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A bit better in my opinion than Office World because the prices are normally a bit better, but the staff are almost as bad when it comes to thinking that customers can’t read and only want the info that’s on the tag on the shelf (‘I read it THEN I asked you for more info’ is what I normally try telling them!).

Lots of choice when it comes to stationary – pens, pencils, folders, pads, paper etc. And a reasonable amount of choice on the larger office items, but not as good as some other places have.

Access is pretty good here though, and parking is also easy as they have lots of spaces outside the shop and a nice sloped pathway up to the entrance so no steps involved.

A fairly typical place selling office stuff – from paper and pens to printers, desks, chairs and other office bits and bobs.

The layout isn’t bad, the space isn’t bad, you can get a wheelchair round for the most part, but they’re not exactly thoughtful about how it’s laid out and sometimes displays can be a bit awkward to manouver round.

A good place to go if you know what you want, but not such a great place if you want assistance as the staff here often don’t really seem to have much of a clue how to help other than to read the label on the item to you – Seems they don’t think their customers can read sometimes!

Rock Bottom is a discount store selling a wide variety of different items at rock bottom prices. They sell kids toys and bits for around the house from cushions to tin openers and all sorts of other bits. Good place to go if you are starting a new home and need loads of basic bits and can’t afford to spend a lot – lets face it who can when they’re just starting out eh!

You do have to watch the quality on some of the stuff, I’ve seen bits in there which yeah they’re cheap, but they’re so flimsy it would be false economy buying them as you’d waste money in the long run coz they’d only last 10 minutes.

It’s also pretty inaccessible if you need a wheelchair, the isles aren’t wide enough to get one round, and I don’t think they have a lift so you wouldn’t be able to get upstairs. Add to that the big step at the door and it’s not an easy shop to access unless you’re walking.

Maisies has been around since I was a kid, I remember my mum bringing me in here to get me trainers for gym class and things because they were cheap and cheerful. They still do all the same sort of stuff for kids at school but they also do quite a good range of t-shirts and shirts in really large sizes from xl up to 5xl and one or two even bigger ones. Although at a glance these larger sizes aren’t cheap, if you look at the prices you pay elsewhere for the same stuff, they’re actually pretty good, although it’s not really great that just because you’re a bit bigger you have to pay double the cost for stuff. I got a shirt in here for a family member who was moaning he was struggling to find something and he was really pleased with it.

It’s not a fancy store, pretty basic looking inside and out, and they don’t stand on ceremony here, so don’t expect it. What you will get is friendly, helpful and good value.

British Home Stores is one of the larger department stores in the Centre MK. It’s on two floors, and is laid out pretty sensibly with each department’s stuff grouped together in one section of the store. The lifts are nice and accessible, and the management here are always willing to reconsider how something is laid out if you point out to them that there’s an access issue.

They do some really nice clothes here, and over recent years I think they’ve kind of fought to bring the place more up to date in terms of what they sell and how people look at them. No longer just mumsie-ish clothes, but really fashionable stuff too and at affordable prices which is great.

They have a rather odd loyalty card system too where you collect points as you spend, and then x number of points gives you a percentage discount for the rest of the year then it resets and you start again. To be honest I don’t really spend enough here to make it a useful scheme for me, but I know some people who love it.

Of all the department stores in Milton Keynes, for me this one is the worst!

I really hate it. It’s not the products, it’s the attitude here, and the lack of consideration for anyone who is not walking along without any encumbrances. This store is laid out so badly in places that it’s inaccessible to anyone in a wheelchair, or with a pushchair, and in some places it’s so bad that if you even have a bag that you’re carrying you’ll have difficulties accessing things.

The section by the main entrance isn’t too bad, it’s where all the concession stands are, and they’re fairly easy to access and there’s space around each one which is fine. It’s when you go deeper into the store that the problem starts. The display units are shoved so closely together that it becomes impossible to get between half of them, and the staff here don’t seem to care and aren’t interested in helping either.

This place is a massive garden centre. It’s actually a lot more than just a garden centre and I think the area given over to plants is probably only about a quarter of the space that they have there.

As well as plants, they also have tools, seeds, furniture for the garden and conservatory, an absolutely massive gifts section with lots and lots of smelly candles and things like that, as well as a foodie bit with it’s own delicatessen as well.

It’s a bit pricey for the food and gifty bits, but the plants and things aren’t too bad cost wise I don’t think. When it first opened my sister in law and myself managed to spend several hours wandering round the place looking at everything which might give an indication of just how big it is.

This is an excellent place to buy carpet from. They really are brilliant people who run this warehouse – and yes it IS a warehouse not their shop. But here you get to see the carpets and buy pieces if they’ve got them. I’ve been up to their shop in Olney and they’re nice there too, but I prefer going to the warehouse directly. Partly because it’s nearer, but also because it’s less formal and I’m not really a formal sort of person.

The place is in an industrial part of the estate, and when you go in the inside is pretty industrial too, it’s basically a big warehouse where they store the carpet and so on. They do have a fairly large choice though, and compared to a lot of the places locally they’re also pretty good on price I think.

When we’ve had carpets from them we’ve done it both ways sometimes getting them to do the fitting, and other times doing the fitting ourselves, and either way that’s fine with them.

This is a really large book store, it’s got a coffee shop upstairs as well which is quite a nice touch (except for my hubby who hates the smell of coffee so hates this shop bless him!).

They have a really excellent variety of books catering to all sorts of styles and tastes, but I do find that for such a large store they’ve managed their layout really quite poorly. I use a wheelchair and getting it round some of the gaps is quite difficult in here. Also they haven’t really thought about the tills and they’re too high with no low point for paying from this height which is a shame. Their prices aren’t particularly cheap either, most books seem to sell at their RRP which to be honest doesn’t seem to be the norm these days.

I rather like shops that sell sound systems and tv’s and things. This one however is a bit too snooty for my taste. I mean I don’t mind paying a bit more for good quality, but I don’t like being spoken down to coz they think that because I walk in there in jeans and trainers I’m not going to be able to afford their over priced items.

That’s my other big issue with this place, the stuff is supposed to be really good and all that, but actually there are other products on the market that are better quality and have higher spec than these do and cost less, so half the time you’re paying mostly for the brand name and that’s not worth it in my opinion.

One thing they do get right is that they have a room set up so you can see the tv’s etc. from a sitting position which is nice. Gives you the chance to feel what they can do.