Home Bargains (Shop) > Reviews (35)

I love a bargain. I think we all do if we are honest with ourselves really. I mean why pay more for something that you can get for less? Never makes any sense to me why people would do that, unless they were absolutely filthy, stinking rich of course. Although even if I was rich I'd still be a bargain hunter - it's something that is either installed in your or not and in my case it most definitely is!

If you are like me and like a bargain then Home Bargains is the store for you! I discovered it after a new retail park opened in town, it had the usual suspects - Next, Boots, Peacocks, TK Maxx and a shop I hadn't seen before Home Bargains. I wondered what kind of stuff they sold and went for a look around, that was the day I became hooked.

For those who have never been in a Home Bargains shop they are run by the T J Morris chain. Tom Morris founded T J Morris Ltd approximately 30 years ago when he opened his first store in Old Swan, Liverpool. Tom comes from a retailing family that has run shops for over two generations so he has plenty of experience in what makes a good shop!

From these humble beginnings the company has grown to over 100 stores and now employs more than 3,000 staff, making it one the largest companies on Merseyside. This success has been achieved by applying one simple principle: selling branded goods at the lowest possible price. TOP BRANDS - BOTTOM PRICES.

The company intends to continue its rapid growth throughout the UK and over the next ten years the company plans to grow to 500 stores, employing over 10,000 staff.

So what do they sell?

The answer - a bit of everything! Health & beauty products, food, childrens toys, household (cleaning products etc), seasonal (gardening equipment, BBQ stuff, Christmas decorations etc depending on time of year), clothing, sweets and snacks, alcohol and homestyle (duvet sets, kitchenware, saucepans etc).

The Health & Beauty departments sells all kinds of stuff - toothpaste, toothbrushes, body lotions, skincare products, razors, hair care and styling products, feminine products, baby products. A mixture of top brand names like Johnsons, Colgate, Gilette, Olay, Clearasil and many others combined with own brand items.

Seasonal items at the moment include garden equipment which ranges from tools to chairs and tables, parasols, weed killer etc and stuff like BBQ equipment and summer tableware and picnic ware.

Toys is pretty much as you'd imagine a range of toys and kids items. They sell little toys ranging up to bigger toys (especially at christmas) they also sell art items such as paints and pencils and colouring books.

The food and drink sells all kinds of stuff - crisps, breakfast cereals, tea/coffee, biscuits, chocolate bars, pasta, cooking sauces blah blah blah the list could be endless. You may find that some of the food items have a short shelf life and be close to the best before date but they are ALWAYS still in date so no need to worry about that.

I love this shop because it is a dolly mixture of bargain delights.

They sell top brand products as well as lesser known items for fantastic prices. I go in there to buy all my toilettries now as I can get them at a much cheaper price than in a lot of other high street stores. For instance you can get Charles Worthington Shampoos and Conditioners in my local store for £1.49 where as in Boots they are almost £5 each!

I am on a tight budget and the less stuff costs me the better and here I can come and get my toilettries, my cleaning products, some food, booze, I can even buy stuff like lightbulbs and batteries all under one roof. Much more convienient than going to about 10 different shops.

My local store is Mansfield. The store itself is pretty large, laid out really well and is always clean and tidy. The stocks are usually well stocked and I don't think there's ever been a time when I left without buying something - there's just too many things to tempt me.

This is fast becoming one of my favourite shops and when I eventually move in a couple of months I am dismayed to find out that there isn't one of these in Milton Keynes. What will I do! I am hoping that they will open a branch there eventually though as they do say they are hoping to expand and open more stores in the near future. Up until then there website has informed me that there is a store in Northampton so at least I can go there and still get my Home Bargain fix!

You can find out more information on the locations of their stores at the T J Morris Website http://www.tjmorris.co.uk/

If you ever happen to see one of their stores on your travels make sure you pop in because I am sure you will find something in there that takes your fancy!

They do seem to have a quickly changing range of products and things sell out pretty quickly so if you see something you really like make sure you stock up when you see it as when you go back it may not be there (as I have found out before).

Also the stock isn't the same from store to store do don't assume that they will have the same items in a different store as they don't always keep the same products in stock at any one time.

I give this chain of shops 5 out of 5 because anything that bags me a bargain is top of my list.

Thank you for reading (please ignore the criteria below as they are irrelevant)

Shazza x