Watch: Le Creuset fans queue for four hours at warehouse sale

Le Creuset warehouse sale Andover
Le Creuset warehouse sale Andover

Credit: homeatnumber11_/TikTok

While Le Creuset cookware has long been seen as the ultimate middle-class status symbol, the expensive price tags often put the colourful pans out of reach for many.

So perhaps it was no surprise that police were called to deal with a four-hour long queue of hundreds of people snaking for several miles around a Hampshire industrial estate when the French kitchenware company had a weekend-long sale with dramatic reductions.

Bargain hunters flocked to the company’s Andover warehouse sale to capitalise on more palatable prices, with offers of up to half price on casserole dishes, baking trays, crockery and more.

People travelled from all around the country to attend the sale, which started at 9am on Saturday and 8am on Sunday, with London-based customers getting up before dawn to be some of the first through the door.

Such was the popularity of the sale that Hampshire Constabulary was called to the site to help control the traffic flow as customer cars were causing significant congestion.

Some attendees at the sale said the queue to get in was more than four hours long and involved standing on the pavement outside the Le Creuset warehouse, which neighbours an Ocado depot, a camper van dealership and a woodchipper firm.

This is the second Le Creuset warehouse sale in Andover this year, following one in March.

Le Creuset turns 100 years old next year and its products are loved for their durability, high quality, lifetime guarantee and, perhaps most famously, their range of colours.

The original “Volcanic Orange” colour is a staple of many kitchens, but a casserole dish can cost anything from £200 up to £600 for the largest.

The sale in Andover had all manner of offers, with up to 50 per cent off in some cases, leading delighted customers to post on social media about their hauls. These included wine glasses, mugs, dishes and bowls at a snip of the recommended retail price.

Within an hour of the warehouse door opening on Saturday, there were several miles of cars queuing to get into a car park, before being able to join a line on foot to get inside.

Hundreds of cars were parked on the side of the road, videos show, and the police were called to help ease traffic flow concerns.

“We attended London Road and the A3093 in Andover yesterday Saturday morning following reports of heavy congestion in the area,” a spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary told The Telegraph.

“We began receiving reports at 9.45am and we attended to assist with traffic control. Traffic had eased by around 11.15am and we left the area shortly afterwards.”

The company calls the Andover warehouse sale its “largest in-person event” and it is in-person only, unticketed, and first-come-first-served

“Attendees can shop a selection of premium cookware, including limited-edition colours, rare shapes and other unique styles at special prices,” Le Creuset says on its website.

The company is based in Fresnoy-le-Grand in Northern France and the cast iron Dutch ovens are the most famous item, which date back to the conception of the company. The hardy enamel and lifetime guarantee has made the products family heirlooms, and are known to outlive their purchasers.

But now, an entire kitchen can be decked out with Le Creuset only, for fans with deep enough pockets. For example, an entire pallet of 157 pieces can be bought in the US for $4,500.

Plates, pans, gravy boats, cake tins, spoons and kettles are just some of the items made by the company which has weathered a 20 per cent dip in sales caused by the post-pandemic cost of living crisis.

Nick Ryder, Le Creuset’s managing director, said in the company’s annual reports last year: “In the post-Covid world, with changing spending patterns and a backdrop of increasing prices and interest rates, the market we operate in has seen a decrease in spend.”

But while people may normally struggle to condone paying hundreds of pounds for a pot when much cheaper imitations are available, the weekend rush for discounted Le Creuset items shows the company is still held in high esteem by the English middle classes.