Peacocks

Oh my goodness, I think I may have died and gone to sweet-​filled heaven every time I walk into here. This place is packed from front to back and from floor to ceiling with every sweet imaginable: giant gobstoppers, white chocolate mice, rhubarb and custards, metre-​long fondant-​filled cables, giant jazzies, chocolate fudge, chocolate pebbles, cola bottles, milk bottles… I could probably fill several dozen sheets of paper if I were to list everything on offer here. The temptation to walk around the centre-​piece pick & mix display and just eat one of everything is so strong I feel like I have to physically restrain myself. Not that I have a huge sweet tooth… it just all looks so PRETTY.
As well as all of the sweets you could possibly remember from your childhood, this place also sells Brighton souvenirs and rather naughty sweets like sherbet bras, knickers and suspenders, peppermint nipples and some very rude biscuits. Tacky, but rather hilarious all the same.

Peacocks is basically much like Primark, except without the better design of Primark clothing. It’s more cheap and cheerful. It can still however be useful for buying the odd basic, I got a pair of plain black heels here, and they have actually lasted me very well, and are so simple you can’t really complain. The clothing isn’t generally very good quality though (unsurprisingly). I bought a pack of three straptops, which have obviously been cut against the grain (all fabric — even plain fabric is woven in a certain direction. If you are making clothes properly, you have to make the garment with the grain running in the right direction. Places trying to save money will use the ends of fabric and cut the pieces which make the garment any old way) and so after a few washes they won’t sit straight. Not the end of the world, but in a way it does mean they are probably less good value than a more expensive one bought somewhere else which has lasted better. The other thing that always concerns me about these stores (although admittedly doesn’t always stop me from using them which makes me a very bad person) is I can only imagine they have dubious working practises. With Primark being the biggest name budget retailer on the high-​street I suspect they get rather more scrutiny than Peacocks which doesn’t seem to have any info available on their ethical trading policies. I tried to look it up on the internet, but the page doesn’t exist anymore.

The sales racks were definitely the first thing I noticed when walking into Peacock yesterday — they were covering nearly the entire front half of the large ground level, and labelled with ‘Under £5′ and ‘Under £8′ signs. Sounded intriguing, but on closer look, these cheap items were pretty tacky and … un-​wearable. More clothing I wouldn’t pay £5 for.
Regular priced items were quite the opposite of tacky — very, very plain. Simple colours and styles, nothing very memorable or interesting. Just solid, boring colours in t-​shirts, long sleeve shirts, blouses, tank tops and sweaters. Trousers came in dressier styles, jeans or leggings, and were also quite plain. I did try on a couple pairs of jeans — they were only £16. The good thing about these regular priced items was they were still quite cheap.
The store is huge, and has plenty of selection if you’re in the market for something nondescript. While most of the stock is catered to women — including lingerie on the first floor — men’s and children’s clothes are also available.

The quality of the clothing in Peacocks isn’t great and their take on the season’s high street fashions can be pretty tacky. However, I will say that there are three merits to this store:
1) It’s bloody cheap; it’s great if you need something practical (like a bag, umbrella, scarf, knickers, belt…) as you wont need to fork out…
2) Primark prices, without Primark-​mania; this place is often completely dead in the week…
3) 20% student discount; I’m not sure if they’re still doing this, but they were last time I was there, making the cheap prices even cheaper if you’re studying at the mo, wahoo!
It’s big, it’s ugly, and we all know we should support Brighton’s many independent stores. But it’s often useful, and next to Primark it kinda feels like supporting the underdog.