decent stuff.

I seem to recall there was an Office World in Bristol that compared favourably with Staples, Canada.

Mummy in the foothills

Have you checked out Home Bargains and pound stretcher in UK they always have bargains.

Bevm

The nearest Best Buy is Southampton.

I agree that Primark isn't like Zellers. It's mostly clothing, and it's trying to be more fashion than basics. Marks and Spencer is better for basics, of course.

The couple of ASDAs I've been to have been okay. Of course they're Walmarts now, which was never my favourite chain store, but they do have the range and some simple stuff at okay prices.

We used to shop at ASDA before we left England. IIRC, they were the first superstore here.

A search on Office World is taking me to Staples. I think they are Office World is Canada.

I'm not so much looking for bargains as for a fun place to wander where the prices aren't so high that buying something needs a lot of thought, but the offerings aren't tat, either.

I have to say I don't much like the open shopping centers here, where you really have to drive from place to place to cover it. I'd rather have a mall, where once you're in, you're in and the shops are all in the middle, with the parking spread around, sometimes to the far horizon.*G*

Bev

roaringmouse

I thought the first superstore/hypermarket in the UK was Savacentre (which was part of Sainsbury's, and the stores have since been rebranded Sainsbury's) which opened in the late 70's. Tesco and ASDA just followed in this regard.

Bevm

I'm sure I remember shopping at an ASDA in Nottingham and we left in '76. I saw it as the first superstore. Anyone else have any memories?

Bev

reeni

well this bodes well...not alot of people miss stuff about Canada! lol

Maybe more return from other areas or maybe Canada is just not that missable.

There are a few things i might miss ... but i can't say I will miss them horribly.

As long as i get a house with a power shower, i wont miss water pressure. I have gone off of Timmies. The killed their coffee in recent years ( or i changed tastes)

I will miss my parents the most, but we have planned lots of visits. Mom and dad are expats too.

BristolUK

Pretty sure Bristol's first ginormous store was a Carrefour. Not sure when but I remember there was nothing else like it at the time.

bettyboo67

I am also heartened that so far only shops (who have thought it?) has come up and I know I'm not going to miss clothes shopping in Canada and (my least favourite past time) shopping for kids shoes.

Bevm

A good thing is that you can get decent coffee here. Ten years or so ago it was dire. However we use a Melitta jug and cone system, which are unavailable. The filters are hard to get and expensive.

Funnily enough I saw packs of 100 at a reasonable price in France recently, so it's a British thing. So if you like that way of making coffee, bring a couple of jugs and cones, and a big supply of no-name filters.

When I was in Canada in the summer I stocked up on a year's supply! But I wish they still made the no-name size 6. I don't understand where they went. They're the ones to make a full 10 cup carafe.

I thought of some other things, though they're not something you'd want to bring.

Tissues. The quality isn't good unless you pay a lot, and often they're not interfolded -- you know what I mean, so that when you take one the next pops up. Odd.

And I haven't found bulk supplies of spray cleaners, liquid soap and such. It's daft to be buying a new dispenser or squirty bottle every time and throwing old ones into the landfill. I finally found soap refills at Sainsbury's, but they're only 500ml and a normal dispenser is 300ml. We used to buy these things in litres or more in Canada.

Oh, and lightbulbs. 100w have gone, and the only 60w I've seen are clear, not pearl. Trying to turn people off using them, I think.

The energy saving fluorescent ones here are generally weak, sort of yellowy, and even slow to light up. I've just found some with some decent, clear light power that come on promptly, so Britain's catching up.

For a country that suffers lack of light for a great part of the year, it's odd that the push seems to be for everyone to live in dimness. But in fact, it seems to me that most people compensate by having elaborate lighting fixtures that take oodles of candle-flame incandescents that probably use far more energy than an old 150w light bulb!

Bev

ann m

I would admittedly miss some of the shops too if I left Canada.

I don't know how to say this politely but when I first came here I could not believe how many "cheap and cheerful" shops there were here, eg Dollar Store, etc - I avoided anything like it in the UK - but the ones here to admittedly sell some quite good stuff (and lots of crap too ).

When I left the UK, I missed Next and M&S and Waitrose - all the usual ones.
And on any holidays, I immediately book my day to trawl my old favourite haunts.

Bev - The nearest equivalent to Zellers would have been Woolworths - almost identical - but of course they are no more in the UK now. And we had a shop in Epsom (Surrey) called Wilkinsons which was kind of Dollar Store ish - but I don't know if that is a chain of stores, or a one off.

But yes, I would miss Michaels, Bed Bath & Beyond, Chapters, Atmosphere, etc. I'd even miss my open and friendly bank now. Their slower, cheerful, chatty staff and no-glass-wall counters used to wind me up, but I'm a fan now!

And I would definitely miss all that large, spacious and accessible FREE parking

Oh, and the sky too.

BristolUK

There was one in Bristol