Russian Market (Psar Toul Tom Poung) Phnom Penh

This market is smaller than Central Market.  You find clothes, textiles, silk, pirated DVDs, home decoration, wet market (fruit, vegetables etc), hawker cooked food. This place reminds me of a smaller version of Chatuchak Market in Bangkok.

What this place is famous for is designer surplus clothes at very cheap prices.

Brutally frank:

The challenge of shopping in this place is differentiating between the genuine designer surplus items, the fakes (yes, there are fakes too at this market; some obvious, some not so) and the “grey” items.  “Grey” items seem genuine but perhaps have a label inside that says made by some factory in Vietnam, Cambodia etc.  Perhaps they are indeed genuine. It’s just that they put on the wrong label inside. Or it was a surplus item so the factory simply sewed on its own label.  It’s up to you to decide.  It’s important to keep in perspective that these items are so cheap, it doesn’t really matter even if they are fake when you were hoping you snag a genuine.

Another challenge is finding your size.  Please don’t expect store-style shopping where they have items in all sizes and colors.  Remember, this is a surplus market. Very often, there is only one piece of an item.  I don’t mean one piece per size.  I mean there is just one piece of a particular design. Please manage expectations about finding a design in another color/ size.

There are no changing rooms.

I bought a pair of Adidas shorts from the market for US$5 (I’m quite confident it’s genuine.  It looks and feels genuine.  Also, it has a genuine-looking Adidas label on the inside of the shorts).  Other seemingly genuine items spotted (I didn’t really spend too much time examining if they were genuine as I wasn’t interested or it wasn’t the right size etc) included GAP T-shirts, Banana Republic T-shirts, Aeropostale T-shirt, Adidas T-shirts, Nautica, Abercrombie and Fitch.

Besides the stalls in the market, some shops surrounding the Russian Market also sells surplus designer items, albeit at higher prices (but still a great, great bargain).  No bargaining is allowed.  The best of these shops is F.O.S (Factory Outlet Store).  All genuine items.  Imagine getting a Polo Ralph Lauren shirt for only US$25.95.  Also spotted Emporio Armani, Boss, Calvin Klein, Abercrombie and Fitch, Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger among other brands.  Air-conditioned.  Fitting room.  Sizes and colors available.  Buy above US$100 and you get to become a member which immediately entitles you to 10% discount on your bill as well as future purchases. They also have a branch on Sihanouk Boulevard, near Independence Monument.

A few doors away, Export 21 has many denim jeans in many brands (Calvin Klein, Levi’s, Pull and Bear etc).  Other apparel spotted: Billabong, Abercrombie and Fitch, Emporio Armani etc.  Beware: there are also some clever fakes.  Buy above US$100 and you get to become a member which immediately entitles you to 10% discount on your bill as well as future purchases.

However, at these shops, be prepared for lackadaisical, resentful sales staff.  They will often tell you they don’t have the size you want, not bothering to check, till you hand the item back to them, saying it’s the wrong size.  Only then will they check for the size you want for you.  Perhaps they are resentful of foreigners who come and buy designer items by the truckload while they, the staff, have to be patted down by security guards every time they leave the store.

There are no Western restaurants surrounding the Russian Market. There is only a KFC.  Be prepared to fill up at KFC if you intend to spend a long time here.

Frankly, it is shopping at these designer surplus stores and getting all the great bargains that made my vacation in Phnom Penh. Highly recommended.