why has All Saints at Bicester Village closed?

[alltoomuchrightnow]

was hoping to go today and just had a quick look at their map and All Saints is gone! Why? Is there anything similar there now? I'm not into blatant designer labels or bling...

Yup, Bicester Village is def changing its offering slightly to cater more to the CHinese tourists.

RE the comment about Clarks, Clarks Village (mall and Clarks museum) is also a top attraction for Chinese tourists eager to see where their beloved shoe brand hails from. But Clarks have not produced shoes in the Uk since 2005, now they're mostly made in Indonesia, Vietnam and... China.

are White Company, Jack Wills, Puma and North Face still there?

White co was there when I went in october but to be honest, you get better discounts online.

There's a French Connection opened at the McArthur Glen Outlet in Swindon reasonably recently, maybe as a result of not being posh enough for BV?

I miss the old Bicester. Am nearer to Swindon now which is good.

I actually am staying (am between homes) fairly near the Galleria. Is it worth a visit? am not into sporty or too much label.. not 'showy' label if you see what you mean. I normally wear Topshop, All Saints, Dotty P, vintage, jewellery i like Lola Rose and unusual one off kinda stuff

i havent been to the galleria for years (used to live near there) and for a long time it was all very much sporty goods and they had next, bodyshop etc

Alltoomuch - I've been going to the Galleria off and on for about 15 years, and I get the impression they have fairly recently had a new manager, as it is definitely better than it used to be, when the Next shop was pretty much the highlight . There is Jaeger, Austin Reed, Ghost, Clarks, M&S, Calvin Klein underwear, The Body Shop, Gap, French Connection, TK Maxx, Le Creuset, some kitchen shops etc. Plus there are a few coffee shops and restaurants (Pizza Express, Nando's and similar) and a cinema. I pop in every now and then, very often leaving empty handed, but occasionally get a brilliant bargain, usually from Jaeger, Ghost or TK Maxx.

I would say it's worth going if it's not too much of a trek, but I wouldn't go too far out of my way. As with all outlet malls, the quality of the stock is completely unpredictable, so is completely hit and miss.

the french connection stuff is usually really good though (at Galleria) and the stock is really quick turnaround so you get current stuff cheaper than sale sometimes. also there is a massive big play thing for small children and the other day they had a little playgroup thing going was very sweet!

I think BV is much better, but yes, much more exoens

Expensive than it was. I wonder if its really worth running an outlet store now for cheaper clothes when you can get them all on the Internet. Of course thus is also true of designer but if I were a retailer I would pay more to secure physical shops for higher margin products.

if they have so many more chinese visitors i bet they don't realise that most of the stuff is made purely for the outlet stores and think they are buying high grader merchandise.

I must confess to finding Chinese people loving Clarks very amusing. What's next, BHS taking over China?

Saurus, it's only 20 mins for me. Is the Body Shop ALL outlet products? I remember when it first opened it was all full price there.
is that true, Southeastastra? that's pretty bad. Where did you find that out

I'm not sure about that southeast - i thought that was about tk maxx not eg, the mulberry outlet at bicester which to be fair is full of samples/seconds/older styles. But not stuff just made for the outlets.

what sort of prices does Mulberry start at at Bicester? for seconds/ samples

Last time I was there it was still quite a bit - only about £200 off a bag. A few years back I got some good bargains in anya hindmarch but they don't seem to be around any more.

But the staff are helpful in the stores if you phone and ask if they have a certain style in stock and how much it is.

The Body Shop has some outlet stuff and some full priced. But it has a discount system - if you buy 2 things, you get 20% off, 3 things it's 30% discount and 4 things 40%. I popped in today, only to TK Maxx tho, and the beauty section was absolutely decimated. I think it's probably worth a 20 minute drive.

Oblomov, same here, been going for years but after visit in early December never again. Luckily I was just passing because I would've been mightily pissed off if not. I bought a Kipling bag, had a coffee outside in the freezing cold as only place without a ridiculous queue, tramped miles back to my car and left feeling thoroughly depressed.
Facinating about the average spend.

Emma Bridgewater has closed also - maybe the rents are going up to attract only international stores?

Orla kiely closed a while ago too
They work on ave sales to determine rent
If income isn't driven they get resisted to a smaller unit then off!!