Blacks

Camping shops seem to be breeding in Belfast city centre — within five minutes of each other we have Millets, Tiso, Costwold Outdoor, and now Blacks. ‘Tis the weirdest thing…
Now, camping /​outdoor pursuits and I go together like chalk and cheese. The only time I have been in a tent has been at a Christian Festival at the King’s Hall (for five years running, granted), but it wasn’t camping in the true sense. We had toilets, electricity and food all available nearby, and there was no requirement for all the heavy duty clothing etc. that comes with camping… thank heavens.
As you can gather from the above information, I had no real need to go into Black’s, but it looked much more interesting than some of the other camping shops, so I decided to have a look. I was pleasantly surprised to see a rather nice collection of ladies clothing — floral tops, floaty skirts and attractive jeans /​trousers were a world away from the dull raincoats and khaki outfits you immediately associate with these kind of stores. They had a fab sale on too, which meant that the already affordable clothes were practically given away — I saw a dress for £9.99, that had been £39.99!
Of course, there’s still all the average camp store stock — heavy duty coats, fleeces, walking shoes, sleeping bags, tents, camping furniture, rucksacks and so on. But still, those clothes were pretty sweet…

Hiking and outdoor clothing suppliers Blacks has just opened a branch in Belfast City Centre. As I was getting desperate for a new pair of walking boots/​shoes I stopped in here to discover they were having a brilliant opening sale full of
bargains.
Having had a preliminary look and been assured by staff that there would be plenty of stock in my size I decided to come back the following day and
found an excellent price reduction -£90 down to £50.
Assistance was enthusistically offered but took them a while to find my size, there was some confusion over where things were though one clued up girl knew all along where it was.
There is also a range of summer clothes evidently aimed at backpacking holidays as well as weather proof jackets and coats.
It’s somewhat bland perhaps but still a useful addition to Belfast City Centre.