It was a journey but it was worth it
Jeans, jackets, tops and bags ideal for everyday wear (Image: Ray Bonsall/Liverpool ECHO )
I don’t visit Marks and Spencer much for food shopping but I do think it is one of the most underrated places to buy clothes on the high street. From well fitting jeans to jackets and good quality office clothes, M&S clothes tend to be practical, easy to wear and nicely tailored.
With good quality basics stylish and elegant dresses and a great range of footwear, it’s normally worth having a browse. However, although price wise, M&S’ own brand clothes are reasonable, it has to be said they aren’t quite as budget friendly as other high street options.
Though I stand by a good quality basic as a good investment, my ears definitely prick up at the announcement of a sale.
So hearing that there was an M&S outlet less than an hour away from Liverpool was music to my ears.
The M&S Outlet store is based in the mammoth Cheshire Oaks shopping village which is home to over 145 other stores.
The journey takes 37 minutes by train from Liverpool Central to get to Ellesmere Port from which you need to take another 13 minute bus or walk for 33 minute. Once I arrived I realised that the journey had been well worth it and the deals once were so much better than I had imagined.
As I stepped in a friendly member of staff told me that all red sticker marked items were an extra 70% off – i.e. they were 70% off the already discounted price.
These stylish brown bags were just £10.35 as part of the 70% off deal (Image: Ray Bonsall/Liverpool ECHO )
This isn’t the case everyday but I like to think (fingers crossed) that this indicates the kind of offers that can be expected here throughout the year.
The shop is just one storey but still managed to fit in many the usual collections you would find in M&S including womenswear, menswear, children’s clothing, fragrances and a home section.
I first browsed the red sticker section where I found a perfect summery one-shoulder top in white and a striped pattern. It was already reduced to £6.50 but as it was part of the extra 70% offer it was in fact only £1.95.
The discounted top was £1.95 and also came in a black and white striped version (Image: Ray Bonsall/Liverpool ECHO )
I moved through finding jeans, cargo trousers, dresses, smart and casual tops, work wear, swimwear, underwear, jackets and shoes.
Some pairs of jeans and cargo trousers were also in the red sticker clearance and pairs could be picked up for as little as £5.85.
One of my best finds was a polka dot dress which I’ve seen many similar versions of online this year, reduced from £55 to £34.50.
The polka dot white dress in right on trend (Image: Ray Bonsall/Liverpool ECHO )
There was even had items from Jaeger and Nobody’s Child.
Over in the homeware section there were towels, candles and bedding options with home fragrances starting at £2.
The perfume section didn’t have a huge selection but some lovely smelling bottles could be found for £8..50.
The only disappointment was that the store didn’t stock all of the same styles as regular stores and I didn’t end up finding much that I wanted to buy as I usually do in M&S. For instance most of the jeans were tight fitting and didn’t have the usual range of wide leg options. Some other trousers were nice but lacked the range of colours as in a usual store. There were some lovely work wear options however.
The other downside was that a few items had a limited range of sizing. Though most sizes could be found in store the range of sizes wasn’t consistent across all products and some items couldn’t be found in a smaller than a 14 in the women’s section.
Overall, considering its wider shopping park location, its well worth a trip for the day to see what’s on offer.