Good deal on outdoor & work clothes

mitzimog

Barbour has a great factory store (not a phony "factory outlet"--you bargain hunters know what I mean there--but a shop attached to their factory) at Bede Industrial Estate near Jarrow. We're not the LandRover/obnoxiously twee suburbanites who you might identify with Barbour jackets, rather we're "mature students" on a tiny budget, but we have become regular visitors. Not only do they have great deals on stuff that you already know this company makes (famous outdoors wear) but we've picked up terrific deals on well-made wool jumpers and trousers, suitable for wearing to work, plain cotton t-shirts, and other useful basics. That's "deals" as in £10 for a wool jumper that is so well-made it will last a lifetime, and that was made just next door, not by enslaved children far away. Not the kind of crap you pick up at shops like Primark, where it's "cheap" in more than one way. They also sometimes have fabric, backpacks, whatever their design dept. is working on I should think--samples etc. Nice, helpful staff too, and they will fix or replace items that turn out to have flaws.
And no, I don't work for Barbour.

mjenkings

I can recommend this store wholeheartedly. This is a genuine factory outlet, selling top quality kit.

It is fairly close to the Tyne Tunnel entrance (south side), so if you are passing by any time it is worth a call.

I have found that it is worth paying regular visits as you never know what is going to turn up.