Shop 'til you Drop! Cheshire Oaks a well designed Designer Outlet Village. (Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet village)

Member Name: GillMN

Product:	Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet village
Date:	25/11/08 (815 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of discounted goods placed conveniently close to one another.

Disadvantages: Too many to take in at once. Refreshments can be expensive.

Cheshire Oaks is situated as the name suggests, in Cheshire. It is easy to find and is well signposted from Chester and on the M53 motorway. Junction 10.
It is a vast area of shops built around generous car parks. There is a covered walkway all the way around so there is no need to get wet.

There are play areas for the kids if they get bored, and often a fairground ride or two. The Carousel is really attractive with all the lights twinkling and the traditional charging horses. (I'm a big kid myself really!)

There are a large number of parking spaces for people with disabilities and from what I could see, the shops were all accessible by ramp.

The toilets and baby changing facilities are plentiful and kept spotlessly clean.

There are quite a few places to eat scattered about the place and one main area where three or four cafe/restaurants are together under one roof. Oddly enough this area is decorated with bits of boats. This might be a nod in the direction of the nautical history of nearby Ellesmere Port.

The only area I noticed which is consistently untidy in the whole place is the ubiquitous MacDonalds. The area of gardens around the burger bar is often littered and scruffy. There don't seem to be enough bins in the area because those that were there were full.
The rest of the retail outlet and surrounding greenery is tidy and looks well tended.

As in all these places the big names in retailing are present. There are a great many designer label shops selling discounted and full priced goods. It is very easy to pick up a bargain here and it is a great place for Christmas shopping! I would say I divide my Christmas gift buying between Cheshire Oaks and the internet. It's less painful and aggravating that way!

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The opening hours are...

Monday to Friday 10am-8pm,

Saturday 10am-7pm, Sunday 10am*-5pm.

Bank Holidays - 10am to 6pm (excluding Christmas Day)

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This year you will be able to feast your eyes on Britain's Biggest Christmas Tree!!!
It will be wearing 100, 000 Lights and 80, 000 Baubles!
As it is going to be 94 foot tall I wonder what size fairy that will need and who gets to put it on the top! I hope there aren't any adventurous pussy cats about! Fancy rescuing one from a tree that big!

I am looking forward to seeing it when I go next week. They were just setting up the base last time I was there.

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The shops.

There are over 140 shops, so I am not going to list them all.
A few of my favourites are....

Nitya (see my review) (Please!!)

WH Smith (Loads of discounted books and stationery!)

Marks and Spencer. (Great bargains for end of range items.)

Monsoon (Usually looks as though a monsoon has swept through it but fabulous clothes and nicknacks!)

The Royal Doulton Shop. (Go in just to ogle the gorgeous china.)

The Cadbury Shop. (Chocoholic Heaven! and so cheap!!)

Jaeger. (I go in to laugh at the prices. £52.00 for a Tshirt?)

There are over 60 Fashion shops.

26 Home and gift shops.

The Kitchen shops are a must for me, to look at the latest kitchen gadgets and bits of design.

20 Shoe shops!

Music shops, Sport shops, (Have I convinced you that there are a lot of shops yet?)

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Having exhausted yourself with retail therapy you can stop off at any of about twenty different food outlets.

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Special Mention!
I am going to give a special mention to Millies Cookies who have been very kind in the past by allowing me to take left over muffins and sandwiches to the large groups of Chernobyl Kids when we have been looking after them. Many of the kids had never had muffins before and they were an instant success. A lot of stores just bin their leftovers at the end of the day instead of finding a good use for them. So thanks to Millies and staff!

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Group discounts.
If you decide to book for a large group of you to visit, it might be worth your while booking through the website and each member of the party will be given a 10% discount card to use on the day.

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On the way out of the Outlet village is a Sainsbury Supermarket and petrol station which is very handy. Opposite them are a couple more eating places, inluding TGIFriday. (I love their spare ribs but not their singing!)
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If you want to see a full list of shops and read more about the designer outlet, this is their website.

http://www.cheshireoaksdesigneroutlet.com
Telephone: +44 (0) 151 348 5600

Even if, like me, you don't like shopping that much, you will find something here to interest you.

Thanks for reading!

Summary: A great place for gift ideas.