SimonC
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I hope the OP doesn't mind me stealing his thread.
I'm sat in the White Elephant pub just around the corner from the John Lobb factory, having visited the following factory shops:
Church's - turn left out of the station across tge railway bridge, and the large factory is a couple of hundred yards down on your left.
The factory shop is a small room accessed directly from the street. The stock levels seemed good, with a mix of what must be very slight seconds and special orders. Pricing is around half retail so 175ish, with some true sample and lightly damaged stock starting at 75 pounds.
I'll be frank and state that the shop was a disappointment for me - I'm used to visiting Bicester Village where they have even more stock, and the prices are slightly keener - with the VIP discount card I generally pay 135 pounds.
Moving on and through town, I visited Trickers. This was a wood-panelled room in the heart of the factory. I have a soft spot for Trickers shoes, and they had some lovely shoes, but it really is sample / seconds stock, so there was nothing I liked in my size. Prices were 150-185, which is very fair but notably no lower than from their eBay shop which came as a small surprise.
Third on the list was John Lobb. I knew to expect high prices here, and that was the case. Shoes range from 470-775, which just isn't the sort of pricing I'd expect if you're willing to venture to the outskirts of an industrial town 70 miles from London. Nice to have a look at what they had, but I wasn't tempted by the prices.
So far, I'd probably not return - Bicester does well to combine reasonably-priced shoes with other clothing of interest. The prospect of a wider selection of makers seems offset by the time to travel here, and I'd suggest no-one should underestimate the deals to be obtained in B&S and eBay.
You'll have to wait for the final installment because Crockett and Jones don't open until 2pm....
directly from the street
I'm sat in the White Elephant pub just around the corner from the John Lobb factory, having visited the following factory shops:
Church's - turn left out of the station across tge railway bridge, and the large factory is a couple of hundred yards down on your left.
The factory shop is a small room accessed directly from the street. The stock levels seemed good, with a mix of what must be very slight seconds and special orders. Pricing is around half retail so 175ish, with some true sample and lightly damaged stock starting at 75 pounds.
I'll be frank and state that the shop was a disappointment for me - I'm used to visiting Bicester Village where they have even more stock, and the prices are slightly keener - with the VIP discount card I generally pay 135 pounds.
Moving on and through town, I visited Trickers. This was a wood-panelled room in the heart of the factory. I have a soft spot for Trickers shoes, and they had some lovely shoes, but it really is sample / seconds stock, so there was nothing I liked in my size. Prices were 150-185, which is very fair but notably no lower than from their eBay shop which came as a small surprise.
Third on the list was John Lobb. I knew to expect high prices here, and that was the case. Shoes range from 470-775, which just isn't the sort of pricing I'd expect if you're willing to venture to the outskirts of an industrial town 70 miles from London. Nice to have a look at what they had, but I wasn't tempted by the prices.
So far, I'd probably not return - Bicester does well to combine reasonably-priced shoes with other clothing of interest. The prospect of a wider selection of makers seems offset by the time to travel here, and I'd suggest no-one should underestimate the deals to be obtained in B&S and eBay.
You'll have to wait for the final installment because Crockett and Jones don't open until 2pm....
directly from the street