Pulp

A lover of the alternative scene i am and this shop is meant to provide, which it does, and i’m glad we have one in Manchester. Cheap t-​shirts, band or pictures, and deals on jeans are always a win. The only thing I don’t like is the way in which the alternative scene is becoming so commercialised. However, it’s so much better to be able to find alternative uptodate brands with the chance to try them on instead of ordering online. The shop itself seems to employ alternative people which makes me happy to see that being/​looking alternative doesn’t go against!

Band T-​shirts can be an expensive purchase, go to the merch stand after a gig and you’re looking at at least £15 for a shirt. Usually the shirts aren’t even that good — they’re ones advertising the new album which, if you’re honest, you can’t really get into. You’ve just come to see them in hopes that they’d play some stuff of their first and second albums (now they were good) and they obliged in the encore but they didn’t do the one you really wanted to hear. And now you’ve spent almost £20 to walk round wearing a piece of promotional material for an album that in conversation you wouldn’t really recommend anyone buys. I’m just saying, band t-​shirts — they can be expensive and annoying.
Pulp though neatly sidesteps both these problems by offering a selection of band and music related t-​shirts that you might actually want to wear. Soft tees with classic album or band artwork from Dad-​friendly bands like The Who, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin and cooler groups and artists like The Cure and Frank Zappa (although there were no examples of my favourite groups 5ive and B*Witched, which was a bit upsetting).They usually run a series of offers here too, meaning that you can stock your entire wardrobe full of sweet band shirts for less than two or three might normally cost you.
Take a look — I promise I’m telling the truth; this ain’t no pulp fiction.

The Arndale really needed a place like this to offset the rather drab collection of shops that otherwise fills the centre, and in terms of offsetting, Pulp is the master. As other reviewers have pointed out, the very presence of the place here is slightly perplexing, but thankfully that didn’t stop them from opening up.
Pulp is one of these shops that sells a lot of stuff you will probably never need, but really want to own, and will therefore pay a lot of money to have. It’s one of the strangest forms of commerce, appealing directly to the part of a human’s brain that likes shiny things and looking ‘cool’, and is most usually applied in places like Affleck’s Palace, so it’s a rare treat to see it here.
It’s difficult to describe exactly what you can find in here, and so I’ll cop out and say have a look for yourself. They have an array of band T-​shirts, quirky T-​shirts, edgy T-​shirts, etc., etc. It’s all a matter of looking and picking the one that makes you laugh the most, or will cause the most offense to old ladies.

It’s almost as if someone has taken a mega cool boutique clothes shop off Oldham Street and plonked it right in the middle of the Arndale Centre. I’ve actually walked past this shop a few times without looking in just because I assumed it would be as un-​exciting as all the other Arndale clothes shops.
To start with, the sign on the front of the shop is cool. It’s all pop art and flashes and stuff. I like it. Once inside, I soon found that this is the kind of shop where you can buy a hoody that says «I love nerds» or a t-​shirt that has Jesus pulling a break dancing move on it. Now I wouldn’t want to wear these kinds of clothes all the time, but having one or two in my wardrobe definitely doesn’t hurt.
Also, at the back of Pulp they have an amazing selection of band t-​shirts, which are a tenner each or two for £15. Everyone loves a good band t-​shirt.

‘I am PULP’ screams the store! Edgy, vintage, metallic and should I be even mentioning– LOUD! It’s a store you cannot miss while you’re strolling in the famous Arndale, city centre and I would say a store you DON’T want to miss! If you’re the fan of Iron-​fist, the voracious Criminal Damage, they’re stocked up from hoodies to heels to hats! To satisfy the very conscious retro clothing loving lot, say hello to the FAMOUS FOREVER collection of all your favourites from the 1980’s.
The rockers can make way for the very adept classic band logo tee’s from Metallica to Guns n’ Roses to Blonde & Human League. Apart from clothes, I was bit by the shopping bug when I saw the place stocked with crazy cards and accessories and even my very favourite Pink Floyd etched shot glasses; which proudly are responsible for bringing in my dancing shoes every weekend!
It’s a great store and yes, as agreed by many, a surprise in the Arndale since this kind of apparel was home at Affleck’s and the Oldham Street. Oh well, I’m not complaining!
Looking for some edgy fashion or want to continue the very retro/​rocker consciousness, walk right in and be amazed!

When did this place spring up?! I have to agree with Emma-​Louise, I too was equally shocked to come across this place IN THE ARNDALE?! Afflecks, sure, The Triangle, yeah definitely but the Arndale?!
But do you know what? It’s about time. Since Joy closed down earlier in the year, the Arndale has really been missing an alternative shop. Urban Outfitters is a bit alternative but only if the stuff is popular and cool enough for them… a bit of a contradiction really.
Pulp is a refreshing change with it’s quirky gifts and cool t-​shirts, I really like the offensive Christmas cards even though I don’t think I’d send them to anyone just in case they took it the wrong way!
Not quite dark and dreary enough to be taken as serious competition against Afflecks but a fun place to have a browse through when you feel like life has got a bit serious.

Imagine if one of those band T-​shirt shops in Affleck’s Palace and Urban Outfitters went on a few dates, got together, got married and spawned a sprog. That sprog would be Pulp.
I love this shop so much. I physically cannot believe it’s in the Arndale centre. It has the quirky gifts and rude cards of Urban Outfitters (cue loads of Christmas cards at present about how the person sending it to you @*&$ing hates the Yuletide season), as well as band T-​shirts of all shapes and sizes. You expect this in bespoke places like Urban Outfitters and Affleck’s, but in the middle of the most conventional and NORMAL shopping centre in Manchester? Nay! But here it is.
Also you’ve got some excellent fashion on offer, well, certainly things the emo teen scenesters would step over their grandmother for. I’ll never forget how my father’s face lit up when I presented him with a greetings card I’d from there, adorned with Frank Zappa’s face. He was flabbergasted. (My dad’s a huge Zappa fan.) He said he’d frame it and everything.
Many a time you’ll trundle past Pulp and there’ll be an excellent offer on, such as two band T-​shirts for a fiver. And that’s T-​shirts with the Rolling Stones logo on that don’t look like they’ve jumped on the Topshop set’s bandwagon, I’m talking proper T-​shirts that cater to all tastes. Here’s a tip too, any boyfriend (or girlfriend for that matter) would love one of their vivid blue Superman hoodies for Christmas.
This is one of my favourite shops in Manchester, and I defy you not to find something quirky in there that you’ll love.