Lovely square of shopping heaven in Sheffield open air shopping centre

As part of the Sheffield City Centre Retail Awards, we're showcasing different parts of the city centre to shop in. This week, my focus is on Orchard Square – Sheffield’s open air court shopping centre.

It has been a prominent part of Sheffield's shopping offer for over 30 years, and offers customers several stores over two floors.

Upon entry, it would appear to be a small shopping destination, but it is perhaps deceptive as it actually offers a large amount of goods from a wide range of shops.

The biggest of all the shops is TKMaxx, which is one of my favourite places to shop in the city centre – partly because you can never tell just what gems you are going to find there and that makes the shopping experience exciting.

Whether it be clothing, accessories, shoes or homeware, a treat for yourself or a gift for someone else, every time you go in you know there is a chance of finding an amazing product – and at a bargain price.

You may have to be willing to spend some time carefully looking through rails and scanning shelves to make sure you see everything on offer and don’t miss seeing that perfect item, but it’s always worth it.

Adjacent to TKMaxx is Waterstones, which is a wonderful place to get lost in books – and in another world.

There’s a diverse fiction section, and an exciting children's discovery zone.

It's not just all about the books either, there’s a range of games, gifts, cards, stationery and toys too. There's also a cafe, so once you have bought a new book you can sit and enjoy it with a cup of tea and a piece of cake. Bliss.

Orchard Square also provides opportunities to pamper yourself from head to toe, with the Body Shop giving customers everything they need, from soothing body butters to re-energising shower gels and healing hand creams.

There’s also some great places to eat and drink, all contained within the square, so you can easily move from shop to shop and take advantage of everything that is on offer.

For coffee lovers, there's Costa, which is the perfect place to enjoy a warm drink – especially now the days are getting colder and darker.

For a lunch option that's a bit different, and will also provide some additional heat in the form of spice, try Burritos Y Mas.

Catering for meat lovers, vegetarians and vegans, their burritos are prepared every day using only fresh ingredients so you can be sure of a tasty and satisfying meal. Spice is optional.