outlet malls

Outlet malls are in for shoppers

Wisconsin Dells - On Tuesday after Easter, the Tanger Outlet center is a busy place in the waterpark capital of the world. Families consider the discounted stuffed animals at the Disney store, teens paw through the jeans at Hollister and seniors stroll arm-in-arm through the mall.

"We have five weeks of spring break," said Heather Field Sweet, manager of the Tanger center. "This is the fifth week." Read more...

Outlet centers maintain high occupancies, draw shoppers despite recession

Joseph Palladino looked no further than Prime Outlets Orlando when seeking a place to open his first restaurant.

The reason? The outlet mall draws strong traffic despite the recession, which has kept most shoppers away from other types of malls and shopping centers. Read more...

Monroe center boosts retail competition

In today's recession, the last thing retailers need is more competition for customers.

But Thursday's grand opening of Cincinnati Premium Outlets in Monroe gave local shoppers 70 new options - and a compelling way to spread their dollars further.

Record low consumer confidence has put retail sales in a tailspin. Some of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky's malls have lost major stores and are operating with high vacancies. Even discounters like Target and Walmart, which tend to weather recession well, have cut costs and scaled back growth plans. Read more...

Prime Outlets adds new retailers to the mix

Prime Outlets — San Marcos has signed on five new retailers to the regional shopping center locaed between San Antonio and Austin. Read more...

Developer shares plans for outlets in Urbana

Urbana, IL -- The developer of Urbana Villages wants a proposed outlet mall to fit into the overall vision for the town and to serve as a "front door to Frederick."

Tom Natelli, president of Natelli Communities, visited outlet malls across the country and selected Baltimore-based Prime Retail because he believes the company will build a high-class mall.

"This has to be executed in a way that is kind of representative of what we all think Frederick wants to be, and is a high level of standard of design and finishes and high quality development," Natelli said.

Frederick County has approved zoning for a 515,000-square-foot retail center as part of a retail/office complex on 212 acres between I-270 and Md. 355, south of Md. 80. Read more...

Tanger Outlets opens The Arches in Deer Park

Long Island, NY - Beyond the black top and the Stop & Shop, Italian villas and European seaside towns are the inspiration for a reality starkly different from this particular stretch of Commack Road in Deer Park.

Like a Hollywood backlot, the new Tanger Outlets at The Arches is taking shape as a retail village unto itself, with a network of walkways on 83 acres connecting a series of smaller piazzas and buildings, each accented with façades of multicolored pastel patterns, terra-cotta tile roofs, columns and corner stones. The idea behind the project - the first regional mall of its size to be built in three decades - is to merge upscale sensibilities with outlet center discounts in a tourist shopping destination that also works as a local community hub.

With a price tag of about $440 million, the 800,000-square-foot outdoor mall is an ambitious project of designer outlet stores poised to open its doors on Thursday. Even as the country heads into a worsening economy, the project's developers said that they are opening at an opportune moment. Read more...

San Marcos outlets adding Gucci to fashion line-up

The behemoth retail destination that is the Prime Outlets mall in San Marcos has added another high-end retailer to its repertoire of fashion icons.

The new Gucci Outlet store will span 6,172 square feet. The retailer will open its doors later this week.

The Gucci store in San Marcos marks only the fourth outlet site for the luxury brand in the world. Read more...

Biz Monday: Southwest Florida shopping outlets make inroads

Even as most retailers face hard times, Southwest Florida's outlet malls find themselves in the right place at the right time.

While the housing industry slowdown increases the number of locals looking for a deal, the sagging dollar makes this a more attractive destination for bargain-hunting Europeans, said Tom Kirwan, senior editor of Tampa-based Value Retail News, part of the International Council of Shopping Centers.

"The foreign influx seems to be really holding up, especially in terms of any decline domestically," he said. Read more...

Outlet trends don't phase upscale mall strategy

Consumers' thirst for savings and discounts has been a catalyst for expansion of outlet malls, such as Prime Retail's Prime Outlets at Ellenton, but this growth isn't having a strong effect on the marketing strategies of traditional malls.

"We tend to look at everything more for the long-term," said Nina Mahoney, marketing and sponsorship director for Taubman Centers' International Plaza & Bay Street, the upscale center in Tampa's Westshore. "We're a little different." Read more...

Tanger Outlet to compete with Grove City mall

When it debuts Aug. 29, the Tanger Outlet Center near Washington will be the closest a factory outlet complex ever has come to the Pittsburgh area. Its location on a hillside overlooking The Meadows Racetrack and Casino is a 25-mile drive southwest from Downtown, compared with 55 miles north to the popular, and much bigger, Prime Outlets at Grove City. Read more...