Glasgow - Local Stores

One thing that had me slightly worried before going to Glasgow, was trying to figure out how to get certain items that I would need right away (most particularly, a blanket for my bed).  I tried to look into it before I went there but it was very difficult to look at a map and try to figure out if a place was close or if it just looked close.  Or if that big line was a road I could walk on or a big uncrossable highway.  So this blog post is intended to hopefully help out anybody who may be wondering about the same things (although I know that I overthink things a lot, and this could be an issue that nobody but me ever thinks about!)

First things first... a slight disclaimer that this comes from the point of view of someone who lived at Cairncross House, and I'm sure that some of this would be irrelevant depending on how far away from Cairncross you lived.

In general, I found the best place to shop for generic household goods is the shopping area on Argyle St by Glasgow Central Station.  In my experience, the best way to get there is to take the local train.  Its somewhat possible to walk there but its just much better to take the train (I think its a 30 min or so walk).  To take the train from the Exhibition Centre station (nearest to Cairncross) its £1.30 for a single (one way) ticket and £1.40 for a return (round trip) ticket. 

To get to Exhibition Centre is fairly easy - although it does take a few minutes.  Here's a handy dandy map to show you how!

Then once you get to Glasgow Central, I can never remember if its a left or a right, but go in the direction that has a McDonald's (no, not trying to be a stereotypical American but its pretty much right there so its a good landmark).  Once there, right on that main street there is a ton of shopping.

Personally, I shopped a lot at Primark, TK Maxx, Priceless Shoes, Poundland, Waterstone's and a couple of other places that aren't occuring to me right now.

Primark I found to be somewhat similar to Sears (at least in terms of price and the types of things you're going there to get).  You can get cheap clothes there - although the majority were not my style.  Also there are a lot of housewares.  I got my duvet and duvet cover there (for less than £20 total).

Also nearby is TK Maxx which is the UK version of TJ Maxx (tough to guess that one, right?).  Only its a lot better than any of the TJ Maxx's I've ever been in.  Obviously lots of discounted clothes and other housewares and things like that.

Priceless Shoes is ... whew, hard to describe.  Cause they don't have a ton, and what they do have isn't the highest of fashion, as far as I could tell.  But I'm not really the one to ask about their women's shoes because both times that I shopped there I was forced to choose from the men's section!  Which basically consisted of sneakers.  Anyway, I found that they were a good place to get cheap shoes, as each of the pair of sneakers I bought cost £10 or less.

Poundland.  Gosh I could write a book about my love of Poundland.  If you hadn't guessed from the name, it is a store where everything is £1.  And when they say that, they mean it.  Its not like in the US at the majority of "dollar stores", where stuff can still be $3, $5 or more.  I thought the quality of the products there was somewhat higher, too.  Definitely a great store to check out, especially when you're a student, and especially especially when you're a study abroad student (and you're having to buy housewares and other things that most likely won't be able to travel back home with you).

Waterstone's is just a UK bookstore chain.  Not much to really go into there because its just like any Barnes and Noble, but its right there on that same street.  Its also where I got my copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

Argyle St is also the location of St Enoch Centre, which has a ton more shopping (including a ridiculously awesome toy store, and a Ness store). 

Buchanan St (a famous shopping street) is located off of Argyle St, too, but for whatever reason, I never really shopped there. 

As for more local (to Cairncross House) shopping, the most important place is going to be the Tesco Express on Argyle St.  Its not very far from Cairncross House and is one of the best (read: most convenient) places to get food from.  And not far from there is one of my favorite little stores, Roots & Fruits.  Its one of those Organics/Whole Foods stores, but it also has, clearly, fruits and veggies.  And you can buy them individually instead of having to buy a big bag of apples or potatos.  Also has a little gluten free section, which was delightful for me. 

Roots & Fruits (you come across this first walking down Argyle St, away from Cairncross)

This is one of the perks of living at Cairncross House - the 78.  Its literally right next door to Cairncross House (as you'll see in the second picture), and its a vegan Bar & Restaurant.  While I don't follow a vegan diet, it was very convenient to go there for food (either to eat in or for take away).  Order the chips!  Super yummy.

Another good shopping area is on the other side of campus, on Byers Road.  I didn't do a TON of shopping there (and barely got any pictures of places so I'm not going to go into too much detail).  But on Byers Road is a place to get school supplies, a couple more supermarkets (Waitrose, which has a nice gluten free section, and Iceland, which I never went to).  Also a super cute store called Papyrus which has a bunch of stuff that you never knew you needed until you walked in there.  You'll spend the majority of your time there saying "Oh my God! Thats SO cute!"

And now, my absolute favorite thing located on Byers Road... is Taco Mazama.  Mmmm... tacos.  This place has such delicious tacos (and I'm sure the other stuff is good too but the tacos are the only things that are gluten free)

So yummy.  Seriously, try these.  I mean it.

Thats all for now - hope this helps someone!

:)