Drake’s is moving their factory this week to a larger location, and with it, they’re closing their current factory and it’s accompanying factory store. For years now, bargain hunters have known that if you want some of the best prices for British menswear, you have to go to a factory store. Companies that own their factories, such as Drake’s and Edward Green, often have small retail operations located next to their factory, where they offload old season items at heavily discounted prices. Of course, the trade-off is that you have to go there — which can be cost-prohibitive if you’re located outside of the country.
Since Drake’s is closing their current factory store, they’re offloading some of their items online at a new webshop called Drake’s Archive. The online shop will be open for a limited time from Thursday, October 1st until Sunday, October 4th. Discounts will be as deep as 70% off. Note that this schedule runs accoring to Greenwich Mean Time (0:01 Thursday 1st October – 23:59 Sunday 4th October GMT). Depending on where you live, you’ll have to convert the times, so plan accordingly.
We assume that factory store purchases are final sale, so double-check measurements. In the past, I’ve found that some of Drake’s knitwear runs small. If a sweater says it’s a size 42, that may mean the sweater itself measures 42″ around the chest, not that it’s intended for a person with a 42″ chest (I’m a size 38 in the chest and wear sweaters that are 42″ around). Although, this may not be true of all of their knits (which is why you want to double-check measurements). If you’re worried about sizing, there’s always Drake’s stellar collection of accessories, such as their ties, pocket squares, and scarves. Those are the types of items where I think the company really shines.
