Oswald Bailey

Marketing and customer service seems to have suffered drasticly in recent months with Oswald Bailey, coupled with two of their flagship stores (Bournemouth having been in operation for decades) closing, one can only assume that their sister company Outdoor Gear Ltd is also suffering the same problems.
Unfortunately i do not see OB lasting the recession, and as a consequence have not bought our regular annual gift vouchers for our grandchildren for the first time in 17 years for fear of the company going bust. We used to get several updates per month on email and facebook of offers, but now just a trickle of mediocre irregular emails which aren’t really worth signing up for any more. In-​store deals are a regular addition to occasional emails we are sent, but a quick search on the internet reveals they are not really deals at all! Store prices inevitably can not compete with online prices, and even the Oswald Bailey/​Outdoor Gear web prices are not even coming close to that of other established online-​only suppliers. It really is a shame! We used to look forward to monthly emails to stockpile our summer camping trips with our grandchildren, but even by our silver surfer standards they have become drab and uninteresting since our last holiday in August 2011. Regretfully, I can not recommend to anyone the retail stores any longer.

Looks like a small shop from the outside, but once inside you see a vast choie of camping equimpment as well as clothing. of you are looking for basic camping equimpmnet or the higher end of camping equimpment for proffesional campers this shop will have everything you need for your camping trip

A lovely store with very good quality items and the prices to match. the staff are helpful and will assist you in finding the excacy thing you are after. Bought complete rainoutfits for my children in this store. also worth visiting as they often have items with a hefty discount sale price.

A great shop! i bought some walking boots from there about 2yrs ago and was dazzled by the customer service. The boots i desired were not in stock so they ordered them for me in 2 sizes so i could see which ones fitted best. The shoes arrived within 2days and they helped me pick out the best fit and then some socks which would be best suited for venture i was about to go on. This shop is not just useful for camping equipment but all kinds of daily necessities like waterproofs, warm socks, torches etc

What a great store. Ok it’s for the great outdoors, but so much stuff is needed just for every day life.
Good gloves, warms socks, rain gear, to name few.
I went in the other day to buy a camping stove, and I also came away with the best fleece in terms of warmth I’ve ever bought. Not bad looking either. The fleece, I mean.
As I was paying, a more experienced assistant popped up and asked if I needed gas to go with the stove. Four bottles for £4.99.
That’s service for you, it hadn’t occurred to me that I might need gas! I left with a smile on my face!