Essex Shopping

Blake House Craft Centre

by allikat

The Blake House Craft Centre at Blake End is a lovely place to while away a few hours. A collection of stables and farm buildings around a grassy courtyard are now home to a selection of local arts and crafts shops. You can buy locally made home crafts here, as well as fabric, plants, furniture and jewellery and there is a restaurant/tea room as well. A lovely centre with a great atmosphere on the rural outskirts of Braintree. Well worth being included on a tour of villages such as Finchingfield, Gt Bardfield or Rayne, all of which are nearby.

Freeport retail village: Bargains galore!

by allikat

Freeport is not a shop - it's an open air shopping mall dedicated to designer factory outlets. There are heaps of stores here selling sportswear, kitchenware, shoes, jewellery, perfume and designer lable clothing all at factory discount prices. It's pretty popular, both with the locals and with visitors from out of town - there is a rail link here from London's Liverpool Street. Most of what is on sale here is either 'seconds' - meaning the goods are perfectly saleable but perhaps marked or damaged in some minor way and thus unable to be sold at the full retail price, or are end of line stock, sold off at reduced prices to make way for new lines in the main outlets, or in the case of clothing last season's wares.Personally I don't rate it for clothing but it's great for sportswear, lingerie, kitchen goods and homewares. I can recommend the outlets selling suitcases/backpacks. It's...

Braintree Designer Village: Discount Designer wear in Essex

by Muarrij

Central London like many capitals, is famous for its designer wear boutiques, but where do real Londoners shop for their designer labels like, Gucci, Versace, Polo, Armani, Prada and more at highly discounted prices? Braintree Designer Village in Essex is where! These are genuine stocks available at discounted prices for all. Gucci Handbads, Versace Suits, Armani Ties and Louis Vuitton shoes! But seriously, there are also local brands such as Wedgewood and Paul Smith, although you might find that everything is actually made and imported from China! Monday – Saturday: 10.00am - 6.00pmThursday ‘til 8pm - LATE NIGHT SHOPPINGSunday: 11.00am - 5.00pmBank Holidays: 10.00am - 6.00pm Around 50% off boutique prices, more or less. Sales season allows for uptp 70% off!

Lakeside and Bluewater

by doreenellen