Outlet Malls

@kareng (80243)
United States
March 30, 2007 12:35pm CST
What do you think of outlet malls? Do you shop there? Do you have one near your home? Do you think the items are quality or seconds or both? We have one outlet mall about 20 miles from our city. I love to go shopping there because there is a variety of name brand stores. I find the clothing good at most of the stores and they have awesome sales. Our mall has Gap, Old Navy, Levis, 9West, Reebock, Carter, Osh Kosh, Bali/Leggs/Maidenform, Liz Claiborne, Dress Barn, New York Fashions and more! The only store I quit shopping at was Liz Claiborne. I found too many items in there ripped, dirty, or stained. I haven't had any problems at the other stores and most of the clothing is just over-stocked items. The sales are great and you can join the outlet club and get a coupon discount book on each visit! What are your thoughts on outlet malls?
5 people like this
11 responses
@rebelann (117220)
• El Paso, Texas
8 Jan 20
There's one in Canutillo TX not very far from El Paso but I rarely shop there. I do like to go to the Clarks shoe store once in a while if I have worn out a favorite pair of shoes
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
13 Jan 20
The one near Baton Rouge is not as good as others that I have visited in Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee.
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
19 Jan 20
@rebelann It is weird how we are drawn to the same areas for vacation. My parents loved the Smokey Mountains. That was the usual vacation growing up. I have been trying to expand my horizons.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (117220)
• El Paso, Texas
13 Jan 20
I've never been to any of those places @kareng
1 person likes this
@wolfie34 (26770)
• United Kingdom
30 Mar 07
Personally I don't like them and steer clear of them, they usually have bad air conditioning and I feel claustophobic in them. We have quite a few in the towns near me. I hate shopping, and far prefer to shop online than to go trawling around the malls. I probably go to my local mall once a week and that's enough. It's either full of kids or busy that you can't move anywhere fast. They also tend to be expensive, because of the rent they have to pay for being there.
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
4 Apr 07
Yea, but men don't like shopping anyway. lol.
• United States
1 Jun 07
I don't mind shopping THAT much; it's marathon mall hopping and window shopping that I can't stomach.
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
4 Jun 07
Now marathon mall shopping can be fun!!
• United States
11 Apr 07
I don't live close to any. I must travel about 30 miles to one. I don't think that you get any discounts really. There is a lot of brands to choose from, and a lot of walking to so many stores. But the word "outlet" once ment wholsale prices. It isn't that way anymore. You get exactly what you pay for. I can do just as good at a regular mall. So, I don't bother traveling to the outlet malls anymore. I gave you a + rating again to help your star points. This is a great posting, thank you sugar.
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
1 Jun 07
You are so right in the fact that there are not any discounts there in general. It really does depend on the store though. I think our outlet mall is about 50/50 and you have to know which stores have the wonderful deals. I picked up some great long sleeve cordoroy shirts at the Lee/Vanity Fair store last month for $3.00 each. They were Wrangler western style shirts with a print of tiny flowers on them in various colors. I thought they were cute and certainly worth $3.00. Thanks for the + sign!!
@dfinster (3528)
• United States
11 Apr 07
The closest outlet mall where I live is like 45 minutes away. I don't go there very often. It doesn't really seem to be any cheaper than going to the regular stores. Now there's another outlet mall about an hour south of where I live and that one is great. It has a huge selection of stores and great prices and is definately worth the drive. My favorite of them all is Gurney Mills. We only get there like once a year and it's an all day thing for us because it's like a 2 1/2 hour drive but it's the best as far as selection, quality and prices.
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
23 May 07
We don't have any Gurney Mills stores in our area. What do they have?
@cher913 (25781)
• Canada
11 Apr 07
I totally love the outlet mall that we go to. They have the same stores that we have at our regular mall such as siblings (kids clothing store), sears, laura secord (candy store, garage (teens clothing store) and you can get great deals if you have time to look... we go there about twice a year, its about 45 minutes from us...the reason we go twice a yr? we spend too much money lol (we are in southern ontario, canada :-)
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
10 May 07
I hear ya! We have a nice variety of stores here too, some are in the mall also but some are not. I find more in the Gap Outlet than the store in the mall. And I love the Levi/Vanity Fair store. There are always good deals there!
@nicolecab (923)
• United States
17 May 07
i love it when i can get to it!! It is a very long dry for me to get to one but when i do my husband better hold on to his wallet for dear life:)
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
9 Jun 07
lol!
@GardenGerty (169448)
• United States
30 Mar 07
There is an outlet mall about 35 miles from my house. I have purchased things there. I like the kitchen stores, and some of the book stores. I have also shopped outlet malls when on vacation. I have not had trouble with my bargains. Many high end manufacturers have an outlet store line, that has, usually, the same great details, but might be cut a little scrimpier, or of fabrics that are a little less "high end". When outlets first arose, they were for damaged and seconds, but that was years ago. Now you will find good quality.
@kareng (80243)
• United States
13 Apr 07
I have had good luck also except for the one store. And you wouldn't think that Liz Claiborne would be like that!
• Ireland
1 Apr 07
I usually go to the retail outlets when I am holidays in the UK. There are some fantastic ones there and I have picked up some great bargains which included, jewellery, clothes and even luggage. I went to one here in Ireland yesterday but there wasn't much there to catch my attention so I will save my moneny until I go back to the UK.
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
26 Apr 07
Sounds like you have found some great deals!
• United States
30 Mar 07
I love heading out to the outlet malls, but only for certain things. A lot of times, I head out in that direction for name brands that are less expensive there than at the retail stores. For instance, I can get the latest release of Air Jordans there after they have gone through the shoe stores. You can usually get them at a $50 dollar discount at times. Or maybe I will head there for some shirts, or some of the stuff from last season that will be good next year (like jackets, sweaters in the summer or shorts and flip-flops in the winter). There are a lot of good companies that have retail outlets and they have some quality products. We even have an indoor mall here which specializes in having retail outlet shops for these companies.
1 person likes this
@kareng (80243)
• United States
11 Apr 07
I wish ours was an indoor mall!. Ours is shaped like a "U" and you have to move your car for each section cause it is so spread out!
• Canada
1 Jun 07
Unfortunately, I am a shopaholic, and I have had to keep my credit cards in the freezer frozen in ice cream tubs to avoid getting into deeper trouble than I already am! However, in answer to your question, I LOVE outlet malls! We usually drove to one in Niagara Falls (you have to be very good at spotting deals, though, because some of them are not such bargains after all--and with the cost of gas now, they really have to be discounted a lot for them to be good buys). We also like the ones in Buffalo, but the hubby put a stop to the drive when gas went up above the loonie mark. So, (sigh!) I just go to Costco, which has a lot of good deals if you know what you want. Costco also has coupon books for members and you get quite a hefty discount. My beef with coupon books though, is that you end up buying something you don't need because you think it's a really good buy. The advantage with Costco though is you can get your money back if you get buyer's remorse and bring the stuff back--you can't do this with outlet malls because they stamp your receipt "FINAL SALE-No refunds or exhanges." :-0
@emma412 (1156)
• United States
17 May 07
I love outlet malls and find the ones near me carry pretty nice items. Sometimes you do have to search through the crap to find some good items but I just think it's par with having cheaper items. The problem I have with outlets is that I spend more than I would at the regular store because I buy all the things I don't need just because they're at a cheaper price.