Discount and Outlet Shops and Sales in France

There are a lot of discount and outlet shops in France and they’re easy to find. Discount outlets and malls are a growing business and you’ll find them all over the country.

The two main players in France are Marques Avenue and McArthur Glen.

Marques Avenue shops stock mid-priced, mid-range high street names, both national and international. Marques Avenue has 7 outlets in France. Names range from adidas, Benetton and Carroll to Descamps, Geox, Pierre Cardin and Zadig & Voltaire. The main website gives you all the labels they stock, though the locations vary in size so you will need to go to the links to the different Marques Avenue locations if you’re looking for a specific label.

30th St Moritz polo match in the snow Polo ~Ralph Lauren vs Cartier. Three players on ponies galloping through the snow with sticks raised — Always ahead of the game. Polo Ralph Lauren polo team at St Moritz Photo: Clément Bucco-Lechat (cc-by-sa)

McArthur Glen is one of the big global players, stocking the same names as Marques Avenue but also a few high end French and international designer names such as Polo Ralph Lauren. McArthur Glen offers a better experience with more sophisticated shops, restaurants and a nicer atmosphere.

McArthur Glen has outlets in Roubaix, Troyes in Champagne, and in Provence outside Marseille. A new centre is currently being built in Normandy near Giverny and is due to open in 2021.

More discount and outlet shopping near the main malls

You’ll find other individual factory stores near these two main outlets. So it’s worth doing some research before you visit. It’s a good idea to work out how much time you’ll need going from discount mall to outlet/factory store in the same location.

To discover those extra nearby discount and outlet shopping stores, enlarge the map above. You’ll see what’s on offer, addresses and more details.

The numbers in brackets after the locations below refer to the department number.

Discount and Outlet Shopping near Paris

Two girls with backs to us. One with red top and hat carrying a carrier bag over her shoulder withthe worlds La Vallee beside girl with dark hair looking at flowers — La Vallee Shopping

Just 35 minutes from central Paris and five minutes from Disney parks, La Vallée Village at Marne-la-Vallée (93), open daily from 10am to 8.30pm, has top luxury names, both French and international. You’ll find chains like Zadig & Voltaire as well as Paul Smith, Max Mara, Ferragamo, Sandro and a whole host of others. Plus all accessories. It’s part of the Bicester Village company in the UK.
How to get to La Vallée Village from central Paris
By bus: Book with the Shopping Express leaving from the Place des Pyramides twice a day.
By train: Take the RER train (line A) from Gare Montparnasse to Val d’Europe station

L’Ile Saint Denis, Ile de France (75)
Marques Avenue: This is one of the easiest to get to from central Paris and is large. It’s open Monday to Friday 10am to 7pm, Saturday from 10am to 8pm. You can get there by Metro Line 13 and a bus.

Aubergenville, Yvelines (78), north west of Paris
Marques Avenue. To get there it’s around 42 kms/26 miles by car taking around 55 minutes and 37 minutes by train from Gare d’Austerlitz with one simple change. Check out Google maps here.

Marques Avenue shopping mall in large building with brick surrounding a huge glass entrance with Marques Avenue sign in the middle — Marques Avenue in Corbeil-Essonnes Photo: Poudou99 CC-BY-SA-4.0

Corbeil-Essones is a southern suburb of Paris in Ile de France (75).
Marques Avenue. It’s around 42 kms/26 miles by car taking around 50 minutes and 45 minutes by train from Gare St Lazaire. Check out Google maps here.

Discount and Outlet Shopping outside Paris

North and Central France

Calais, Pas de Calais (62)
At Coquelles, the Calais Channel Outlet Store, open Monday to Saturday 10am-7pm, has 50 factory outlets from France and abroad. Shop here for names from Adidas to Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger to Tom Tailor.
Calais is well known as a major shopping centre for the Brits who either stock up on their way back home, or come for a day trip to shop at Cité Europe, open daily 9am-10.30pm.
How to get to the Calais Channel Outlet Store

Roubaix, a suburb of Lille, Nord (59), Hauts de France
Roubaix was historically at the centre of the textile industry of France, so it’s not surprising that factory shops opened here.
Try A L’Usine, open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm, and some Sundays. It stocks mid price French high street brands, many of them at the Galerie Lafayette outlet store.
How to get to A L’Usine

For more upmarket shopping, visit McArthur Glen which has 70 stores in its outlet in Roubaix.
How to get to Roubaix McArthur Glen

Troyes, Aube (10), Champagne
Another of the 3 McArthur Glen discount and outlet malls in France with over 100 stores.
How to get to Troyes McArthur Glen
There’s also a large Marques Avenue mall here.

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Long view of The Village - Le French Outlet discount mall in Lyon. Looking over grassy lawn to low rise, white attractive buildings ho — The Village – Le French Outlet in Lyon

Lyon, Rhône (69), Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Opened in 2019, The Village – Le French Outlet stocks 120 upmarket French high street names plus international names, at up to 70% discount. Located in Villefontaine, it’s built around water features and is another attractively designed outlet. You get extra discounts with the Lyon City Card. Eat at any of the excellent cafes/restaurants or splash out at the new Paul Bocuse restaurant Rendez-Vous (well, this is Lyon, France’s great gastronomic city). Shops open 10am-8pm; restaurants Monday to Saturday 10am-10pm.

Anneyron, Drôme (26)
Directly south of Lyon, the Lafuma outlet sells products from the group which includes Lafuma, Eider, Oxbow, Millet, Wonderbra, Aubade, Clark’s shoes. The emphasis here is on sports clothes, hiking shoes, mountaineering as well as sleeping bags, backpacks and accessories. Special clearance sales in April, August and December for 3 days. Open Mon-Sat 10am-6pm.

Romans-sur-Isère, Drôme (26), near Valence in the Rhône Valley.
There’s a big Marques Avenue outlet with brands such as Nike, Levi and Puma and Le Petit bateau.
The town is also known for its shoe makers who have banded together to make shoes for the Factory Show Store Made in Romans. You’ll find it in the Cité de la Chaussure. It’s large and has a factory attached which you can visit. And it’s next to the Tourist Office which is convenient.

Southern France

Long view of 3-storey buildings at Nailloux outlet village. Colonial style with greenery in front — Nailloux Outlet Village

Nailloux, Haute-Garonne (31), 20 minutes drive south of Toulouse
More than 150 brands in 90 shops at Nailloux, an upmarket mall. Names include Calvin Klein, and Tara Jarmon and luxury stores stock Christian Lacroix, Montana, Pierre Cardin and Arrow. There’s also a Galeries Lafayette outlet store here. It’s open Monday to Saturday 10am-7pm.

East France

Talange, Moselle (57), near Metz, Grand Est
There’s a Marques Avenue outlet featuring 66 brand-name outlet shops selling men’s, women’s and children’s wear and household goods. It’s a 10-minute drive from Metz.
There’s a Polo Ralph Lauren outlet and Levi store here also.

Factory Shops

You have to keep your eyes open for factory shops as they are not as widely known as, for instance, in Italy. Try asking at your local tourist office, but remember that factory shops will only be in or near big cities.

Here are just a few I’ve discovered.

Royal Limoges outlet store showing huge table of white Limoges china in the store — Royal Limoges outlet store Photo: Royal Limoges

Try the Limoges Magasin d’Usine for fine china. It’s open Monday to Saturday 10am-6pm and is part of the main Museum (well worth a visit it you’re interested in china). It’s at 54 rue Victor Duruy, 87000 Limoges.

Modern Gien ceramics looking down at teapot, cup and saucer and oblong plate in very pretty choinoiserie patterns — Modern Gien ceramics

More ceramics on sale at the Gien Faïence shop in the Loire Valley. It’s part of the museum at 78 Place de la Victoire, 45500 Gien.

Le Creuset cooking ware with red tomato shaped casserole on left and orange open pot with no lid of right — Le Creuset Photo: ptyx CC BY-SA 4.0

Every keen cook has at least one Le Creuset cast iron cooking pot. They’re very expensive and very heavy but they last forever and once you’ve cooked with one, you’re hooked. The original factory began in Fresnoy-le-Grand in north France in 1925 and manufacturing today is exactly the same.
The factory store is the place for end-of-season, overstock, etc. It’s at 880 rue Olivier Deguise, Fresnoy-Le-Grand (near St. Quentin and about a 2-hour drive from Calais), 02230 France. Tel: + 33 323 06 22 45. It’s open Tuesday to Saturday, 9.30am-12.30pm and 2pm to 6.45pm. The website I have included shows all the Le Creuset discount shops, many also at McArthur Glen and Marques Avenue outlets.
Every November there’s a special sale.

Rows of different patterned silk fabric hanging from rails with pattern books piled in front looking like old medieval parchment — Silk for Sale

At the Atelier de Soierie (Silk Trade Workshop) in Lyon (69) you can watch how silk has been made over the centuries, then shop for one-off items in silk from major French designers. It’s open Monday to Friday 9.30am-1pm & 2pm-6.30pm. Saturday 9am-1pm & 2pm-6pm and you must book. It’s at 33 rue Romarin, Lyon (a few metres from the place des Terreaux, near Hotel de Ville)

Repetto, Saint-Médard-D’Excideuil, Dordogne (24)
Repetto is famous for its ballet shoes. It then branched out to other styles like BB and Zizi shoes but remains the go-to place for many aspiring ballerina and fashionista. Its factory outlet store at Saint-Médard-D’Excideuil sells overstock items, last season’s styles, end-of-series articles and some with faults. Each year from October to December, there’s a special sale. It’s open Tuesday to Saturday 10.30am-6pm and is north east of Perigueux.

Sales in France

Front of shop with windows with Soldes signs and two people walking out with red carrier bags, in Paris — Sales in Paris © Paris Tourist Office Amélie Dupont

Sales in France are government regulated and controlled. Official winter sales usually start on the second Wednesday in January; summer sales normally start mid June and run until the end of July. But there are exceptions to this in six departments near the French border: Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle, Vosges, Landes and Pyrenees-Atlantiques.

Shops can also run special promotions at other times of the year. Keep an eye open for signs in shop windows advertising Promotion (deal) or Soldes exceptionnels (exceptional sales).