Forget Liverpool ONE, St. John’s is the place to buy everything

People come from far and wide to get a taste of the Scouse shopping experience, but they’re all missing a trick.

Liverpool ONE is overrated: St. John’s is the hidden treasure of shopping in the city. Need a TV? Check. Outfit for a night out? Check. Last minute gift? Check. Eyebrows plucked, waxed and dyed? Check. It has everything you could ever need under one roof. Liverpool ONE doesn’t even have a roof.

Where else can you go where there’s a Poundland, Wilkos and Home Bargains within metres of each other? Stock up on Sourz for pre-drinks, or, if you’re feeling classy, £3 bottles of wine. Decorate your dingy student home with pillows and throws from Home Bargains. Stock up on snacks, stationery and soap in Poundland.

Frozen Christmas decorations from Poundland are a student house essential

You can even do your weekly shop while you’re there, with an Aldi for the money conscious and a Sainsbury’s local for the big spenders. Are you a fan of frozen foods? Stock up on freezer food in Iceland and allow yourself to relax in the knowledge you don’t have to go food shopping until the end of term.

Feeling peckish? Take a trip down stairs to the St. John’s food court. Why bother traipsing all the way over to Nando’s when there’s a Maccies and a KFC directly next to each other, where you can get your fill of cheekiness for half the price? Treat yourself and get a Boneless Banquet and a Big Mac with all the money you’ve saved by bagging a St. John’s bargain. Get yourself a pastie from Pound Bakery and laugh as the you pay a whole 25p less than the losers at Greggs.

Local man with no fashion sense succumbs to the allure of Wilkos pillows

I’m lovin’ it

Get yourself night out ready and support local businesses by buying your clothes from Storm. Why buy one £50 dress from Topshop when you can buy five £10 dresses from Storm. Don’t be an outfit repeater. Buy yourself matching shoes, in every colour. Forget wearing you Raz shoes, buy a cheap pair and throw them away when the suede gets sticky – and then buy a new pair to replace them.

Get in your exercise by dodging toddlers and prams and the occasional zimmer frame. Your fellow shopper may be a strange one, but when  you’re saving money, does it really matter? Fight your way through packs of mother and child.

I don’t think it’s your colour

There’s nothing more gruelling than the walk from Liverpool ONE back to the bus when you’re weighed down with overdraft-funded purchases. St. John’s is conveniently located directly next to the bus stop, meaning there’s no need to subject yourself to the gale force Liverpool wind.

So maybe it isn’t as fashion forward and respectable as Liverpool ONE, and occasionally you feel like you need a shower after you leave, but for a student budget, St. John’s is everything you could need. It’s shit, but we love it.