Of particular interest
Manchester City
Fc also has its own dedicated retail outlet at the city of manchester stadium in sportcity, as well as in on market street.
Sainsbury's Local
If catering for yourself, there are several Sainsbury's Local stores located around the city centre at Oxford Road, Mosley Street, Quay Street, Bridge Street, Piccadilly Station. Tesco Metro supermarkets can be found on Market Street the largest supermarket in the centre, on Piccadilly and on Quay Street, which is near the aforementioned Sainsbury's and Granada TV. M&S food outlets are located within the M&S store next to Selfridges and there are also M&S Simply Food stores at Piccadilly Gardens and within Piccadilly Station. You will find increasingly popular Coop food stores near both Victoria, by the movement's headquarters, opposite the Arndale Market, at Piccadilly Gardens and just outside Piccadilly station. For more upmarket food products, Harvey Nichols has a deli and foodhall as does Selfridges. The city centre's first'Waitrose store opened near The Avenue development, with another expected to open in Piccadilly Gardens in the near future. At the other end of the spectrum there are the Arndale Market and a large Aldi store in the Arndale Centre, which is, in common with most UK outlets, much more upmarket than the stores in Germany. This is also accessible from Market Street. There is also a Lidl and a Tesco on Oxford Road near Manchester Royal Infirmary.
Spar's
There are various other mini-markets and late night stores around the city centre and in Piccadilly station. There are three 24-hour Spar's, one in Piccadilly gardens, one on Piccadilly station approach and the third opposite the BBC Studios on Oxford Road. Just out of the centre are a large Sainsbury's, in Regent Retail Park, Salford, an Asda store in Hulme, a Tesco Extra Hypermarket in Cheetham Hill.
Manchester United
Merchandise from the football club Manchester United is popular with some tourists. There is a dedicated superstore in the stadium at Old Trafford.
Afflecks Palace
In the northern quarter is "an emporium of eclecticism, a totem of indie commerce," and a shopping arcade in a five story victorian building, featuring a range of 50+ independent stalls catering to a young alternative crowd. it's a lot of fun: strange costumes, lots of goths, punks, and teenagers. saved from closing in april 2008, it is now simply known as afflecks.
Northern Quarter
The Northern Quarter is Manchester's answer to Soho, and there is a mishmash of stores which sell music, art, and clothing. More and more bars and cafes are opening too. At night look out for the illuminated, public art attraction on top of the Church Street car park.It was put up in 1999 at a cost of £35 000, but the lights went out for some five years until a deal was struck in July 2010, by the city council, with the NCP carpark company who will pay the bill for the 12-metre light tower. It is lit from 21:00 to 01:00.
Every Christmas time, continental style Christmas markets take place in Albert Square, in St. Ann's Square, and along both New Cathedral Street and Brazennose Street. You can buy all the usual Continental and British Christmas curios as well as various foodstuffs. Good fun and very atmospheric at night when it's all lit up.
Also at Christmas, into the new year, there are open air skating rinks in Spinningfields as well as a snow slide and other attractions at Piccadilly Gardens. There is also a winterbar at the Spinningfields location.
The small but perfectly-stocked food section of Harvey Nichols has a particularly fine wine department. Wines range from relatively inexpensive to the highest levels, e.g Château Latour, vertical ranges of Petrus, Vega Sicilia, etc. They are still remarkably good value in context, e.g. 1990 Krug Clos de Mesnil 1990, arguably the greatest Champagne ever made and incomparably finer than the footballer's wildly overrated Crystal is about £150 cheaper than usually quoted elsewhere.
Of late, there is a flower market at the Market Street corner of Piccadilly Gardens Thursday through Saturday from 10:00- 18:00. Some food stalls and craft stalls can be found there too.
Also hunt out the Craft and Design Centre, in the old Smithfield Market Building, in The Northern Quarter. The complex is full of artist studio space and boutiques, as well as a cafe.
There are regular events in Albert Square, St Ann's Square and on New Cathedral Street, all year around, where you can buy art, listen to music and sample foods from far and wide.
Wing Yip
For something a little bit different, the newly-refurbished Manchester Arndale Market features many food stalls, including a rather large fish store and a butchers. Chinatown has many specialist shops and the landmark Wing Yip superstore on Oldham Road in the Northern Quarter is excellent for everything oriental.
Not of particular interest maybe, but it is worth knowing where the main public toilets are about town! Clean conveniences can be found at Piccadilly station less reliable ones are to be found at Victoria and there are a few pods around the centre one is on the corner of John Dalton Street and Deansgate. There are pay toilets in the basement and on the top floor of The Triangle Centre, Exchange Square. You can also find FREE toilets in The Arndale Centre and at the following locations;
Kendals House of Fraser, Deansgate, basement, 3rd, and 6th floors.
Selfridges,Exchange Square. basement ,in the corner, near the alcohol section.
M&S, St Mary's Gate. basement, near the food hall.
Harvey Nichols, New Cathedral Street Near the food hall, bar, and restaurant.
Debenhams, Market Street. Near cafe, top sales floor.
Royal Exchange Theatre, St. Ann's Square. by bars and restaurant â not available to public during performances.
Town Hall. entrance opposite Beluga restaurant, on Mount Street, just off Albert Square.
From summer 2010 the City Council is working with retailers who are to display a sticker in their window offering free use of their toilet facilities.
Most museums and galleries include free toilets. There is nothing stopping you popping into any busy pub to use their conveniences! At busy times you would hardly be noticed.
The Manchester Evening News
Free copies of The Manchester Evening News are given out, around the city and available at the airport, on Thursday and Friday, as well as inside and outside some selected newsagents in town. There is a charge of 47p for the other days of the week including Saturday's edition. This is very good for listings, especially on a Friday, with the City Life pull out section. The free Metro newspaper is handed out in the mornings. This too has some listings.
Manchester's shopping district is one of the most diverse shopping districts in the UK and the majority of city centre shops are within reasonable walking distance of each other 15 minutes at most and most are served by a metroshuttle service. Even in the most upmarket stores you are treated in a friendly manner, which many think is not the case in the capital. The recently redeveloped Arndale Centre is a large 1970's city-centre shopping precinct, with 280 stores across just under 185 000 m² of retail space making it the largest city centre shopping centre in Europe, including the largest Next store in the world. The place retains some of its 1970's concrete charms and STILL some of the infamous yellow tiles that are a testament to bad urban planning of that era. It is connected via link bridge to the Marks and Spencer and Selfridges department stores adjacent in Exchange Square. Part awaits an update to the exterior, but the section modernised after the 1996 bomb is a great improvement, although different to that of The Trafford Centre with a more modern simplistic feel compared with the grand exterior of the Trafford Centre. The inside has had a total revamp. It does get very busy at weekends and, unlike at The Trafford Centre, there are far too few places to sit down. If you do need to sit down there are a few benches on the lower floor around the staircase near the market.
There are a number of large shops aimed at bargain hunters ,including the largest Primark in the country, which is great for a bargain and much loved by US cabin crew when in town, and an Aldi food hall on Market Street just off Piccadilly Gardens.
The Millennium Quarter at the back of the Arndale Centre is now quite smart and good for shopping. There's The Triangle, an upmarket shopping centre based in the beautiful old Corn Exchange, worth a visit for the building alone and Selfridges, spread across 5 floors with its large Louis Vuitton concession and fantastic food hall in the basement. You will find everything from sushi to fine chocolates, kosher foods, to a juice bar, etc. Harvey Nichols, opposite the Triangle, offers luxury fashions and produce to Manchester's rich and famous. The centre of Manchester's shopping area has traditionally been St. Ann's Square, and there are many shops nearby.King Street and Spring Gardens city centre offer a Vivienne Westwood store a local girl, from the nearby Peak District, Joseph and DKNY, as well as Emporio Armani and Collezione; these catering for, amongst others, the city's Premiership footballers, soap stars "Coronation Street" has been produced in the city since the early sixties!, and the many media types who can also be found in the area.
Deansgate has a fair number upmarket stores, as do some of the roads off it. The House of Fraser store, considered by many to be the top people's shop, still known as "Kendals" to most Manchester people and "Kendal Milne's" to an even older generation is on Deansgate and has been on roughly the same site since the mid-19th century. It is somewhat old school and the eating places are worth a visit. The new Champagne bar, on the third floor, is the latest addition. One of central Manchester's few quiet green squares is just behind the store. This is Parsonage Gardens. Deansgate is also home to Ed Hardy, The General Store, Edwards as well as some high end restaurants.
Just off Deansgate is The Avenue a luxury designer shopping destination set to open in Autumn 2010 in the Spinningfields district of the city centre. It will be the home to stores such as Flannels, Mulberry, Emporio Armani and Armani Collezioni, Brooks Brothers, Ermenegildo Zegna, Oliver Sweeney and Joseph. Combined with some of the new cafe's and restaurants this is set to become a top retail and leisure venue.
There is also an outlet mall at The Lowry, in Salford, near the future site 2011 of Media City: UK housing the BBC North project to relocate almost 3000 posts and 5 departments from London as well as BBC Manchester and Salford University's school of Media and Performance.
The Trafford Centre is a huge out-of-town shopping centre and accessible by car, taxi, or a bus/tram journey. It does not yet have a tram station of its own. It has been designated the Temple to Consumerism, and is one the largest, and possibly the grandest of such centres in Europe. It has its own branches of Selfridges, Debenhams and the best of Greater Manchester's two John Lewis stores. The other is in suburban Cheadle. The centre is spectacular, luxurious, and 'posh' inside and out. Look out for the biggest chandelier in Europe, near the Great Hall! If confused how to get there by bus and not too worried about the cost, opt for a through ticket on the tram and catch the link bus from Stretford station on the Altrincham line, turn right out of station and take the first right for the bus stop. If you already have a Metromax day ticket for the tram, just pay extra on the link bus. You can catch the same bus back to the station from a couple of stops around the centre or from the centre's own bus station. The cinema is also one of the best in the area and has even hosted some UK premieres in the past. The centre is now also linked to an annex offering homewares and furniture, built in an italianate style around a very large outdoor fountain. With supermarkets and DIY outlets nearby, mancunians can buy everything in this area without venturing into the city or any other town centre.