2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
Today we will discuss the benefits and disadvantages of shopping in outlets in and around Milan. Find out how best to get there and what you should pay special attention to. In order for you to be able to effectively spend time shopping and have full information about all the nuances of such a trip in advance, this article will be provided to your attention.
What are outlets? Their varieties
To make it clear to those who have not yet experienced this, an outlet is a special kind of shopping center that specializes in selling well-known brands at significant discounts.
Over time, unsold goods accumulate in shops and factories of manufacturers, which regularly arrive at outlet centers. There it is sold at huge discounts (up to 70%), so any buyer has a chance to buy clothes of a famous couturier, paying for it quite inexpensively.
Depending on what kind of products stores sell,they are divided into two types: outlet-factory or outlet-mel. The first sells stocks of goods accumulated in the factories of manufacturers, and the second sells unsold goods from boutiques or branded stores.
Milan: Serravalle Outlet
The Serravalle shopping center, famous throughout Europe, is located 108 km from Milan, towards Genoa, in the village of the same name.
This shopping area is spread over 32,000 m². It is a kind of town with a central square, decorated with a fountain, and numerous streets radiating from it, paved with paving stones. Pretty Ligurian-style houses adorned with ornamental plants house shops of the most famous brands.
There are more than 180 in total, not counting all kinds of cafes, restaurants and bars, playgrounds and parking for 3000 cars.
The Serravale Scrivia outlet is considered the largest in Europe. The developers of the project immediately took into account the fact that there are a huge number of world brands of lingerie and clothing in Milan, that is, it would be wiser to build the largest outlet in this area.
Outlet Features
As a rule, in the outlets of Milan and its suburbs, collections of past seasons are presented with the already mentioned discount, which ranges from 30 to 70%. And during the summer and winter sales, a fifty percent sale discount is added to the existing discount in the outlet. So thatluxury items, as you can see, can be purchased here at very attractive prices!
True, the peculiarities of the outlet include the fact that it is impossible to predict what assortment will be presented to you. The same disadvantages include a serious limitation in the choice of sizes. In Milan stores, preference is given to large sizes. This means that in most cases only 40 or 42 will remain on your lot.
As you can see, your shopping will most likely resemble hunting, where elementary luck will also play a significant role. But in this you will also find a kind of excitement that cannot be obtained by simply strolling imposingly through the boutiques.
Outlet democratic spirit
It is not only excitement and the possibility of buying super goods that attract visitors to the Serravalle Outlet or other Milanese stores of this type. Many people like them and that spirit of democracy that you will not find in boutiques.
Many of us simply do not dare to go, for example, to the Brioni boutique, just to try on a suit. Just the sight of important sellers who evaluate you from head to toe can scare away and deprive the average buyer of the desire to try on clothes. But in the outlets you can feel and try on these costumes, and at least sniff them - no one will look askance at you! But what a choice of brands: Dolce Gabbana, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Versachi and others offering shoes, luxury perfumes, accessories, and cosmetics. Eyes wide open!
More about outlet features
There is no special day for updating the assortment in Serravalle outlet stores or others like it. In each of them, goods are imported little by little, about once every three days. Some more often, some less. The assortment, by the way, depends not only on the brand, but also on the demand for its products. For example, tourists from Russia invariably sweep away Hugo Boss clothes, which entails the appearance of a new product in the store, though without discounts, because the so-called "fresh arrivals" outlets can sell without discounts even during sales.
The maximum quantity of goods and, accordingly, its best choice is achieved exactly at the beginning of the sales season, and the least of it remains in the third week after the opening of this season.
Serravalle Outlet: how to get there is not very expensive?
For those who get to the outlet by the Milan-Genoa train, you need to get off at the Arquata Scrivia stop. But we want to warn you right away that these trains run quite rarely, and you can get stuck at the station for a long time.
The bus from Milan to the outlet runs 2 times a day at 10.00 and 11.00 from Foro Bonaparte. And in the opposite direction there are three flights: at 17.00, 19.00 and at 20.00. For adults, such a trip will cost 25 euros, and for children over four years old - 10 euros. But everyone who was traveling with you on the bus is future visitors to the outlets, which means that you involuntarily find yourself in the very influx, because at the same timeseveral buses arrive.
A taxi ride is quite acceptable. It is usually 170 euros one way. But if there are four of you, then such expenses will justify themselves.
There are also companies providing transfer services to the outlet. Their cost, of course, is more expensive than a bus ride, but also cheaper than a taxi.
Benefits of going to the outlet by car
It's best to travel by car. You should only remember before going to the outlet "Serravalle" address: Via della Moda, 1, 15069 Serravalle Scrivia AL.
The cost of renting a car directly depends on the number of paid days. The longer the rental period, the cheaper it costs in one day. Renting a car for this period will cost you 60 euros. But if you travel with a company of 4-5 people, then the cost of the trip will be almost the same as that of a bus. Moreover, under such conditions, you can spend the whole day in the outlet.
By car, this shopping center can be reached from the A7 motorway "Milan-Genoa". Don't miss the Serravalle Scrivia exit! In addition, it is worth remembering to take a navigator with you, as the road junctions around Milan are quite complicated.
Outlet Reviews
As shoppers who visited outlets in Milan and its suburbs say, you won't see prices like those presented in these stores in Moscow! And why, for example, elicit reviews of the Serravalle outlet, if you can observe such a scene next to it: young parents, pulling their child out of the stroller,trying to shove all the day's purchases into it?..
But there is still ongoing discussion around Milan's outlets. Some say that these stores are just a dump of what they didn’t buy even during the sales period, which means that there can’t be anything worthy of attention there. In addition, they say, many goods there have defects received during the period of hanging and fitting in the boutique.
But their opponents confirm again and again that you cannot find a more gambling pastime, as a result of which you can get an interesting thing, and even at a low price. Which one is right is up to you!
So is it worth shopping at the outlet?
In the end, we can only say that a trip to the outlet "Serravalle" or any outlet in Milan will not leave you indifferent. With enough careful and patient viewing of the goods, you are sure to find yourself the owner of something special. These stores provide excellent opportunities for practical and stylish people. And it is not for nothing that they are becoming more and more popular every year.
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