TK Maxx - part 2.

I’m completely with Ingrid on this one; TK Maxx is without a doubt my favourite shop. (That’s if we’re talking proper shops, otherwise it’s Barnardos.) I love it for the same reason that I love charity shops; you never know what you’ll find, you’ll always find something different, and it’s cheaper. You do, though have to take on the same mentality with TK Maxx as you do with a charity shop, that is, as Ingrid said, you need time to rummage and you have  to accept that sometimes you’ll come out with nothing. But if that’s ok with you, and I’m guessing that as you’re reading this, it is, then TK Maxx is a real treasure trove.

 I first discovered it, getting of for ten years ago, when living in South London. The Croydon branch was my local. I spent many an hour in there and my favourite buys from this time, all of which I still have, are:

• A blue halter neck dress that took me to many a wedding
• A stylish duffle coat (if that is not a contradiction in terms) that I loved so much I couldn’t wait for the weather to get colder. It cost £70 but the price tag was £245. It saw me through two pregnancies so is a bit out of shape now, but otherwise still going strong.
• A pair of cords which I wore the day I moved in with my boyfriend, now husband. I remember this not for any romantic reason but because I fell over while carrying a box. Unable to save myself I fell so hard that my knee required stitches. The cords, however, were completely unscathed!

 I missed my TK Maxx trips when I moved to St Neots. A friend of mine was telling a story about how her child had a complete meltdown in Bedford and screamed all the way to TK Maxx. “There’s a TK Maxx in Bedford?” I asked excitedly. Took me a while to realise I was focussing on the wrong part of the story, this was not the sympathetic response she was looking for and that not everyone finds TK Maxx as exciting as I do! Fortunately, my mum does. She rang me with some “wonderful news” – TK Maxx is opening in Peterborough! So this is now my local and Mum is happy to meet me there and take the kids up and down the escalators while I get my fix.

 For my 40^th I wanted to treat myself to a new dress for the party, yes new! I didn’t have anything in mind, just something that took my fancy and wasn’t too expensive, after all, I didn’t really need a new dress. So I met Mum in Peterborough so she could provide some childcare and honest opinions and off we went to TK Maxx. An emerald green maxi dress caught my eye and was only £18. I tried it on and was pleasantly surprised at how well it fitted and how good I felt in it. My mum took one look and said “I hate that colour but it looks amazing on you”. I’m still trying to work out if this was a compliment but I bought the dress anyway. Good old TK Maxx.