Family Bargains Ltd - www.familybargainsltd.com

Family Bargains is a chain of stores which specialise in selling home goods which have been imported from other countries as well as goods which are have sold badly or inconsistently in the UK. It is one of a group of 3 stores which operates n the same principle - the other two being B and M and Home Bargains.

I have been a customer of Family Bargains in Portwood for more than a year now. The store is quite large and has a very low staff level, which I prefer as I don't like being "helped" to the point of irritation by overzealous shop assistants.

The store is a proverbial Alladin's Cave as there are so many products from other countries which are not normally seen on the shelves of the more mainstream stores. You do find a lot of brand names which are sold in the UK, but a lot of the lines are unfamiliar or have totally different packaging.

Pricing is great and the store is always busy. I have purchased many a salon only product for less than £3 which always leaves my husband happy.

There are 2 downsides to shopping here though. 1 - a lot of the products are quite close to the end of their shelf life, and though it does not make a lot of difference with regards to the majority of products - when you are looking at protective sun creams for example, I would go elsewhere.

2 - a lot of the products do not contain any English on their bottles or other packaging, making it difficult to know how to use the product correctly if you have not used it previously. If its in French or German it is still translatable, but when the writing is in Arabic or Cyrillic script you are pretty much up the creek without a paddle.

They have really fantastic deals on their outdoor furniture when they have stock, and the same with white goods. But as the stock changes all the time and no guarantee that the item you are purchasing today will be available next week/month you have to buy it when its there or risk losing out.

My advise will be to have go and have a look at what is available, but to always make sure that the product you are purchasing has not expired yet. You never know until you go.