Clements Gifts

How the many gift shops that I continue to stumble across in this city manage to keep going is something of a mystery to me. Clements keeps up the well maintained standard of the various similar shops I have visited elsewhere. If anything stands out it is the high proportion of christening/​new baby gifts there are to choose from, such as silver picture frames, a silver money box, sheep, angels, teddy bears, and Beatrix Potter ornaments. Otherwise there were cream china Belleek (I think) lamps and picture frames, crystal figurines of angels and many candles. There wasn’t much that appealed to me but a customer was in the process of buying something while I was there, enjoying a chat with the pleasant staff at the same time, which shows there is a continuing demand for gift shops that cater for the traditional end of the market.

Ah, Emma (the previous reviewer) has hit the nail on the head. There’s nothing wrong with Clements Gifts whatsoever. The staff were really lovely («Are you ok there girls?»), the gifts are nice, the jewellery is pretty, the prices aren’t all that bad… but it’s just like a hundred other gift shops. And I should know, I’ve been to them all. Just kiddin’.
There really was no purpose in my visit, other than to have a browse and admire all the Pilgrim jewellery, the well-​reduced Belleek pottery and the decent variety of Willowtree Angels. I was informed by one of the sale assistants that they regularly update their jewellery stock, which was good to know, but as its mainly seasonal stuff, I wasn’t too surprised.
I did find a cute little bracelet that I knew my friend would love, so I purchased that, and was even offered a free gift wrapping service which I happily availed of. Certainly couldn’t fault the top-​notch customer service, and the second sales lady didn’t do too bad a job on wrapping front. She was certainly much better than me anyway.
Not bad at all, but nothing really stood out for me in Clements. Shame, as it really has so much potential to be that little bit different…

What actually lured me in here was the toy Elmo from Sesame Street in the window… yes I hear my family saying ‘you’ve already got one!’ but Elmo is just so cute I think I should have as many as I want. This is a well-​kept little gift shop, the sort of place you would see in the Abbey Centre or Forestside, so it’s a little out of place on the Cregagh Road. It’s good for a gift, but I’m not 100% sold on it because it’s very samey — I tend to find that a lot of gift shops nowadays all seem to sell the same thing, and all look like carbon copies of each other. This shop has those wooden carved people without faces — you know the ones I mean the man and woman, the woman and baby and so forth. They are nice, don’t get me wrong but they’ve become a little run of the mill. There were a few corners when I spied some nice sparkly items that seemed in good taste but I wasn’t tempted to buy. The shop staff were lovely too I have to say and didn’t crowd me offering help but said a polite hello.