Shopping is Great - Part 2

Richard leaves Oxford Street and the big shopping areas to find some interesting specialist shops and markets. We hear from a photographer who has his own market stall, and London shoppers tell us what they like.

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then, watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Transcript

Small specialist shops can be found all over the country. The Lanes in Brighton are made up of a fabulous web of small streets with lots of quirky shops and boutiques. They’re a great place to discover original fashion, furniture and accessories …

But a shopping spree doesn’t have to involve visiting shops! British markets are really popular and sometimes in surprising places. This is Piccadilly Market at St James’ Church in central London, and not many people know it’s here.

Photographer Simon Weinstock runs a stall here.

Richard: Hi, Simon. Tell me about your stall.

Simon: Well, I’ve been here 15 years on St James’ Market. This is my most popular image; I do lots of other images. This is a London bus going round Piccadilly Circus with the old Underground sign, very iconic. I do the London Eye, I do the Houses of Parliament, terribly popular of course.

Richard: So who are your customers?

Simon: My customers come here from all over the world. I have Russians, lots of Americans, Chinese these days, Australians – you name it, they come here! Some of my work’s gone to Outer Mongolia, believe it or not.

Richard: And in your opinion, what makes Piccadilly Market so special?

Simon: It’s a very unique, small market. There’s only about 40 stalls here. It’s a very friendly market. Not that many people know about it – it’s a hidden gem! And there are lots of stalls that you can only buy the product here, they’re not available anywhere else in London, so that makes it very unusual.

Richard: What do you like about shopping in London?

Girl: I think, like, the variety of stuff and there’s always something different, there’s always something on the street, there’s always something new to buy.

Man: I like about shopping in London the old shop, like in Covent Gardens, the old shop.

Woman 1: I like the mixture of some expensive and some cheaper ones. I like.

Woman 2: Well, I think it’s just the variety of shops and places where you can go for shops.

Richard: Britain is great for shopping. There’s such variety, and there’s something for everyone. The only trouble is – there’s too much choice!

Discussion

Do you like shopping in big department stores or do you prefer small, quirky shops? 

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Comments

Submitted by Mehrisha on Wed, 04/17/2019 - 02:30

I love shopping on departmental stores

Submitted by Machura on Fri, 04/12/2019 - 15:13

I like to do shopping with my family. I like to do shopping very much in various festival. Because it's very enjoyable. I can gain many experience by shopping.

Submitted by Roddhk on Fri, 04/12/2019 - 09:46

I have watched the video...& i liked it. Actually I like department stores more than small, quirky shops..cuz its easy to find out almost all kinds of things together in a department store...so thats easy & comfortable....

Submitted by krar309 on Fri, 04/12/2019 - 07:23

6 years ago, my father went to London but I can't remember if he bought something from these shops or not.
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Submitted by 1mhdi1 on Wed, 04/10/2019 - 18:55

I like departmental store because I can find many things in one place and they are very affordable but in big store I can find things I love wearing and things I love and also I can find things which are a lil more expensive than usual but affordable for me.
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