Hatchards - Piccadilly

Official bookseller to the Queen. Now owned by HMV.

187 Piccadilly
London, W1J 9LE

020 7439 9921

Pinocchio - Old Town

A cute name and shopfront for a puppet shop. The specific focus saves it from being just another shop with wooden toys.


96 West Bow
Edinburgh, EH1 2HH
0131 225 6547

Thistle Do Nicely - Old Town

Just a little gift and tat shop near the castle, but I love the name.

1 Upper Bow
Edinburgh
EH1 2JN

Bicester Village

This is a nice day trip out of London by train. Surrounded by stereotypical beautiful English countryside, this is the poshest outlet mall I've ever visited. Prices are not as cheap as the name "outlet mall" implies, but merchandise is top quality, high end. Retailers at the village include: Wedgewood, Temperly London, Tod's, Anya Hindmarch, Mulberry, Tse.... You get the picture

Bicester Village
50 Pingle Drive
Oxon
OX26 6WD
England
(0) 1869 323 200

Gamleys - Mount Pleasant Road

Toy stores seem to fall into two categories: Mega-marts that sell only the big brands, guaranteed to sell, or cutesy shops that sell quaint dolls, wooden toys, and whatever the owner has a penchant for. Gamleys is a small chain of toy shops that actually has things children like. Large brands include a good collection or Playmobil, Selectrix, and Mattel, but many other small brands are sold here as are a good collection of books and toys for older children, like train sets and action figures.

It seems the chain is getting smaller as more shops are being closed every year.

43 Mount Pleasant Road
City Centre
Tunbridge Wells
(0)1892 525322

Bluewater - Greenhithe

Paco Underhill talks this mall up in his book, Call of the Mall, so I expected much, much more. Shopping is very high street, nothing particularly high-end but a wide variety, but many things are done right. There are things to keep children entertained, including remote control boats, play structures and a creche. Mall food is plentiful, including the only Crispy Creme I've seen in the UK where donuts are made on the premises.

There's a very large problem: no air conditioning. Is this being environmentally correct? Perhaps, but it doesn't work with in a place that is encased in glass. It certainly doesn't work in such a crowded environment, and Bluewater is extremely crowded.

Bluewater
Greenhithe
Kent
DA9 9ST

0870 777 0252

Brent Cross Shopping Centre - Brent Cross

No, this is not an airport parking lot. It's the outside of Brent Cross Shopping Centre.

Butler & Wilson - South Kensington

I don't know much about this shop except that I like crown on the roof.

189 Fulham Road
London SW3 6JN
Telephone: 020 7352 3045

Nearest Tube: South Kensington

Shopping for Clothes - Sainsbury's - Harringay

Shopping list:

green beans
milk
stretchy jersey top

Shopping for clothes at the grocery store, no matter how convenient, still feels a bit weird. I suppose it's the same as buying clothes at Costco, but I wouldn't do that either. Where do you try anything on?

4 Williamson Road
Green Lanes
HARRINGAY
London
N4 1UJ
Tel: 020 8809 6065

The Corner KTS - Hackney

Need a bookcase of a new speaker case? Wood cut to all shapes.

415 Kingsland Rd
London, E8 4AU
020 72499200

Selfridges Food Hall - Oxford Street

American-style Cupcakes


Some of the best American-style cupcakes I've had in London.

Selfridges London
400 Oxford St
London
W1A 1AB

Hand and Lock - Westminster

Hand embroiderers to the Queen. This proves that almost anything can be bought in London, for a price.

86 Margaret Street
London W1W 8TE

0207 580 7488

Agent Provocateur - Soho

Where Victoria's secret and even Fredrick's of Hollywood only teases, Agent Provocateur takes it all the way. Lingerie here is prettier, sexier, and certainly better made.

6 Broadwick Street
Soho, London, W1F 8HW

020 7439 0229

Mobile Police Station - Oxford Street

There's a new piece of traffic parked on Oxford Street for the after Christmas sales, a police trailer. This mobile police station was set up to process shoplifters and deal with the problems caused by unruly crowds. I wish it was parked permanently on my street.