ONE NATION PARIS IS THE LATEST LUXURY AND FASHION OUTLET IN THE FRENCH CAPITAL:
One Nation Paris is the French capital’s newest luxury and fashion outlet. In fact, it is the first outlet to open in the Paris region in the last 13 years. If you love shopping for designer fashion and goods, and you haven’t been to Paris for a few years, this outlet is worth checking out. We did, and we weren’t disappointed!
Easy to Get to
One Nation opened at the end of 2013 and we missed it the last time we were in Paris. The outlet is located in Les Clayes sous Bois, in the western suburbs of Paris. It is about 30 minutes from the centre of Paris and 10 minutes from the Château de Versailles.
The One Nation shuttle service offers a pickup either from the front of the Opera Garnier or the train station at the Château de Versailles. We booked the shuttle service online and chose the Opera Garnier pick-up. If you’re interested in visiting the Château de Versailles, they also offer a shuttle package that combines both destinations.
Reliable Shuttle Service
At 10.00 a.m. on the dot, our shuttle van pulled up in front of the Opera Garnier. It wasn’t the big black One Nation Paris bus we were expecting, but a smaller unmarked van. The driver identified himself by placing a One Nation banner next to the van. That did the trick as a group of people surged from the steps of the Opera Garnier towards the van and filled it. I was impressed – I didn’t realise that so many visitors already knew about One Nation.
The journey to Les Clayes sous Bois was a slow one and after 40 minutes of travel we arrived at the ticket office of the Château de Versailles. Most of the passengers in the van piled out here. They were obviously going to visit the Château de Versailles and only five of us carried on to the One Nation Outlet. Another 10 minutes of travel, and we were deposited at the entrance of the huge and impressive outlet complex.
Modern Complex
The design of the complex is modern and sophisticated and the layout is pleasing on the eye. The 112 or so designer stores are spread over two floors. Part of the ceiling is open, but you can still shop in inclement weather as all the shops are under cover.
Designer Fashion at Affordable Prices and More …
Anyone who’s shopped at one of the McArthur Glen or Chic Designer Outlets in Europe, will be familiar with what One Nation is about. The outlet offers 30% discount on current stock and up to 70% discount on previous seasons’ collections.
You can get a 10% VIP Card from the Welcome Desk if you’ve done tours with their partner companies. Our shuttle van driver very kindly got this card for us, however it was not too useful for us as the discount was mostly not applicable to sale items.
Brands, Brands and More Brands…
There are plenty of desirable name brands at One Nation. Even though we were selective with our shopping, we still managed to acquire quite a few items. Some of our great bargains included purchases from Rossignol, Desigual, Armani and Zadig & Voltaire.
Galeries LaFayette has a whole store at One Nation. We didn’t buy anything here as we had already spent a whole day shopping at their city store.
Energy to Shop
When you need to re-energize yourself, there are a few cafes, including Starbucks, where you can enjoy a coffee and snack. Chocolate lovers will be pleased to know that Godiva and Lindt have shops at One Nation. As I was watched the Godiva chocolatier dipping strawberries into melted chocolate, he kindly gave me one to taste. It was delicious of course.
Easy VAT Refund
Another great service from the One Nation Paris Outlet is the VAT refund facility they offer through Global Blue. As experienced shoppers will know, the minimum spend for VAT refund in France is Euros 175 in a single store. At One Nation, they will consolidate all your purchases from the different shops into the one VAT refund form. What this means is that even a small purchase for Euros 5 can be eligible for VAT refund. At the end of our shopping day, all we had to do was take all our receipts to the Welcome Desk and they prepared a consolidated VAT refund form for us. I liked this facility very much as we had done a bit of shopping. It certainly simplified the VAT refund claim for us.
Note: There are a few stores that do not participate in this as they are aligned with other VAT refund companies.
We shopped till the very last minute and when the time came, our shuttle driver was waiting to take us back to Paris. The drive back was much faster as we didn’t have to go to Versailles. We enjoyed our shopping day at One Nation, and the bargains we scored, and would certainly come back again. One Nation Paris is open 7/7 till 8 p.m.
Address:
One Nation Paris Outlet
1 rue du Président Kennedy
78340 Les Clayes sous Bois
www.onenation.fr
Jill says
Thanks! Your blog on PABLO was also very helpful.
Helen Page says
Thanks for the feedback Jill.
Kind regards,
Helen