Kildare Village Outlet Shopping Centre

JP Liz V1

How to get to from Cork or Dublin, not driving, is it better to stay in Dublin and get a train or bus? Any suggestions of routes, hotels, transport etc., greatly appreciated please

bluestrattos

https://boards.ie/discussion/2058199155/kildare-village-outlet-shopping-centre

I don't know about hotels, but Kildare village have a shuttle that come and go from Kildare train station to Kildare Village, so you could get a train from Cork to Kildare (but I think is not direct)

The other option is DublinCoach, as they've a stop outside Kildare Village.

You could stay in Dublin (more options regarding accommodation) and get bus or train

Badly Drunk Boy

You could get the train to Kildare town and stay in the Silken Thomas hotel (or one of the other few places neafrby). Take in a visit to the National Stud and the Japanese Gardens while you're there. The Japanese Gardens are beautiful, especially in this weather.

Darc19

Silken Thomas for rooms https://silkenthomas.com/sleep/

or Kildare House hotel https://www.kildarehousehotel.ie/

Both just a few minutes walk from the train station and a few minutes walk from the outlet shopping.

Train will be the quickest journey

2011abc

Its really NOT that good .Unless meeting someone there or going elsewhere near by as well Id be gutted if this was what I spent a fortune on a train ticket etc to see

JP Liz V1

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117633992#Comment_117633992

Kildare Village Outlet?

2011abc

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117634917#Comment_117634917

Yes its really not that good . Needless to say its expensive .'Designer' labels that you need to scour through to find anything remotely a bargain .The italian restaurant was best thing about it and thats only dine out now I presume.Good kids playground shut too I guess...Car parking generally crammed too. Its 90% clothes and anything else is even more overpriced than the average stuff in there eg Le Creuset french kitchenware ...you might get a coaster under 20 euro

Outkast_IRE

Yeah we didnt find it great up there to be honest. They claim its all designer clothes but the reality is most of the gear is specifically made for the outlets you wont find it on the racks in Brown Thomas or similar.

We drove up and its speaks volumes when i say i thought the best shop up there was the Le Crueset shop.

Darc19

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117640933#Comment_117640933

There are EU regulations regarding outlet stores.

The items must be from previous collections and material used must match the quality on the original item

Items made specifically for outlets must be marked as such

Items that are samples, must be marked as such.

Where brands make saving is design costs (already accounted for in the original season), packaging, marketing, retailer rebates, retail returns). This easily allows for min 30% off and allows for constant extra discounts.

in the USA its different. There are no regulations about quality and entire ranges are made specifically for outlets stores. You will know the items when you see "compare at $" or rrp on items that are not available elsewhere. Some brands have moved their entire business to outlet retailing.

The biggest offender is not outlets - its TK Maxx. Many of the so-called brand names they have are their own brand. The rrp's on many items are inflated or at the highest price they can locate in any market. Even if it is a brand, it may have been made specifically for TK maxx and the quality would be substandard, yet they will still state the full rrp of the original article. Channel 4 did a programme on it and nothing has changed since https://www.channel4.com/press/news/c4-dispatches-unwraps-concerns-about-pricing-and-labelling-tk-maxx

So it always best to decide what price an item is worth to you - if the tag matches that or is lower, then buy it. but don't believe rrp's that cannot be verified independently. (Tesco "half price wine" offers are a classic example of a rrp scam)

Icsics

I agree, Kildare village is an expensive outing. I found Nike ok for kids but bought nothing for myself. Actually found the outlet in Banbridge much better if that’s an option for u

bigmac3

I like it, you need to have every discount going for it to be good value though. I’ve found in the last 5 years, the prices have sky rocketed.

Outkast_IRE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117711646#Comment_117711646

Whilst I have no doubt the items are part of collections . They are not collections alot of normal high street stores carry normally. They are items you may find on their online stores or Amazon mostly .

A great example is the north face store . They have 40 colours of the most basic fleeces but don't carry alot of the higher end material garments you might see on the high street. Nothing wrong with that but I don't think it's fair to say it's just last season's stuff , it's very particular items from last season's stuff. That mostly you won't see on the high street.

Darc19

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117712527#Comment_117712527

I didn't say last season. It's "previous seasons".

Some of the Ralph Lauren shirts are from 10-15 years ago.

Timberland however seem to have more recent designs and yes North Face (same company as Timberland) don't carry the range you'd normally see - but if you are lucky they have non range samples. These are designs they introduce to retailers but don't go to production and you can find a gem. (Helps if you live close by)

I would say most stores use designs from 1-5 years in the past

mloc123

any time I have driven the 25 minutes to Kildare village outlet I have been disappointed... can't imagine making a trip of it

tamara25

I know this is an old discussion but has anyone been up there recently for shopping? Is it worthwhile? Is it mostly high end shops up there?

ec18

no it's not worth the trip

Sean Seoighe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119359719#Comment_119359719

You can find the list of the stores on their website https://www.thebicestercollection.com/kildare-village/en/brands

L1011

Just remember that an outlet store for a brand may have nothing at all that you want to buy, even if you buy from that brand. Rarely ever bought anything on trips to KV.