Check your preconceptions at the door, writes Janice Breen Burns
In Nunawading, of all far-flung ‘burbs, the Brandsmart factory outlet is bucking an old iron myth that factory outlets are souless bargain barns for shoppers whose budgets are tight and tastes low– brow. The centre, which recently hitched the word “Premium” to its logo, hosted an utterly charming all-girly lunchette to preview its mega-milion dollar re-vamp and mount a marvellously shameless pitch for more, first-time fashion-savvy customers to come visit.
Bloggers and journalists were chauffered to the outlet in slick new FIATs. Tables were set with tulips and roses and ribbon-tied giftboxes so big we later staggered out under their weight. A dainty lunch was catered by some of the centre’s swanker-than-average new cafes and restaurants. Food and fashion were swivel points in the outlet’s not-so-delicately delivered media pitch: that you can shop, you can rest and eat (with baby and/or kidlets in tow if you have them), shop some more, book a table for early tea if you fancy, return to your safely parked car with your parcels (hundreds of extra spaces sorted in the re-vamp ensure it) and – voila! – that schlepp out to Nunawading should feel like a glamourous doddle worth doing again and again. And, this day, it certainly did.
“It’s got a community family feel here,” enthused Chelsea Thomas, the likeable young blogger, mum and specialty stylist commissioned by Brandsmart to spruik its charms. She is founder of the self explanatory blogsite, iheartbargains.com.au, and is pretty typical, she says, of the shoppers increasingly drawn to factory outlets because they slot so neatly – price and product-wise – between the booming online phenomenon and the struggling bricks-‘n-mortar high street shopping experience. “The best thing about Brandsmart; you can get exactly the same product that you can get on the high street or online, but for a massive discount,” Ms. Thomas says.
Can’t say fairer than that. Ms. Thomas explained there are some very modern advantages to shopping the Brandsmart concept that we may not have thought of before. Its typical timing of stock-drops, for example, four to six weeks behind mainstream retail stores, means fashion collections are racked more often in the climactic season, than in the less logical industry season. In a factory outlet, in other words, you get warm collections in winter, cool collections in summer. “If you’re willing to wait that little bit of time, it’s true, you get autumn in autumn like now,” says Ms. Thomas. “And you can save, for instance, with the likes of Sass & Bide or Oroton, 50 to 70 percent off the registered retail price.”
On our media lunch/launch day, autumn fashions that had swung unsold through one of the warmest recorded Melbourne summers, were being racked at Brandsmart on the city’s first coolish autumn day. “This is all autumn,” Ms Thomas said, with a wave across the racks of stores such as Charlie Brown, David Lawrence, Wittner, Cylk and Oroton. “It’s current season. This dress for instance, (her own, a bell-sleeved Charlie Brown snake print smasher with cinched waist and taper to the knees); it was $150, I got it for $69. I mean, it’s ridiculous; silly cheap. You’re mad NOT to shop.”
However. There is that unavoidable, inconvenient truth lurking in the Brandsmart wings: most stores don’t carry your full-bottle seasonal ranges. They’re more the frocky version of Swiss cheese including over-orders and slow-movers from their high street counterpart stores. It’s the nature and raison d’etre of all factory outlets but Ms Thomas shrugs at the idea that that could possibly be a problem for any adaptable shopper. And, aren’t we all? “My tips for shopping here are; be prepared to take a risk and to find something maybe slightly different to what you had in your head,” she says. “Be flexible and take a bit of time. Bargain shopping’s a bit of an adventure; it’s a day out, it’s fun but I’d also say, make a list of what you need before you come, because you WILL get distracted by all the bargains.”
Brandsmart’s re-vamp was a sophisticated ploy to blast the centre out of its souless bargain barn genre, and further into Ms. Thomas’s concept of shopping as a fun day out. Even its facade is nicer now, with its fancy, jagged pipeform, telescoped timber panelling and elegant iron tree sculpture. Inside, the typical barn-like volume of your average garden-variety factory outlet is still evident, but more careful fit-outs than usual among the partitioned shops (Cylk for instance, was just opening with blond timber floors and copper fittings) have added to the homier, more human scale of the place.
Media were torn from calamari salad, French bubbles and cupcakes for a guided tour of the stores including Ugg, Converse, Globalise, Cylk, Sass & Bide, Priceline, Royal Doulton, Oroton, and Baby Value in various stages of readiness for the four-day public re-launch scheduled May 2 to 5. The restaurants, fit-outs, parking, and a designer pram-parking and play area for kidlets was fair evidence that thought has gone into the needs of niche demographics in the target market. Some young mums in the media group were noticeably impressed.
Following our tour, and a quick visit to the Ugg shop for free boots, Ms. Thomas introduced three young women, each modelling bulls-eye on-trend ensembles she had cobbled together for a combined budget under $200 each. Including jewellery and shoes. One came in well short of $100 though, it has to be said, the model’s creamy prettiness contributed significantly to its chic. More ordinary mortals would be wise to rigidly adhere to Ms. Thomas’s earlier tips for shopping factory outlets.
Need, fit and quality should be non-negotiable criteria in any fashion sale before price, however heavily discounted, is even considered. Swear by that little axiom, and Nunawading might feel more destination of glamour than schlepp to you too!
****Next week is Brandsmart Premium’s official post-vamp public kick-off, from Thursday, May 2 until Sunday, May 5. Go to www.brandsmart.com.au for a full programme of offers and activities, especially for children and families.
