The ‘January Sales’ in Britain traditionally used to begin after Christmas, but for many years the sales have sneakily started to happen before 25 December, with many reductions available from the middle of the month. From department stores to outlet villages, there are plenty of places to source bargain treasures to
take home from your trip in Britain
Though the biggest bargains go fast, the sales tend to last through the month of January and occasionally into February with the shops at their busiest immediately after Christmas. Although you can get many of the same discounts online, the experience of
‘January Sales’ has to be seen to be believed.
fictoria Quarter Shopping cade, Lee JANUARY FEBRUARY 201321″
The Victoria Quarter in Leeds is oneof the Uk’s most beautiful shopping centres
The hardier shoppers actually set up camp outside their favourite stores to ensure they are the first in line to snag bargain.
Sometimes, they can camp out up to few days before the sales actually start just to be among the early ones to pass through their favourite stores! In Oxford Street, you can easily see queues forming outside shops ahead of pre-dawn openings. And yes, some shops do open at special times just to celebrate the whole shopping season!
The most famous post-Christmas sale is at Harrods, the iconic Knightsbridge department store where superb reductions make designer-wear slightly more accessible to the masses. Even if you give the sprawling floors of fashion miss, there’s still the massive food hall and the large toy area that resembles more like an adult playroom, both of which could give you run for your money,
04 The entrance to Harrods 05 Bicester Village. The Knightsbridge store is also well known for its elaborately crafted displays, making window shopping just as fun as buying This Christmas, Harrods collaborated with top designers to celebrate Disney’s iconic princesses with glamorously re-imagined outfits by internationally-known designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Versace and Elie Saab. You may still catch glimpse of your favourite Disney princess whether it Mulan, Pocahontas, Rapunzel, Snow White or Tiana, And, with this being bargain season, look out for bespoke and limited edition items such as Cinderella slippers for grown-ups and little princesses. As well as Knightsbridge for high-end wear, the main shopping hubs of Oxford and Regent Street thrive during the sales, with shops like Selfridges, House of Fraser and Marks Spencer offering good reductions. For teen and tweens, they’ll love the flagship Topshop on Oxford Circus, with styles and accessories catered to the budding fashionista But why limit your shopping just to London? The north of England is home to some serious style cities. Leeds’s Victoria Quarter is shopping centre housed in Grade II listed building, with over 70 leading brands including the best of British: Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood, Reiss and Mulberry. Birmingham’s Bullring is architecturally striking if you can see past the attractive discounts to appreciate it
the experience of ‘January Sales’ has to be seen to be believed.
06 Westfield 07 Regent Street shoppers.
08 West End VIP Day, Oxford Street
09 Find great bargains at the UK sales 10 Burlington Arcade,
Piccadilly UL Aquirky Union Jack shoe
Up in Scotland, Glasgow is known as the style capital, with high street stores offering big discounts, designer-wear in the Merchant City and hidden independent boutiques in the West End for something bit different. Down in Wales, the relatively new St David’s Shopping Centre in Cardiff is home to some fantastic brands, with lots of unique one-off boutiques to explore in the nearby historic arcades. Finally, there’s Bicester Village, just 60 minutes outside London. great place for snagging bargain any time of the year, this shopping outlet just outside Oxfordshire is label lover and bargain lover’s dream.
Many labels, many of them British icons (Temperley, Mulberry, Anya Hindmarch, Fred Perry), are available at slashed prices and, as the name suggests, the shopping ambience is akin to ‘village’ rather than mall, making day outing so much pleasant Savvy shoppers head over the week before Christmas, when the sales have already begun. Not many people know this, so the outlet is relatively peaceful just let’s keep the secret safe, shall we?. Royal Brunei Airlines flights to London operate daily from Bandar Seri Begawan and Dubai.
Source: MUHIBAH, the Royal Brunei Airlines in-flight magazine, 2013 Jan-Feb, pages 22-28. Text recovered from the scanned page by OCR and lightly corrected; spelling may differ from the printed edition.
