As someone who is used to great outlet shopping in North America, I was pleasantly surprised by the London Designer Outlet in Wembley. Opened at the end of 2013, the centre has a decent range of brands. Stores such as Gap, Nike, Asics, Bhavi Beauty, M&S and Superdry offer their wares at proper discount prices. While not “designer” per se, they are top quality brands—we’ll leave the designer duds to Bicester Village, which seems to charge high prices for an outlet destination.
Open spaces, cafes and what looks like a soon-to-open kids’ zone will hopefully mean you can drop and shop. I popped in on a weekday afternoon and the centre wasn’t busy—apparently on the weekends things ramp up. There are ample restaurants to choose from for a coffee or a quick nibble, including Handmade Burger Co. and Wagamama. The multistorey car park beside the centre means you don’t need to worry about finding a spot. There are some vacant storefronts so keep an eye out for new additions—rumour has it Reiss might be setting up shop.
On a recent trip to London Designer Outlet some bargain finds included Ray Ban sunglasses at £80 (regular high street price: £120), Nike trainers for £35, Gap clothing for my daughter and a couple pieces for me at about £9 each, with an additional 30 percent off at the till. Here’s an extra Gap tip: sign up to their newsletter and receive further discounts to their already marked down prices. The latest email included an additional 50 percent off. Now that’s a bargain.
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