White Stuff

Although I walk down Cannon Street every week, I never really stop to look at the shops therein. It’s never been a conscious thing, I just didn’t think that these places would stock anything of interest to me and thus didn’t bother to have a look at them. It took a Christmas shopping event last night to show me the error of my ways and change my mind…
So, I spotted on Twitter this week that «Shopping in Birmingham» was putting on an event in the City. With a free RSVP through their website, you could gain little perks in many of the stores situated on Cannon Street (including mulled wine, Christmas snacks, discounts and competitions). As I was in town on the Thursday I though, «what’s not to lose?» and RSVP’d for myself and Elite’s Caroline C and Emma S to go and have a mooch.
After battling through the crowds of the German market, we met at the Studio where we were given our VIP discount cards, a glass of mulled wine and a little shopping bag and let loose on the street. We popped into White Stuff as it was offering 20% off all purchases on the night, as well as a little contest and festive drinks and snacks. On arrival we were immediately welcomed by a very friendly member of staff who poured us some sparkling wine and invited us to try our hand at «hook a duck» for £2 (with all proceeds going to charity). We all won a little White Stuff goodybag with a gift from the store, a little bar of chocolate and a discount voucher for Naked wines. So far, so good.
Again, I have never stepped foot in this shop so didn’t really know what to expect. There is a good range of small gifts (I picked up some fantastic cookie cutters), socks and sundries and clothes on offer in this «looks smaller from the outside» unit. Downstairs is mostly menswear at the front with a range of popular women’s items at the back and upstairs is all ladies clothing. It’s all nicely laid out and the price tag reflects the quality you can expect.
Small gifts start from around £3.50 in this shop, although other novelty items reached up to around £16. The dresses and clothing certainly wasn’t cheap, but there were scarves and tights for a «not entirely unreasonable» price for a nice gift (starting at £16 — £25). The staff were definitely the star of the show. All of them were welcoming, smiley and genuinely were going out of their way to help shoppers with questions about items in store or seeking out sizes that weren’t on the racks.
I don’t know if it was the fake snow falling on the street or the loud Michael Buble soundtrack, but I was rather charmed by this shop. Yes, it’s not independent. Yes, the designs are a little too colourful for my taste, but I will definitely be back to peruse their scarves, accessories and gifts in the future.

This shop is hidden away down a side street just off the main shopping strip of New Street but I always make a point of going here as I love it so much! The shop window is always inviting and the staff are very pleasant and helpful.
It’s reasonable sized, I went in the other day and they had changed the layout. It’s now women’s I the left, and men’s on the right as you enter downstairs. You can also go upstairs where they stock shoes and children’s clothes. It’s also where the fitting rooms are by the way!
The stock changes regularly and when the sales are on (not at the time of writing) they are really good. Also, there tends to be rack of ‘last chance’ offers, which are reduced down but lack the full array of sizes.
They do gift tokens and are happy to exchange/​refund on items when required. Overall, I love this store and the clothes, get yourself there!