Get best bargains at factory outlets

May 17, 2007

SHOPPING at factory outlets means buying genuine products at give-away prices. Most manufacturers’ shops welcome both wholesale and retail buyers. <br>

By Titus Serunjogi

SHOPPING at factory outlets means buying genuine products at give-away prices. Most manufacturers’ shops welcome both wholesale and retail buyers.

Therefore, anyone can buy mattresses, fruit juice, blankets, furniture, cement and cosmetics for up to sh10,000 less than they cost at retail shops.

The Reco Industries outlet on Nkrumah Road has all that a family will ever need at meals. It stocks more than a dozen organic products including coffee, sweets, peanut butter, honey, marmalade and salad dressings.

Here, a jar of passion fruit concentrate costs sh5,300 compared with sh6,000 in supermarkets. The peanut butter that goes for sh4,000 in supermarkets only costs sh3,500 at the factory outlet.

You would pay sh1,200 more by buying a 540g ketchup from elsewhere than at the manufacturers’ shop.
Of course, you would need to shop for a variety of items at once to get bigger discounts.

The Mukwano factory outlet on Old Port Bell Road sells plastic chairs for sh12,300 a piece. The same go for sh15,000 a piece in Kikuubo.

No one else appreciates factory outlets better than people who are shopping for building sites. Cement costs a little less at the Hima outlet than at ‘hardware’ shops. You could save a lot if you shopped all the necessary cement at one go. Clay tiles are rarely sold anywhere else, but the factory.

Tile Centre, the factory outlet for SAJ Ceramics sells kitchen and bathroom tiles at sh22,000 per square metre, whereas Nakasero retailers sell the same brand for sh30,000 per square metre.

If the shopper does not know how to haggle, then retailers can dupe him to pay much more.
Remember, factory outlets do not tolerate buyers who bargain. Haggling at a factory outlet is strictly out and for a good reason.

For example, Nabugabo Road dealers sell Simba Blankets at sh40,000. The factory outlet on Old Port Bell Road sells the same blankets at sh35,000 a piece.
At VitaFoam factory outlet on Jinja Road, you can save up to sh12,000 on a mattress.

One will be attended to, even if one is buying only one mattress.
You will get the best bargain at the Dairy Corporation outlet. It does not matter whether you are buying cheese, yoghurt and milk. It will be better than buying from the shop in the suburbs.

However, factory outlets have less of the ambience and customer care that supermarkets offer.

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