Coffee and Cookies at Costa Coffee in Waterstones in Leeds

If you're working or studying in Leeds, West Yorkshire in the UK, then at some point you're probably going to be shopping in town and want to grab a coffee somewhere. Judging by how infernally busy the place is on an almost continuous basis, and especially at the weekends, then a pretty damn popular destination for such a purpose is Waterstones, the branch of the national book chain located at 93 to 97 on Albion Street, in central Leeds.

On a week-day, although still usually pretty busy, you may be able to get a seat without too much of a headache, as long as you're pretty nippy about it. And it's a lovely environment, honestly: light and spacious and comfortable, with lots of easy-chair and sofa seating for comfortable reading of interesting books and magazines, and sipping your coffee while you peruse them.

Oh, yeah, the coffee? (Well, actually, I usually have tea, myself. Twinings brand, not my favourite, but acceptable, and it does tend to bring Stephen Fry to mind, due to the adverts, which isn't a bad thing.) But the beverages that are on offer, generally: pricey! Yeah, it's Costa, what am I expecting, it's not going to be much less than Starbucks, am I right? But if you're a cheapskate like me (in which case you should really be drinking at McDonalds, probably, or Witherspoons at Leeds train station which does a perfectly acceptable cuppa joe for a quid) then you're still going to get some element of sticker-shock at proper coffee-chain prices.

Still, when you factor in a sit down, a nice environment, staff wages and infrastructure and equipment and yadadadada, then it's... a nice cup of coffee. (I do sometimes have a regular latte instead, or a mochachino.) And you're surrounded by books, which, all I can say: makes it the best cup of coffee in the world.

Photo credit: McKay Savage under a Creative Commons licence.

Nerd Nirvana - Buy Sci-Fi Collectables At Forbidden Planet in Leeds

Would you classify yourself as a geek or a nerd? Are you the kind of person who watches Big Bang Theory and identifies with Sheldon? (Or not only identifies with him, but remains puzzled at why his behaviour and utterances merit special treatment from the laughter track.) Then the shop Forbidden Planet, located at Eastgate in Leeds 2, adjacent to the Headrow, was probably created with your needs in mind.

Forbidden Planet in Leeds is part of a chain of stores in big cities across the country, and if you’re a sci-fi obsessive, Buffy nut or collectible figurine accumulator, then you may already have had reason to drop in and browse there.

Where Can You Buy A VCR Now?

I became familiar with Forbidden Planet back in the good old days of VCRs. (The days when you could actually buy a decent VCR for a price that didn’t make your hair stand on end… Can you tell that I’m researching hard-drive DVD recorders with Freeview and getting frustrated in my search for the perfect replacement for my dying VCR?) Back then my Buffy devotion/obsession meant that waiting for Amazon to eventually deliver the newest Joss Whedon box-set was quite horrifically unthinkable - what, three days delay?! Instead I was up at the crack of dawn, setting off to Leeds, where I would run into Forbidden Planet and grab the precious cargo, throwing banknotes at the staff in my hurry to get home and begin many hours of Buffy delight.

Buying Merchandise At Forbidden Planet

Of course Forbidden Planet don’t just stock box-sets (of the DVD variety now). Figurines, books, board games and all kinds of paraphernalia will meet your gaze as you wander through this emporium. And all of it connected to nerd delights – superheroes, supernatural fantasy, gaming, science fiction, graphic novels, comics, etc. etc. (Why do Giles figurines (from BTVS) never sell, and always wind up sad, lonely and discounted in the bargain bin? It makes me melancholy! Giles can handle himself, and a stake too! He’s a superhero!)

I have always found the staff at Leeds Forbidden Planet to be friendly and pleasant: I guess it’s in the nature of the nerd to happily connect and communicate with those who share their interests! (Now I’m sounding like David Attenborough.)

The shop itself is a touch shabby and worn, but that’s in the nature of stores that attract devoted browsers – they start to show the effects of the concentrated footfall. This branch seem to hold sales and offer discounts quite often lately, so I wonder how business is and if online sales are impacting the business model of places that cater to geek interests. (Not surprising if so: they seem to be impacting pretty much everything else, and geeks will surely shop online more than anyone else). I guess with numerous shops and their own online empire that the Forbidden Planet organisation aren’t that worried though. But I love the Leeds branch of Forbidden Planet and hope it remains to serve the needs of the Leeds geek population for many years to come.

Home Bargains at Leeds, UK: A Great Shop to Pick Up A Bargain!

Are you interested in saving money and picking up some bargains on a regular basis?  Do you live in West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom?  If so, then chances are that you've already heard of Home Bargains, situated in the Merrion Centre in the centre of Leeds.  But if not, then you should have!  It's a great, in some ways awesome, place to save money and enjoy a browse during your shopping experience in Leeds.

Is it a pound shop?  (For our American friends, a pound shop is the UK version of your dollar store.  Everything's a buck, right? But here, everything's a pound. I guess you'd worked it out for yourself already!)  However, the answer is that no, Home Bargains isn't a poundshop.  Which is a good thing in many ways.  I've noticed that in many pound shops, while you can often drop on a number of bargains, there are also numerous products that are not actually worth a full pound and can actually be bought cheaper elsewhere.  Even the occasional 'two for a pound' offers aren't always worth the money.  I guess the thinking is that you'll assume that, because you picked it up at the pound shop/dollar store, it must be humungous value for money.  Not always so!

So, Home Bargains isn't a pound shop.  There are lots of things it sells that cost more than a single pound.  But there are also lots of things it sell that cost less – sometimes a lot less.  The bargains at Home Bargains are real bargains!

Home Bargains in the Merrion Centre, Leeds, is a pretty large place with aisles divided up into different product areas.  Where should you grab a basket and head for?  Where are the best bargains to be had? 

Just inside the door there are often snacky and food items that are really drastically reducted compared to what you would pay elsewhere – potato chips, high-end breakfast cereals etc.  Often these are very close to their sell-by date – but so what, I say!  They aren't going to last that long in my house anyway!

I have found that the vitamins on sale at Home Bargains are also extremely cheap – especially when you consider that this is an item that has risen massively in price from most outlets over the last couple of years.  Improving your health can work out expensive!  Gift wrapping paper is often also to be found for much lower prices than elsewhere – another item where you can normally hand over two or three quid for a bit of coloured paper.

But my favourite Home Bargains bargain so far, is the industrial size container of mustard I purchased from there.  How big is it?  Well, I bought it months ago, and I love mustard – a lot.  And it's still going strong!  So I would say, pretty damn big!

I assume Home Bargains can sell items so cheaply for the same reasons as pound shops and dollar stores can: that they purchase stock from closing or failed businesses and sell items close to expiry date, etc.  But I think that Home Bargains pass on more of their savings to the customer than the average pound shop.  I never fail to check out what new deal Home Bargains has in store whenever I'm in Leeds!  The variety of stock available, and its unpredictability, is part of what makes the experience fun and an adventure.  Of course, you can't go there with a set shopping list and be sure that they'll have everything that you want in stock – but you can go to a regular supermarket for that (and pay regular supermarket prices). 

What if you don't live near Leeds, but you'd still like to experience the wonders of Home Bargains?  Well, I'm happy to say that there are lots of other branches of this great little store – and most probably one near you.  Find out, and check out Home Bargains today!



Photo credit: silverfox09
Flickr/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic