X -It - A Great Shop.

Donna

Just visited X-It for the first time. I was so impressed. It has EVERYTHING in there. I especially liked the huge clock. ANd the friendly salesman gave me a free egg cup.

Giles

The selection of cards are better in X-it than in Home.

matt

Do you pronounce it Exit?

unaesthetic

is the hyphen silent?

tosscat

I'm super sorry, and I've really tried, but I hate it with a passion. It is shit.

dominic

I'm with Tosscat. The place is packed full of tat and you can't move for twee nastiness.

Donna

hmmm they told me to watch out for you tosscat when I first joined... :)

tosscat

What? Are you a piss poor shop?

tosscat

I think the hypen is pronounced "sh".

Four Eyes

Last October-December they revamped themselves into a selling fireworks to kids emporium. 'nuff said

matt

I agree it's too full of stuff, and I'd hardly buy any of it for myself. But it's a better option for cheap pressies than Home. And I've got some cracking sarcastic illustrated greetings card in there.

David

I'd really like this site _(you guys)_ to drop the kicking of venues that don't quite make your personal grade. Yes X-It might not be for you, but it perfectly serves an awful lot of the rest of the community. Not all pubs here will become gastro. It's the same with many venues & restaurants here. We all seem to love Stroud Green but bitch about it endlessly. Its not Soho, its not Islington or Camden. It's not even Crouch End. The quirky shops & venues of varying quality are what make it, if you want formulaic perfectness up your mortgage and subscribe to a posher forum.

Colette

ooh, david, where did that come from?
For the record, I'm quite happy with X-It. And Home. But I made the mistake of ordering a pizza from Il Bacio in Stokie, and it took them 1.5hrs to deliver it. I'm never leaving the security of N4 for my pizza needs again.

tosscat

I think David is poorly Colette. Surely if people are bigging up a shop then it's our duty to offer an opposite view. Only the other day I was recommending the White Lion to someone (provided you go right to the back on a very hot day).

Ali

In the back for a SGR history lesson ?

tosscat

No, for the too powerful aircon and lack of winos.

katiejane

Get back in your pram David!!

Anyway - Crouch End's got its fair share of shit gift shops - that one near the clock tower for instance, and what about Clinton cards? That's really shit. I really hate Indish too - that bloody woman who owns it looking down her nose when you go in, like you're going to rob everything.

tosscat

I always think she thinks I'm going to break everything.

JoeV

@katiejane – no offence, and I ask this respectfully, but have you ever said that to the woman’s face?

I sometimes feel like the anonymity of posting to a website is talking behind someone’s back -- only for everyone to hear it. David has a point methinks. Are the rules different for businesses? Many are owned by locals – with feelings.

katiejane

@ JoeV - nope. Just don't shop there. The staff are much more friendly at the interiors store on Park Road, so I go there. No offence taken, and I'm not sure why you think it would cause me offence, or that it was disrespectful. Unless of course you meant it that way.

Sod the feelings - it's business. I'm a firm believer when there's a saturated market in differentiating on customer service. It nurtures loyalty, loyalty = sales, you get word of mouth publicity yadayadaya...

btw - while we're on the subject, an acquaitance of mine had a nasty bout of food poisoning lastnight after eating fish from the horrible fishmonger on SGR

David

You are right, Katiejane, but the cumulative effect on this site is that we've probably left negative comments about absolutely every venue in Stroud Green. I just want this forum to be less of a local whingefest. Reporting bad/rude service, for example, is a good thing but if something simply isn't your cup of tea, perhaps just let it slide rather than filling these pages with negativity. Like I've said before, we don't censor anything on here, so the best I can do is occasionally knock the knockers, urge a more positive outlook and take the rebukes on the chin.

JoeV

@katiejane – I was just trying to be polite, which may have caused more offence than what I asked. No disrespect was intended.

Donna

I think it's because we've only recently moved here and are discovering all the shops and diferent places every weekend -- so I'm just really enthusiastic about it all! I'm not trying to be particularly positive or anything... truth is, the reason I'm not having a moan is I really really like living here! :)
It's interesting that other people don't like the shop though. But I'm going to go back there today to buy some a wedding present for a friend. I think it's a treasure.

andy

My X-it story is that I went in there looking for a traditional garden sieve  After explaining what it was and what it was for, the chap in the shop recommended...  a vegetable steamer. I will let others decide whether this is insanity or genius. (For the record, the DIY shop by Cats that put Chrysos out of business did have a garden sieve)

rainbow_carnage

I'm not a fan of that DIY shop. The other day I desperately needed some vacuum cleaner bags. Fortunately, they had some in stock, but they cost twice what I usually pay for them. And then last week we needed a plunger. The DIY shop wanted 7 quid for it! Come on, it's a piece of rubber on a stick. Got one down the street for 70p. A bargain!

krappyrubsnif

I'm with Dave. If you want posher shops and a posher area - move somewhere else!

rainbow_carnage

@ krappyrubsnif - I can't speak for everyone, but I do not want 'posher' shops. I can't afford anything posh. I want shops that sell things that I want to buy. Ideally, I'd like them to be staffed by competent sales assistants, but that's less important.

David

I think the DIY shop changed hands a few months back _(possibly 6 months?)_ and its definately got more expensive.