Argos

For when human contact is not on your agenda.
This shop is so kitted out that I can walk in, browse a catalogue, place my order and pay without any human interaction. The prices are decent and the range is mega awesome. You can even shop online to reserve and pay for your items in advance.
Loses a star for the inherent soul sucking nature of the place (seriously…it’s like a factory…)

This location is a nicely done, open, and clean Argos with a convenient location on North Bridge, easy for both those in Old Town and New Town to get to. Argos is generally cheap and pretty cheerful. You get what you pay for, but their super low prices are attractive and the items do stand up well to the test of time. If looking for cheap odds and ends, it isn’t bad and you can either order from the catalogue in store or online and pick it up easily without horrendus queues.
This particular Argos was refurbished in November, so is freshly redone and is nice.

What can be said about Argos? In fact, Bill Bailey (legend) the part-​troll comedian said it best himself:
«Don’t you love Argos, with the laminated book of dreams. You know why it’s laminated? To catch the tears of *joy*…‘so many beautiful things, I can’t possibly possess them all!’»
Best sketch about Argos ever:
But seriously, Argos is one of those chains that’s the same everywhere you go. Every single Laminated Book of Dreams is identical to the last, and the ‘pale mythical wards of the treasure’ are as stilted and unimpassioned about getting your brand, exciting new THING that you simply had to have and ohmygoditssoexcitingnowyouhaveit.
They do sell practically everything you could need for your home, from furniture to bed clothing, work out gear, protein supplements, ipad covers, mobile phones, laptops… everything really. But you need to only choose by pictures and numbers, then pick up the items at the back. So no touching before you buy.
This particular branch is much like the rest, it’s fairly big inside (I counted at least 12 Laminated Book of Dreams) and the staff were quite friendly and helpful. I was buying a really large item that I couldn’t physically carry to the front door to get in the taxi and two staff members jumped straight into help without me asking. So aye, this one is pretty good.
Unfortunately I didn’t cry tears of joy, but rage, over the laminated pages as it can be hard to find that one particular item you need amidst the gazillion (well, say 1000) pages. Still, for all your earthly needs, Argos will be there.

I’d previously known Argos as that big magazine with everything you could think of in it! This is how the ten year old me thought, and Argos is such a large company my mother was able to order me a bicycle for New Years to Lagos, Nigeria where we live. It’s been a while since then, and I only thought to go to the Northbridge branch to get some things for my new apartment.
Argos’ layout is a little different to other department stores, in that you step in, join other customers standing by a table of catalogues where you can look for what it is you need, and then enter your item number into a handy gadget which checks availability. You then go pay before picking up your product at the clearance counter. It’s all extremely efficient, and my only complaint would be the lack of customer/​staff interaction. If you’re not in the mood for sales person interference, Argos is perfect, but I am left feeling a little Ikea friendliness would be nice!