Taunton Leisure

[pwa]

I have recently ordered a new high end Rab jacket for my wife, from Taunton Leisure, and by doing so I reduced the cost by more than £80 from what I would have paid at our nearest Cotswold Outdoor shop in Cardiff. A Black Friday deal. I got the jacket, right size, right colour and in perfect order, less that 24hours after ordering online. That is astonishing, really. Postage was free/included. I'd never heard of Taunton Leisure before, but will look at them next time I want something outdoorsy.

[Bonzo Banana]

I think there are more than 1 shop but I often walk in to town from the Taunton park and ride just as its a nice walk and pass the shop. It's the nicest shop in a fairly rough area mainly takeaways. I feel this might be the shop that processes online orders because of the doors on the left and its an area with low rent but low footfall too. Some retail operations are better at controlling their costs so while they may not be able to buy big quantities to get the best trade prices they don't need the margins of the big boys to stay profitable.

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0156865 ... ?entry=ttu

[Pendodave]

Got a bargain neoair mat from them a few years back. Glad to hear they're still good.

[al_yrpal]

I have to go down to that part of East Reach next week. I will call in....

Al

[Jezrant]

I have recently ordered a new high end Rab jacket for my wife, from Taunton Leisure, and by doing so I reduced the cost by more than £80 from what I would have paid at our nearest Cotswold Outdoor shop in Cardiff. A Black Friday deal. I got the jacket, right size, right colour and in perfect order, less that 24hours after ordering online. That is astonishing, really. Postage was free/included. I'd never heard of Taunton Leisure before, but will look at them next time I want something outdoorsy.

That's good to know. I was just wondering about them myself. They came up on Google with the cheapest price for something from Patagucci that I was considering. BTW, did you know that Cotswolds do a 15% discount for National Trust members (as well as for members of any BMC-affiliated club)? If ordering online, you email them a photo of your membership card, and they will give you a discount code.

[pwa]

I have recently ordered a new high end Rab jacket for my wife, from Taunton Leisure, and by doing so I reduced the cost by more than £80 from what I would have paid at our nearest Cotswold Outdoor shop in Cardiff. A Black Friday deal. I got the jacket, right size, right colour and in perfect order, less that 24hours after ordering online. That is astonishing, really. Postage was free/included. I'd never heard of Taunton Leisure before, but will look at them next time I want something outdoorsy.

That's good to know. I was just wondering about them myself. They came up on Google with the cheapest price for something from Patagucci that I was considering. BTW, did you know that Cotswolds do a 15% discount for National Trust members (as well as for members of any BMC-affiliated club)? If ordering online, you email them a photo of your membership card, and they will give you a discount code.

No I didn't know that. That's useful to know. Thanks. I do like the Cotswold Outdoor shop. I'm just not so keen on the prices.

[Jezrant]

I have recently ordered a new high end Rab jacket for my wife, from Taunton Leisure, and by doing so I reduced the cost by more than £80 from what I would have paid at our nearest Cotswold Outdoor shop in Cardiff. A Black Friday deal. I got the jacket, right size, right colour and in perfect order, less that 24hours after ordering online. That is astonishing, really. Postage was free/included. I'd never heard of Taunton Leisure before, but will look at them next time I want something outdoorsy.

That's good to know. I was just wondering about them myself. They came up on Google with the cheapest price for something from Patagucci that I was considering. BTW, did you know that Cotswolds do a 15% discount for National Trust members (as well as for members of any BMC-affiliated club)? If ordering online, you email them a photo of your membership card, and they will give you a discount code.

No I didn't know that. That's useful to know. Thanks. I do like the Cotswold Outdoor shop. I'm just not so keen on the prices.

Neither Cotswold nor the NT publicise it much, and in my experience, Cotswold sales staff won't ever ask you at the counter if you're a member of the NT before taking your money, but they do occasionally run adverts in the NT magazine mentioning the discount.

[AndyK]

That's good to know. I was just wondering about them myself. They came up on Google with the cheapest price for something from Patagucci that I was considering. BTW, did you know that Cotswolds do a 15% discount for National Trust members (as well as for members of any BMC-affiliated club)? If ordering online, you email them a photo of your membership card, and they will give you a discount code.

No I didn't know that. That's useful to know. Thanks. I do like the Cotswold Outdoor shop. I'm just not so keen on the prices.

Neither Cotswold nor the NT publicise it much, and in my experience, Cotswold sales staff won't ever ask you at the counter if you're a member of the NT before taking your money, but they do occasionally run adverts in the NT magazine mentioning the discount.

Cotswold offer discounts to many organisations. It used to be a standing joke that you could wander up to the counter and say "I'm a member of that thing, you know, that group, the one you give 15% discount to" and the staff would just go "Sure, OK" and hit the Discount button on the till.

These days it's more complicated - you have to sign up to Cotswold's own loyalty scheme first, not just flash your membership card - but you can claim a discount if you're a member of the Ramblers, a wildlife trust, the Camping and Caravanning Club, the BMC etc etc. And of course Cycling UK, though I see the discount for CUK members is only 12.5% now. https://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/our-partners.html

It used to be the case that the discount didn't apply to sale items - I don't know if that's still true.

[horizon]

No I didn't know that. That's useful to know. Thanks. I do like the Cotswold Outdoor shop. I'm just not so keen on the prices.

Neither Cotswold nor the NT publicise it much, and in my experience, Cotswold sales staff won't ever ask you at the counter if you're a member of the NT before taking your money, but they do occasionally run adverts in the NT magazine mentioning the discount.

Cotswold offer discounts to many organisations. It used to be a standing joke that you could wander up to the counter and say "I'm a member of that thing, you know, that group, the one you give 15% discount to" and the staff would just go "Sure, OK" and hit the Discount button on the till.

It used to be the case that the discount didn't apply to sale items - I don't know if that's still true.

I recently almost ordered a sleeping bag (so worth quite a bit) but they took the discount (I think NT) from the non-sale price and hey presto! it was back to the sale price!

[AndyK]

Neither Cotswold nor the NT publicise it much, and in my experience, Cotswold sales staff won't ever ask you at the counter if you're a member of the NT before taking your money, but they do occasionally run adverts in the NT magazine mentioning the discount.

Cotswold offer discounts to many organisations. It used to be a standing joke that you could wander up to the counter and say "I'm a member of that thing, you know, that group, the one you give 15% discount to" and the staff would just go "Sure, OK" and hit the Discount button on the till.

It used to be the case that the discount didn't apply to sale items - I don't know if that's still true.

I recently almost ordered a sleeping bag (so worth quite a bit) but they took the discount (I think NT) from the non-sale price and hey presto! it was back to the sale price!

Well, there's a coincidence. A cynic might think that Cotswold's standard prices are deliberately pitched high to ensure that the "sale" and discounted prices are still comfortably profitable.

Not like the good ol' days when Cotswold only had the one shop in South Cerney. Every summer they'd set up marquees in the garden for one weekend and have a warehouse clearance at knock-down prices...

[Bmblbzzz]

I don't think Cotswold give a discount for CUK membership anymore.

Taunton Leisure is indeed a small chain (just three stores). I only know one of them, but the knowledge and more especially the enthusiasm of the staff is impressive; far more so than at Cotswold or Blacks, though Ellis Brigham and especially Alpkit run them close. Of course, this might all be highly store-variable, but then again it might reflect higher-level hiring and training policies.

[pjclinch]

I don't think Cotswold give a discount for CUK membership anymore.

Taunton Leisure is indeed a small chain (just three stores). I only know one of them, but the knowledge and more especially the enthusiasm of the staff is impressive; far more so than at Cotswold or Blacks, though Ellis Brigham and especially Alpkit run them close. Of course, this might all be highly store-variable, but then again it might reflect higher-level hiring and training policies.

I finally succumbed to the Black Friday thing and got a pair of Scarpa shoes from them at 40% off. They had a good selection, excellent prices and they were very quickly despatched (despite a warning that there might be a delay with the extra volume of BF offer). I'd happily use them again.

Pete.