Glasgow is recognised as the second largest retail centre in the UK with over 1500 shops.
In the city centre there are hundreds of shops to suit all your needs. RCS is just a short walk from the three main city centre shopping streets; Sauchiehall Street, Buchanan Street and Argyle Street. The main department stores in the city centre are John Lewis (Buchanan Galleries) and Frasers (Buchanan St). At these stores you can buy a huge range of goods at a wide range of prices. Argos is also located on Sauchiehall Street and sells a variety of consumer goods including homeware and electronics. There are also several shopping centres: Buchanan Galleries (top of Buchanan St), Princes Square (middle of Buchanan St), St. Enoch Square (Argyle St) and the Savoy Centre (Sauchiehall St). There are three other main shopping complexes which can be reached by bus: Braehead Shopping Centre (Kingsinch Road, Glasgow), Silverburn Shopping Centre (Barrhead Road, Glasgow) and the Glasgow Fort (Provan Walk, Glasgow).
There are several supermarkets in the city centre of Glasgow but be aware that many of them are small and can charge slightly higher prices than in some of the larger out of town stores. If you’re on a tight budget, for reasonably priced groceries you may want to try shopping at
- Lidl ( Jamaica Street)
- Tesco (Sauchiehall Street)
- Farmfoods (Cambridge Street)
- Poundland (Sauchiehall Street)
Sainsburys, Marks & Spencer and The Cooperative also have city centre outlets that sell groceries.
There are also a large number of shops that sell food and non-food products from overseas:
- Lims Chinese Supermarket, 63 Cambridge Street, Glasgow
- Chans Ltd, 37-39 Farnell Street, Glasgow (stocks a range of Chinese, Malaysian and Indian ingredients)
- Seewoo, The Point, Hamiltonhill, 29 Saracen Street, Glasgow, G22 5HT
- Matthews Foods, Unit 1 at Barrat Trading Estate, 230-260 Garscube Road, Glasgow, G4 9RR
- KRK Continental Food Store, 140 Woodlands Road, Glasgow (sells halal meat)
Glasgow is known for its markets selling clothes and household goods at reduced prices. They can be entertaining with the Glasgow ‘banter’ [Glasgow speak] of the Stallholders and the vibrant atmosphere. The Barrowlands Market (known as The Barras) (4-6 Stevenson St), is Scotland’s largest flea market with over 1000 stalls and several distinct areas selling clothes, jewellery, furniture and also has food stalls and cafes. It is open Saturday and Sunday 10am–5pm and is free.
The Forge Market is Scotland’s largest indoor market which is situated in the East End of Glasgow at 1201 Duke Street. The Forge Market is a general market that sells a wide range of goods and produce. The Market contains 180 individual units of varying sizes occupied by over 110 individual traders. It is open Thursday to Sunday 10am–5pm and is free.
If you have a room in Base Glasgow or another purpose built student accommodation, you may need to buy items such as bedding, pots and pans, crockery and cutlery on arrival in Glasgow. Argos and TK Maxx on Sauchiehall Street offer these items at reasonable prices. You might also want to look in the various charity shops in the city as they often have second-hand but good quality crockery and cutlery at really low prices.