Zara is, without a doubt, one of the UK’s most popular high street stores – as proven by the lengthy queues that usually form inside its stores.
The Spanish retailer’s popularity always feels especially obvious here in Manchester too.
Most of us will know the pain of nipping into the Market Street shop to be faced with massive queues for the tills, the changing rooms, and for returns (and, after lockdown, to get into the building in the first place).
But there is a little trick that can save you time, and save your sanity.
Zara is a very popular shop, as its queues demonstrate. Credit: Zara
Way back in 2020, Zara quietly added a new feature to its app that makes shopping a lot more enjoyable – though based on the amount of people still queueing, not many know about it.
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You can actually use the app to book yourself a slot in a changing room, and even check how long the wait time is.
In the ‘Stores’ section of the app, you can find your nearest Zara, then click ‘Enter Store Mode’.
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The trick to skip Zara queues is genius. Credit: Tiktok @natalie_mcc
From here, you can book yourself a fitting room, seeing how long the estimated wait time is, then just march straight past the queues to try on your items.
That’s not all, either – you can also use the app to find the exact item you’re looking for in store.
It will show you what section of the shop your chosen fashion piece is located in.
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One TikTok user shared a stunned video revealing Zara’s queue-jumping trick.
In a video viewed 348k times, @natalie_mcc said: “There was a massive queue for the changing rooms – and I thought, ‘I can’t be bothered waiting in that’.
“And someone said you can book a time slot in the changing rooms, so I have gone onto the app, booked a slot – and then it will say it’s available now – and tell you when there’s a slot available.
“Now I only jumped a massive queue and walked straight into the changing rooms to try stuff on – if you’ve got the app, do that!”
One person commented on her video: “You’ve just changed my life.”
Another wrote: “Noooo don’t tell anyone, there won’t be any slots left!!”
Someone else said: “Yes! Used this for ages. You are guaranteed to encounter some death stares from the girls who think your jumping the queue.”
Featured image: Unsplash
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Four North West towns named among Britain’s top 10 seaside ‘property hotspots’ for 2026
Emily Sergeant
Four North West towns have been named among Britain’s top 10 ‘property hotspots’ by the sea for 2026.
You may already be familiar that, every year, leading property listing website Rightmove takes a look at all the cities, towns, and residential areas across the UK where house prices saw a significant hike on average last year, and puts together a top 10 list.
The ‘hotspot’ table is made up of a variety of locations where prices rose the most, when compared to the end of the year prior.
But now, they’ve done a special seaside version too.
Of course, “Manchester‘s got everything except a beach” so it won’t come as a surprise that no Greater Manchester towns are featured on this list, but that isn’t the case for the rest of the North West though, as Merseyside and Cumbria are well represented.
In fact, it’s actually the North West that’s taken the top spot, as Bootle in Merseyside has been named Britain’s top seaside house price hotspot, with asking prices having risen 11% in the past year alone, and that’s even with an average house price still way below the national average at £141,680.
Four North West towns have been named among Britain’s top 10 seaside ‘property hotspots’ for 2026 / Credit: James Feaver | Gabe Fender (via Unsplash)
Second place can be found just 10 minutes further up the coast in the town of Crosby, where the average asking prices are up 9% compared to last year, reaching £330,900.
Wallasey comes in at sixth place on the list, with house prices rising 7% to £200,753 on average, while Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria ranks at number nine with house prices increasing 6% to an average of £185,169.
Rightmove says the data shows that coastal living remains ‘relatively accessible’ in several areas, with nine of the top 10 fastest growing seaside locations still priced below the national average, and across more than 100 coastal areas analysed, more than 80% also have an average asking price below the national average (£378,304).
“The fastest-growing seaside markets this year show that demand for coastal homes in many areas remains resilient, even as overall price growth across the UK stays more modest,” commented Colleen Babcock, who is Rightmove’s property expert.
“While some locations are seeing strong price increases, there are still many areas where living by the sea is more affordable, giving buyers a wider range of options depending on their budget.”
Featured Image – Mitchel Orr (via Unsplash)
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Lottery Winners help debut new hometown anthem ‘Song For Leigh’ at massive stadium gig
Danny Jones
Indie pop favourites Lottery Winners smashed their first-ever solo stadium show at Leigh Sports Village at the end of May, and they also helped debut a dedicated hometown anthem for the town.
One of several current stars coming from in and around the Wigan music scene, it’s been a big few years for the Greater Manchester band, and their biggest-ever headline show on Saturday was yet more proof of just how much they’ve achieved in their career thus far.
That being said, however, this lot will never, EVER forget where they’ve been and, most importantly, where they come from.
You’ll find no better example of that than their sold-out LSV gig, which saw multiple celebrations of their local area, than one particular moment…
Posting on social media in the aftermath of the landmark live performance for the four-piece, frontman Thom Rylance wrote: “Little old Leigh, I haven’t slept a wink. I’m not sure I ever will again. I’ve never felt such a powerful punch of love hit me like that before, and I’m not even sure what to do with it all.
“Thanks isn’t enough, but let’s start there. Thank you for carrying us all this way. Thank you for making us feel special. Thank you for making all of this feel proper. Thank you to the grown-ups who trusted us with such a mammoth thing. Absolutely stupid that you let us do that, but I hope we made you proud.
“The feeling I get from looking across and seeing my best mates on the planet literally living their dream, in full HD, makes me so happy I could burst into bubbles. And thank you to Leigh. Our home. Our people. Nobody does it better. Last night was proof that ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things.”
But as mentioned, perhaps the most wholesome part of the entire event was when they aired a brand-new tune created by Spirix Collective – a group of local musicians, dancers, and all-round creatives based in the heart of Leigh. Here’s what they’ve made:
What a lovely thing for everyone tied to this place.
Produced partly in an effort as part of the historic Lancashire county village’s bid to become the UK’s next first Town of Culture, it’s a track created on behalf not just of Leigh itself but to further help shine a light on the often criminally-overlooked borough of Wigan.
As for natives themselves, they signed off the milestone by adding in the caption: “Lottery Winners are massive. KOKO [Keep on keeping on].”
It’s fair to say that after seeing some of the scenes from over the weekend, we tend to agree.
Who was there on the night and, whether you were lucky enough to be or not, what do you make of the ‘Song For Leigh’ now you’ve heard it?
Daisy Jackson -
29th July 2022 
