Europe boasts a plethora of well-visited countries, including Greece, Spain, France, Germany and Italy. The proximity to the UK, shorter flight times, and the variety of city breaks and beach trips make Europe an attractive destination for Brits, with some destinations being quite affordable.
When Somerset’s Crystal Pincott embarked on her holiday to Crete in Greece, she was likely anticipating the island’s stunning beaches with turquoise waters, traditional Greek whitewashed buildings, and historical sites. However, what she didn’t expect to encounter was a physical Shein store while exploring the streets of Rethymno, a city on Crete’s north coast.
Shein is a global online shopping platform known for its vast array of trendy clothing at incredibly low prices, making it a frontrunner in the fast fashion industry.
While many customers are accustomed to browsing Shein on their mobile devices, the company occasionally opens physical pop-up stores in various locations.
Crystal took to TikTok to share her unexpected discovery during her visit to Crete, reports the Mirror.
She filmed the Shein store, which had a sign on the shop front indicating that products such as clothes and shoes were being sold for €6 (£5.24).
The British tourist also filmed inside the shop, revealing numerous bags, heels, sandals and rails of clothing, including summer dresses and skirts, for sale.
In Crete, visitors typically encounter local markets brimming with fresh produce and traditional wares, specialist boutiques offering handcrafted items and artisan jewellery, plus larger department stores and contemporary shopping centres within major cities – but discovering a Shein outlet would certainly catch both tourists and residents off guard.
Crystal’s TikTok clip has amassed an incredible 5.9 million views, 587,500 likes and over 3,600 comments at the time of writing.
One astonished viewer questioned: “Omg there’s a Shein store in person in Greece? Since when? !”.
Another user commented: “This is exactly how I imagined the shop to look.”
A third quipped: “Ask if my Shein order is there.”
A different viewer observed: “That’s cool tbh (to be honest).”
Others who have visited the store left remarks such as “I went in there, loved it” and “I saw this today, I was so excited!”.
Nevertheless, someone else offered a contrasting view, declaring: “The fun with Shein is scrolling on the website for hours though.”
Shein has operated pop-up outlets throughout the UK and globally, including locations in the US, Spain, Italy, South Africa and Dubai.
Nevertheless, it has never established a permanent physical retail presence anywhere. Following the appearance of three shops displaying Shein’s branding in Athens, Patra and Agrinio last year, the Greek publication eKathimerini contacted Martin Reidy, a company spokesperson, who confirmed: “We are an exclusively online platform.”
He clarified that these stores have no connection to the retailer: “They are not associated with Shein. We have no physical stores in Greece and are not planning on opening any.
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