Clothes shopping: does buying from outlet stores really save you cash?
“Sale: up to 60%!”, “Buy three clearance items and receive 30% off” – every shop window lining the pedestrianised boulevards and manicured flower boxes of Ashford Designer Outlet in Kent promises hefty discounts.
On a sunny afternoon in August, people are out searching for bargains on everything from school shoes and winter coats to Marks & Spencer underwear and cut-price wedding dresses.
As the cost of living crisis bites, more and more households are turning to charity shops and secondhand for unavoidable and luxury wardrobe items but there has also been an explosion in popularity for factory outlet shopping centres – AKA designer outlet villages – that offer year-round sales.
There are 37 big designer outlet centres in the UK, which between them racked up an estimated 111m visits during 2021, according to the outlet specialist Ken Gunn Consulting. Gunn says they are outperforming the high street, with sales growing at 10 times the rate of traditional retail between 2008 and 2019.
“Call it the Aldi effect,” says Tom Whittington, the director of commercial research at the property agent Savills. “There’s no longer any embarrassment about wanting, or needing, a discount.”
Some outlet shops offer massive reductions but are never going to be affordable – for example, Bicester Village’s Burberry trenches and Gucci tailoring.
But most outlets blend international labels such as Hugo Boss, Kate Spade or Coach with high street brands, and you can often pick up items for just a few pounds.
Levi’s, Adidas, Guess and Nike are the most common outlet brands in Europe, and in the UK they are joined by Mountain Warehouse, Clarks, M&S, Next and the Body Shop.
McArthurGlen, which runs 26 outlet villages in Europe, including the UK’s biggest,
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