I'm an avid internet shopper, I hate poor service and will report it on here whenever possible! Alwa...
I'm an avid internet shopper, I hate poor service and will report it on here whenever possible! Always on the lookout for a bargain but I like to find unusual stuff to buy too.
Member since:07.06.2001
Reviews:13
Members who trust:10
INTRODUCTION
I had been looking for a new watch for a long time and had seen one I liked, but it was out of my price range. Then my parents gave me a guide to Bicester (pronounced ‘Bister’) Village. I had heard of it but had never been. On studying the guide, I saw that TAG Heuer had a shop there and decided some serious retail therapy was in order.
BICESTER WHAT?
Bicester Village is a retail outlet, where many designer and high street brands have shops selling end of lines etc at discounted prices. Discounts tend to be in the range 30% - 60% over usual prices. There are a number of these outlets around the country, but Bicester seems to have the best range of shops. I went in mid January, when some shops had extra offers on. The more I spent, the more I saved. Brilliant!
ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET?
Bicester is situated near Oxford, 2 miles from junction 9 of the M40 and is well sign posted. The 60 mile journey from Leicester took me an hour by car. There is plenty of free car parking, I went mid-week arriving at around 10.30am, and the car park was less than ½ full. From Thursday to Sunday there is a free bus service from Bicester North railway station.
Opening hours are 10am to 6pm including Sundays and most bank holidays.
WHAT IS THERE?
I won’t list all the shops (there are over 80), just a few to whet your appetite. A small list can be seen at www.bicestervillage.com. When you arrive it is worth getting a free guide from the tourist information office that shows you where everything is.
Most are clothes shops catering for men, women & children, including Burberry, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Valentino and Paul Smith. There are also shops selling shoes, underwear, cosmetics, fragrances, books, herbs & spices, sportswear, luggage, jewellery, cutlery, toys, candles, china, crystal and linen.
Should you need to be fed and watered, there is Prêt a Manger, Starbucks and a couple of stalls selling snacks and sweets. These are the only places not offering discounts!
DID YOU BUY ANYTHING?
Oh yes! I decided the best approach was to look in all the shops I was interested in before buying anything, to avoid a major overspend. Having done so, my flexible friend and I headed for Timberland, where I kicked off with a fleece reduced from £80 to £34. Then onto Aquascutum where I bought 3 silk ties reduced from £45 to £29 each. For January they were 3 for the price of 2, so £135 worth of ties cost me £58.
Next was Tommy Hilfiger, who also had a January offer – buy 4 items and get the cheapest free - I didn’t need a second invitation! I got a fleece, 2 Oxford shirts and a polo shirt for £100, down from an original total of £210. I then visited Playtime Toys where a Hot Wheels 1/18 scale F1 Williams cost me £15 – the same one was advertised in that week’s Autosport magazine for £40.
Finally, to the original reason for this retail odyssey: the TAG Heuer shop. It didn’t take long to choose as they had the exact watch that I wanted. This was my best saving of the day – a massive £440 off the price I had seen it at in a Leicester Jewellers.
SMOKING!
With my credit card approaching meltdown, I decided to call it a day. I had an excellent time – I got the watch I had wanted for ages and a load of designer clothes all for less than the watch would cost from a high street jeweller. Total savings: £698 (44.6%).
THE END
One thing that struck me about Bicester, was how friendly, polite and helpful the staff in all the shops were. There are also clean toilets, baby changing facilities, cash points and a children’s playground. Everything is on one level so wheelchair access isn’t a problem either, although the space between rails in some shops is a bit tight.
I know distance may probably prevent a lot of you from visiting, and others may still think it is a bit on the expensive side. But if you have an eye for a bargain and are looking for offline shopping heaven, I have found it and it’s at Bicester.
Thanks for reading.
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Thinking of moving to Bicester, so this review was really helpful, lots of useful info. Thanks for that, Sal x
phil2001 09.01.2004 22:29
I've been to McArthurGlen retail parks which are similar, good review mate!
moose 17.02.2003 22:33
I used to live in Banbury which isn't that far away but can you believe that I never went there!!! I have been to the Designer Village near Cardiff though and that was pretty good. LOL @ your trip to Playtime Toys!!!! Plus you never told us the price of your very expensive watch!!! (How many weeks would I need to work in order to afford one???!!). VH op, maybe one day I will pop by as it sounds better than the Cardiff one.
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Advantages: Plenty of designer labels at reduced prices, free parking, makes a change from the High Street Disadvantages: Can get very busy, not as cheap as you might hope
Advantages: Plenty of designer labels at reduced prices, free parking, makes a change from the High Street Disadvantages: Can get very busy, not as cheap as you might hope
Dec 24th, 2002
very helpful by (100%):
