Manchester’s Northern Quarter

Exploring Manchester’s Northern Quarter
by Ruoteng Meng

When arriving in a new city, vintage shops are always my first go-tos. I love collecting vintage jewellery and clothes, especially vintage. It’s never out of style, even after a century! And here in Manchester, there’s an area full of vintage shops, bars, and restaurants, called the Northern Quarter. You’ll love this paradise if you like retro style like me!

Before you explore the Northern Quarter, it’s always nice to grab some food. There are so many options within the area, but if you don’t know where to go, Home Sweet Home is a good choice. They serve brunches, burgers, cakes, and so on. The food is delicious, the portion is definitely more than enough. I’ve got a burrito with chips here.

Oxfam Originals & Thunder Egg

Oxfam Originals and Thunder Eggs are both small shops. Oxfam is more on the cheap side, it’s a bit like a charity shop but fancier, and Thunder Egg has a cute and unique style in general.

Cow Vintage

Different from the last two shops, Cow is a huge store with two floors. It always takes me about an hour in this shop! They have a comprehensive collection from quite a few famous brands, with reasonable prices.

Vinyl Exchange

Right across the road from Cow, there’s vinyl exchange. It’s a big store for vinyl and CDs, with two floors, and there are hundreds of vinyls from all kinds of genres. If you like collecting vinyls, you might want to add this place to your list!

Affleck’s

Affleck’s is a massive indoor market with shops in different styles. They have vintage clothes shops, streetwear shops, vintage camera shops, and stuff like that. No matter what you’re into, you can always find something you like here!

Blue Rinse

Blue Rinse is another big vintage clothes shop. They display clothes based on colour, and it’s just so satisfying to look at! The highlight of this shop is their huge denim collection. If you like jeans and denim jackets, you’ll definitely love this shop!

It usually takes me a whole afternoon to go through these vintage shops and a whole day in Northern Quarter. Eating, shopping, and drinking with friends sounds like a good day, right? Have fun!