Tag: cute store

Artbox (Version 2) – London, Shelton Street

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Ack. Artbox has moved!

It’s now moved to a back street of Covent Garden as the previous location will be under construction.

Artbox are still selling cute, cute things, but fee that they have limited items on display at the moment. It’s a tiny bit more spacious than the previous store but hope they will add more items as I couldn’t see all the stationery… I really wanted to buy some memo notes but had limited stuff at the time I went…

Fingers crossed for more items!

The following pic is of lots of old Chinese people who were about to eat outside in China Town to celebrate The Queen’s 90th birthday… ^_^

Address: 44 Shelton St, London WC2H 9HZ
Tel: 020 7240 0097

The Kawaii Kollective – London China Town Market

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Another kawaii stall!!

I was recently messaged by the person who owns this on one my cute store posts. I had passed it several times in the China Town Market not knowing that this was the stall that I was looking for!!

The Kawaii Kollective

Although it is quite tiny compared to some of the other stalls in the China Town Market, there are many cute things hanging about in the stall.

I was quite fascinated with the socks actually. I have a small obsession with cute socks. If there was one of Donghae from Super Junior I would have bought it, but I couldn’t see one…

Korean pop star socks

If you’re looking for onesies. The cute ones. Then look no further…!!

Kawaii onesies

The toys look so cute, I wished I bought one now!! ^_^

Kawaii toys!!

So if you plan to look for this stall, find Unit G-11. It’s opposite to the Mr Panda stall.

Find Unit G-11

Sadly I didn’t purchase anything but maybe next time I will… ^_^

Address: Unit G-11, London China Town Market, 55-57 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0NE

Website: http://www.thekawaiikollective.com/

Paperchase – London Tottenham Court Road

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How could I forget about Paperchase?! It’s a CUTE store too!

As I couldn’t find many cute, cute stalls in Camden Town, I stopped back off at the back street of Tottenham Court Road and went towards Paperchase after stopping off at Waterstones… Tottenham Court Road is a one way street unfortunately, so if you’re going computer shopping, you have to walk all the way back down. 😦

Paperchase is one of my favourite stores in the entire of the UK! And I really mean it! There are stores everywhere, Waterloo Station, Victoria Station, Strand and various other places… But the big one is in Tottenham Court Road.
Outside Paperchase in Tottenham Court Road

Look at all that cute stuff in the window!! ^_^
It has 3 floors altogether that includes the ground floor…
2 floors upstairs…
I love this place because of the amount of stationery they sell. If I lived in a big place, I think I would have majority of my stationery coming from here…

If you don’t want to shop for stationery there’s always the cute lunch boxes and water bottles that you can have a look at. I think bento boxes are still an in thing. These are on the ground floor.
Ground floor… so many cute things! 😀

Lunch / Bento boxes, water bottles and carriers…

Kawaiiiiiiiiii!! ^_^

The cafe is on the first floor which I didn’t take a picture of… But this is part of the first floor.
1st floor
On the second floor there’s paper. Lots of it…
2nd floor
I also found a world map for Miss Pinky. She’s bad at geography even though she did this for her GCSE’s!! (I did History GCSE and I still know where some of the places in the world are… ¬,¬””).
Map cost me £3 something… 😀
Prices are generally ok in Paperchase, they are not overly expensive, but in general it’s a good price for good quality!

Address: 213 – 215 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 7PS
Telephone: 0207 467 6200


Camden Town… no cute stalls?

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It’s very hard to find cute stores elsewhere nowadays. I remembered there were quite a few in the old days and especially around Camden Town. Unfortunately there’s not many of those anymore around this area of London. So you really have to look hard for the cute stalls.

For me, it’s really easy to be like a tourist or a person from out of London, so taking some random pictures of the Camden area is easy and fun… Because I’ve been to Camden Town so many times in the past I know which areas to look for cute things…

Here’s a few stalls you could try and find in the stable market area… There’s a lot of stalls that sell antique and vintage objects, so have a good look around.
So many different bags!!

Lots of antiques and vintage stuff

Loads of bags and purses

This is the only cute stall I found in the entire stable market area!!

Hello Kitty Stall!! Yay!!

Heheh, is that a toilet seat? Or a weird chair?

 I bought socks from here… Forgot the name of the shop, but it’s in one of those side streets…

Sock, shoes and bag shop

Cute socks!!

I just had to take a picture of this!! Loads of weird t-shirt designs 😀

Bags, bags and bags! I love bags!!

Across the road from the stable market there are other stalls you may wish to look at…

Cute key chain toys!

I think this is a Japanese stall… Can you see the unique toilet roll holder!

Cute toy stall for young kids!

And if you have time, which I didn’t, you can have a look in this section – Camden Market. There must be a cute stall in there somewhere!

Outside The Camden Market… loads of stalls in there 😀

If not, try Punky Fish for some cute t-shirts or other clothing. 

Punkyfish…

The whole area is full of unique stalls and shops. If you’re looking for anything that’s punk style, this is the area to go to!! ^_^ The Geek will not turn into a Geeky Punk by the way… (^_^)v

Lots of shops with gothic clothing and unique trainer stores

Had to get a shot of this for the men shopping around XD

Also one more thing, if you like food, try out as many food stalls as you can… I didn’t take any shots of them because I knew I would want to eat loads… 😛


Here’s some scenic shots…

In the Stable Market area

Taking a long shot

From the other side of the road…

Nearest tube station: Camden Town (Northern Line)

Buses: 24, 27, 29, 31, 46, 88, 134, 168, 214, 253, 274,  C2


Cute Stores in London China Town and Trocadero (CLOSED)

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Afraid China Town Market is/has closed down… Please look elsewhere for cute stores! I will try and find more!!

Cute stores? Are you looking for cute stores in London? Trying to find that cute, kawaii gift before Christmas or for someone’s birthday…? Well then, here’s just a small summary of those that I know of around China Town and in Trocadero… There’s not many really. They’re all in one area. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take pictures of the ones in China Town (but I did take a couple before I was told not to!! No infringement is intended here!!).

So the main one in China Town is called “China Market 中市”. There’s 3 entrances. One’s on Charing Cross Road. The other on Newport Court and the third one is near the car park. It’s like a mini mall of different stalls selling very, very cute things to bags to touristy stuff. I love it. There’s so much Hello Kitty stuff, stationery and other quirky cute things that girly girls like. ^_^ Miss Pinky tagged along when I was taking these pictures and saw all the Pink Hello Kitty mugs, and she wanted them!! Hah!!

China Town Market 中市 … See the Hello Kitty toys in the window? ^^


I took this picture from outside the store!!!!


Mr. Panda – this is inside China Town Market


There’s more stuff around the corner… I love this stall!!


Entrance from Newport Court
Entrance in China Town

Address: 55 Charing Cross Road, Leicester Square, London WC2H 0BL



The next stores are in Trocadero. There’s actually one store missing. It’s been taken over by another store, which is not so cute. It was a Chinese store that sold a lot of stationery and panda toys, clothes and bags… Aww… It’s a shame that’s gone!
Tokyo Toys!! ^^

However, in replacement of that store is Tokyo Toys! I actually forgot about this store!! They sell a lot of toys, T-shirts and manga… Check it out!! ^^


Address: Ground Floor, Trocadero, 7-14 Coventry Street, London W1D 7DH
Website: www.tokyotoys.com

And the final cute store that I know of, which is one level above… It is actually quite tricky to get to because you can’t really see the stairs. So once you see Claire’s Accessories, go around the corner to the right hand side, you will see a set of stairs and then you will see this store… Edit (April 2014): it is now located near the front of the Trocadero entrance as the rest of Trocadero is now being converted into a hotel.

Mosaic House in Trocadero
Mosaic House – I took this picture from the outside

I love this store. It’s similar to the stalls in China Market, but a bit spacious! You can also find an entrance on Rupert Street if you can’t be bothered to go back into the main part of Trocadero…


Address: Trocadero, 7-14 Coventry Street, London W1D 7DH

If I get a chance, I will go and found some more cute stores around London!!

Check out my posts on Forbidden Planet and Artbox too!! 😀

p.s. Forgot to mention Tiger UK and Wing Yip’s New Time City store!!

Wing Yip Centre 榮業行 – Purley Way, Croydon

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I travelled a long distance to get to Wing Yip! Well I took 2 buses just sitting there with my MP3 player on… It’s about an hour plus journey from where I live (but it depends on when the bus decides to come!). When I got off the 154 bus at Fiveways, I almost forgot the way to the place (only because I went via two different routes on two previous occasions!)…
Wing Yip Centre

Wing Yip is very different to China Town (well obviously). It’s everything rolled into one! One restaurant, one supermarket, a Chinese kawaii store, agencies / business centre upstairs and a parking lot (which I think is dangerous for pedestrians as there’s no pavement for us journey makers).

Adverts of what’s inside

Wing Yip opening times

The Restaurant – 大同大酒褸

Taipan Chinese Bakery – 大班餅家

Going upstairs to the business area and other parts…

I went all the way to Wing Yip to try and find frozen prawn cheung fun – but they didn’t have any! T_T So disappointed at my misfortune. In the supermarket, there are aisles and aisles of food, and a warehouse like area where they sell all the bulky stuff…

Inside Wing Yip Supermarket

But thankfully in the Chinese kawaii store New Times City they sell things that I was looking for!! (^_^)b

New Times City Shop – I love it!!!

My USB fan for £4.50

Hello Kitty vacuum flask for £12.99 ^_^

So not a complete disappointment by travelling all the way there! It’s a place where people around the deep south would travel to instead of going to China Town (and I travel there to go to the Chinese kawaii shop ^_^).

Buses: 119, 154, 157, 289 (Get off at Fiveways)
Nearest Station: Waddon Station

Forbidden Planet – London Shaftesbury Avenue

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My 100th post! 

Coz I’m a geek I must know some geeky shops around London right? Yes that’s right!! (^_^)v … For me Forbidden Planet, which is located in Shaftesbury Avenue (on the other side of China Town) is one of the most geekiest shops in London!! Comic fans may disagree and call it a comic shop, but nah, it’s a geek shop… Forbidden Planet used to be located in New Oxford Street (that’s how long I’ve been a fan of theirs :P) but I think due to the increasing amount of customers and the little space they were in, they moved to a bigger venue – which was just around the corner. That was many years ago…

Forbidden Planet in Shaftesbury Avenue

Window display – Dr Who figurines

Another window display of … ?


I really love this place… They have a big lower ground floor which is full of comics and manga, and the ground floor has all the toys and figurines (sorry I didn’t take any pictures of the inside). One main reason I tend to go in there is to buy manga or birthday gifts for my geeky sci-fi fanatic friends (hope he doesn’t read this blog!). So here’s my birthday gift to one of my friends (Mr Games)…
A talking Dalek and a Playstation with sweets inside

Dr Who T-Shirt


I know I was there for gift shopping, but I couldn’t help myself in getting a Hello Kitty item ¬_¬”

Hello Kitty earphone clip 


So if you’re in London, and you really need to find a comic / manga store and you’re in the area, go and experience Forbidden Planet… There’s also one in South Croydon and some around the UK!

Website: http://forbiddenplanet.com/

Tiger UK – Lewisham Shopping Centre

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OoooooOOOOooooOOoO… There’s a new kawaii shop in town! Although I think it’s been around in the UK for a while (7 years), I’ve just never noticed it… I recently went to Lewisham Shopping Centre which is situated in the South East of London. It is a very popular area to go shopping as they also have a market outside the shopping centre and other high street brands… like… Primark ¬_¬.

Now here’s the shop I’m talking about. TIGER. 

Tiger – a Danish store that sells allsorts
Whoops – a fuzzy picture of one of the entrances at the shopping centre 


It’s like a gift / department store all in one! They sell spices, kitchenware, office stationery, home appliances and loads of other stuff that you wouldn’t even think would fit in the store! It’s like a European version of the Japanese store MUJI! But very colourful and they do a lot of bargains like 3 for £1 with candlesticks ^_^ ! All prices are very reasonable and it’s like a local homeware store.

TIGER is actually from Denmark. Wow, I have never seen a Danish company become popular in the UK before… I think the Swedish got there first with IKEA and H&M. I think we’ll have to wait and see if this store will survive the UK market – I’m sure it will. It seems like a great place for Christmas shopping ^.^ !

Here’s what Miss Pinky bought for her flat… (Sorry, it’s all pink stuff ¬_¬” – It’s not my favourite colour… And now you know the reason why I call her Miss Pinky!).

Pink ice cube tray for £1!!! – I think they are selling this for £2 in Matalan!! 
Thin pink candlesticks
Fat pink candles

Here’s also my snack (a very light lunch) from Marks and Spencer…

So what do I really think – It’s a really lovely cutesy store – I would go back again to do some Christmas shopping (and possibly do some stationery shopping!!!) 😀

Website: www.tigerstores.co.uk

Update 21/07/2012
As I was in Stratford, I noticed that there’s Tiger store in Stratford Centre!


Kawaii Artbox ^^ – London Store

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Yep. I love Artbox too… It’s one of my favourite cutesy stores in London. There are in fact 2 stores at the moment – Covent Garden and Selfridges, but I’m sure there used to be one based in Camden Town Market and another at Top Shop in Oxford Street. I guess they decided specific locations were a priority to them.

From their website, Artbox is Korean. They sell all types of cute things from simple stationery to socks to big cuddly toys. And they sell a lot of Japanese character stuff like Hello Kitty and Rilakkuma 😀

The nearest one to me is the one based in Covent Garden and I love it so much.

Outside the small mall Thomas Neal’s where Artbox is based 

Outside Artbox ^^


Inside the store is fairly big but compact with many items. There’s not much walking space between the tables and outer shelves, so you’ll have to wait for the other person to move. Or you’ll have to be stick thin or a child to passby 😛

Inside Artbox at one end

Inside Artbox on the other side ^^ – so many cute things! 

I went here to get a birthday present for a friend. Here are my purchases.

Domokun Plush Teddy – Bear Kigurumi ^^ – So Kawaii!!!! 

My friend’s birthday card 

Socks that I bought for myself  ^^

I haven’t done the paper bags any justice here because it was raining that day when I went. Sometimes they use plastic bags but I guess it depends on what you buy…

Blue one side; Pink on the other

And I got a free postcard with a British flag.

Get ready for the Olympics 2012!

If you find that you have no time to go to the shop, you can also order online, which I have done before. It’s very useful just before Christmas and other holidays.

Website: www.artbox.co.uk

Address:

London WC2H
Thomas Neal’s Centre
Tel: 020 7240 0097