The people behind a weird fake village that's hugely popular with Chinese shoppers are bringing the concept to New York
- The company behind a bizarre luxury shopping 'village' in the UK is launching in New York.
- Bicester Village opened in 1995 in the UK and has since become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the UK. It is home to over 160 luxury brands selling clothes and accessories at discounted prices.
- Bicester Village isn't really a village, and no one lives there. It's a shopping village that would look more at home on the east coast of America than in England with rows of clapboard houses and neat flower beds - all of which serve as shop fronts for brands including Gucci, Balenciaga, and Versace.
- It now has 10 sister locations in cites across Europe and China.
- The chairman of the company behind this retail concept told Business of Fashion that work on its new location in New York will begin in the next year.
The company behind a bizarre fake village that's a hugely popular shopping destination for Chinese tourists in the UK is bringing the concept to the US.
The UK's Bicester Village claims it's almost as popular with Chinese tourists as Buckingham Palace - the official London residence of the Queen. It's run by Value Retail and has sister locations in Paris, Shanghai, and Brussels among other places.
Value Retail chairman Scott Malkin told Business of Fashion that work on the upcoming New York location will begin in the next year.
A spokesperson for parent company Value Retail did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for more details.
The company did not disclose more details on what its latest shopping village could look like or where it will be in its conversation with Business of Fashion.
The UK was the first place to host this faux village concept in the outskirts of a town called Bicester, which is about 45 minutes from London by train. Since it launched in 1995, it has quickly become one of the most popular tourist attractions in England, reportedly becoming the second most-visited destination by Chinese tourists there.
Despite its name, it doesn't look anything like an English village. In fact, the immaculate rows of clapboard houses and manicured flower beds look more like something you'd see on the east coast of America.
Today, the UK complex has over 160 brands including Gucci, Balenciaga, Versace, and Valentino, selling discounted clothing and accessories, which are usually from the previous season.
Value Retail told Business of Fashion that it is able to attract such high-end designers by promoting its villages as luxury destinations rather than outlet malls.
Rather than charging a monthly rent, Value Retail takes a royalty on sales and is actively involved in marketing and managing the experience in each store via a team of merchandising experts dedicated to each Village. These merchants help brands with promotions, in-store presentations, and window displays, amongst other things.
"We have the freedom to invest back into our villages and that allows us to reinvent every single one of them in a very curated experience," Value Retail's global chief merchant Desirée Bollier told Business of Fashion.
Bollier is hoping this will put it ahead of some of the luxury players in New York.
"And that reinvention - I didn't see that in New York," she told Business of Fashion. "There is really a lack of investment into memorable experiences when you go into, for instance, Barneys. Clearly, they have taken the customer for granted and you can't, you have to reinvent the experience. It can't remain stale. It has to be a theatre."