The few times I've gone to outlet malls, they have either been convenient or had a single store dedicated to what I was looking for and therefore a greater variety than I expected to find elsewhere. I guess I'm not a typical consumer.

The distance also makes it more difficult to return an item, which contributes to making the purchase feel more final. If I remember what I read in the book "Stumbling on Happiness" by Daniel Gilbert, we tend to convince ourselves that we are happier with our choices if those choices are final, whereas we tend to report less happiness with a choice that can be changed more easily.

Another important point: many brands have a totally separate line of product to sell at their "outlet" stores. So you'll go in and save 30% on a "Coach" bag, when it's really a 50% cheaper bag that Coach slapped their label on.

"But many retailers (Shell identifies Coach, Ann Taylor, Brooks Brothers, Donna Karan, The North Face and others) supplement that traditional outlet fare with made-for-the-outlet-mall products."

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/are-outlet-malls-for-suckers.aspx?page=2

I had a buddy who worked at GAP who said they do it to, but I can't find a non-anecdotal source for that. :(

I wish more people were aware of these things. It's fine to go to an "outlet mall" if that makes you happy, but at least be informed!

There is a similar dynamic with discount stores or any store that lists "your price" and also "MSRP" price, the second one being a complete fiction. You really need to know a lot about what you want to buy in order to not be taken for a ride.

I had no idea they had an outlet, but I think they have an In 'n' Out Burger, and that's about all I care about on the incredibly rare occasion I'm leaving LA and going to Vegas (since, you see, I live on the opposite side of the country).

I much prefer "factory stores" that have random items. Most of these are tucked away, but actually near the customer base or the HQ of the organization. Examples: 3pc wheeled luggage set from LL Bean - $43.75 at their Freeport, Maine Factory outlet, along with a $50 sleeping bag that was monogrammed and returned for $15. Or one of the Columbia Sportswear Factory stores in Portland, OR: gore-tex shell for $75; kids parkas for $15 and $20; men's rain jackets for $15, pants for $7, shorts for $5. I also found an Eddy Bauer factory outlet in Downtown Boston that I head to whenever I spill something or forget something biking into work - nice work blouses for $15, T-shirts for $5-$10, etc. Of course you never know what you will find at actual factory outlets - sometimes even test pieces and samples, or only small sizes. On a business trip, I led a coworker to the Columbia outlet and she, being a size XS, spent only $150 on a suitcase full of outerwear for all seasons - two rain jackets, a parka, rain pants, ski pants ... Knowing the difference between actual "factory stores" and "outlets" can really pay off.

Does anyone know if the "made for outlet" products also applies to discount stores located in populated areas such as Marshalls, Ross, TJ Maxx, etc.?

This article seems contrived to me. First, prices are numbers -- they're innately comparable, and one price is either higher or lower than another. If anyone can't tell the difference between $100 in one location vs another, they don't really need a discount.

I concur with Scapino. My experience with outlets is that they have wide selection, and tons of irregular items -- which are a lot less expensive than non-irregular -- but they are irregular, after all. It's a tough case to make to say that a brand is offering "deep discounts" when the merchandise is, but their standards, flawed.

I think the primary reason outlet malls are located in the boonies is because real estate is cheaper, taxes are likely less expensive as well, and it provides an opportunity to hawk their merchandise to audiences who typically *don't* travel to cities to shop and, as a result, aren't really customers of the brand.

Since this post seems to be largely based on anecdotal experiences, I’ll offer my own.

The outlet malls I have visited have fallen into two broad categories: those located in urban areas in what appears to be attempts to revitalize downtown business districts, and those located in suburban areas (on or near major highways) that have experienced, or are experiencing, rapid population growth. In these cases, the outlet malls are not difficult to access. Sure it is annoying to drive out to the suburbs, but that hardly qualifies as difficult. And for those living in the suburbs, the outlet malls are surely regarded as convenient.

I suspect that a combination of lower real estate prices (relative to built-in developed urban areas) and tax breaks (particularly in developing suburban communities), as you suggest initially, are the two key motivating factors in determining locations for outlet malls. To me, this does not appear to be much different from other commercial planning efforts. And as you suggest, the outlet mall location in Barstow seems to be a logical location (from a business-perspective) since it is roughly equidistant from both Los Angeles and Las Vegas and can draw upon customers from both metropolitan areas.

I agree that outlet malls don’t necessarily provide better bargains; I’m just not entirely convinced that their location leads consumers to think they are getting a better deal. You write, “As a result of these two factors, research shows that people perceive merchandise found at out-of-the-way outlet malls as being more of a bargain than they do if they see similarly-priced items closer to home. “ Where’s the research? I guess I’ll need to read Shell’s book to learn more.

I don't know about "made for outlet" prodcuts per se but I do know that at many outlets they sell things that were in-season a year ago but they couldn't get rid of. If that's indeed what they do, they probably make some merchandise that you can only find at outlet stores in order to keep their inventory full so the outlet store still *looks* like a full store. Nothing particularly dishonest about that, and if the merchandise is nice, who cares?

Yeah, I used to live just a mile or two from an outlet mall, and the clothing prices really weren't anything special, especially when you normally shop at Old Navy and Target. I think the only store I bought things regularly from was the Corningware outlet, which would have good sales - again, the normal prices weren't amazing, but each week there'd be a few items on sale for insanely low prices. Which would draw in the tourists (it was in a major tourist town) to buy more, but for locals it meant that going regularly you could get a lot of cheap cookware.

Well, you looked at the prices and they were 'not that cheap.' That isn't a comparison, that's a personal opinion based on your economic standing and how much you like to pay for clothes, and also depends heavily on WHAT you are looking at in WHICH store. For example, personally, I think paying 50 dollars for a shirt is 'not that cheap.' But that doesn't mean that it isn't discounted. If the store in the mall sells them for 75 dollars, but the outlet mall sells them for 50, that still means you're paying less. Especially since in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, sales tax is probably lower. I live not far outside of Chicago. In Cook County, sales tax is very high, and in the city, where the good shopping is and things ALREADY cost more than they do in the suburbs, the sales tax is absolutely ridiculous. However, even if the shirt costs the exact same amount on the tag in Aurora or Michigan City, it still costs less to buy because the sales tax is much lower. I don't know the specifics of other cities, but I am willing to bet that Los Angeles and Las Vegas/the immediately surrounding area have higher sales taxes than Barstow, California.

And frankly, it depends heavily on which store you're in. If you go to the Aeropastale or Old Navy outlet, you're not going to get much of a deal, since those stores are relatively inexpensive in general, and are very prone to holding sales, specials, and giving out coupons for their mall stores. But I can tell you this with absolute certainty: you will not ever in your life walk into a regular Burberry store and find a pair of shoes for less than 40 dollars, and frankly, to get decent, non-designer shoes even at a place like DSW, for under 40 dollars, is nearly impossible. However, I have a pair of 39 dollar Burberry shoes from an outlet mall, and the same day my friend got a Burberry coat for fairly cheap, too. If college students can go into such a store and actually buy things, instead of being chased off by snotty employees, then that means no, the outlet store isn't telling odious lies to trick people into thinking they're getting deals when they're not.

Such beautiful mall, is it not? A monument that does cherish the american cosumerist way of life, and american culture all in all. Yes, take your private car, fill it with cheap gas, take a ride to the nearest mall to buy plastic objects and useless gadgets. Who cares if the discounts are fake? The beauty of it is that you are a yank consumer that is able to consume things. This is what american individualism is all about: discounts. But why discounts when they will buy all this stuff with credit, anyhow? Even when a yank does not have money it needs to loan money to be able to consume more.

Hmph, I don't know, I still like my outlet malls. The closest one is 45 minutes away and I go there a handful of times a year. I agree, you do need to be an educated consumer & understand that even if the Coach store is advertising "20% off!" it's not much of a deal if the merch is lesser quality than the retail store stuff. But yeah, it's fun to go & see if you can get a good deal; I suppose the payoff is more psychological then monetary!

Some stores do offer legitimate merchandise that they have in the retail store, but is discounted (see: William Sonoma, perfume/cosmetics outlets).

A large part of it is price discrimination. You have a choice between the Bed-Bath-Etcetera at the local in-town mall, or the Bed-Bath outlet ninety minutes out of town. You can just as easily, and correctly, regard the slightly higher in-town prices as constituting a "convenience fee," as you can regard the lower out-of-town prices as constituting a "hassle discount." Same thing in the end: some people will prefer spending an extra five bucks, some people will prefer killing an afternoon to get to the store.

Rents and wages will tend to be lower in the sticks than downtown, so a lower markup yields a similar profit. The store's happy either way.

I've found that there's a big difference between the "factory outlet" malls and real discount stores in the northeast and the outlet malls in the western part of the U.S. What Dr. Kate describes above is what I found back east; the outlet malls in Colorado, Nevada, and California are just what Gwen describes in this post. I got spoiled when I lived back east because there really were incredible bargains at the factory outlet stores. So when they opened an outlet mall in the CO mountains some years ago, I was hopeful of the same thing. Not even close. Either it was basically the same stuff, same prices or it was much cheaper junk at prices that department store sales routinely matched. It's amazing how little price comparison people do.

Trader Joe's and their clones are good examples of this same merchandising technique. Traders really does have amazingly good prices when compared to regular grocery stores. Their clones (Sunflower, Sprouts, etc.) have the same prices as grocery stores on most products, but do a handful of things at deep discounts and advertise the heck out them. They also sell produce at super low prices and that seems to convince people that the whole place has low prices. You get what you pay for, too, for goodness sake. A low price on something not worth buying is no bargain, but people seem to go for it anyway.

These two examples just show that marketers/merchandisers noticed strategies that got people in a store, then mimicked the appearance of the strategy, without actually employing the full strategy. Clever. As always, buyer beware.

omg my mom used to plan family vacations around outlet malls. I can confirm the original poster's proposal that once you've made it a mission to get to the outlet mall, you're determined to find 'bargains' even if that means 50 cents off irregular socks. Now, even mom is aware that Coach has a second line of products for its outlet malls. I think it's an attempt to undercut fake bag sellers and make a lower-price entry point for aspirational consumers.

There are real bargains at some outlet malls, especially those that consolidate the end-of-season sale merchandise (like a Nordstrom Rack Room) with customer returns and shopworn floor models.

I passed a Tuesday Morning store this weekend and it reminded of an old ad campaign they used to have with (I think) Lauren Bacall. They showed her traveling all over creation and finally ending up at a Tuesday Morning in a hard-to-find location. The entire premise of the ad was that Tuesday Mornings were hard to find, but it was worth it because of the deals. This seems to play on the idea in this post - a deal is something you have to work for, so if you haven't worked for it, it must not be a deal!

this is so great article

.g

I like nice and simple dress and have a good collection because I like to be liked in my friends. I have often been going to such outlets and really found quality products with huge discounts.

Absolutely right.  When I was growing up, "outlet" meant something in the basement or the corner of a warehouse at a manufacturing facility.  We were buying real seconds, or stuff that didn't get shipped by the end of a season - sweatshirts in May, dresses with screwed up lace.  Now they're just brand malls.

The advantage they do have is easy to find selection.  I like Merrell shoes.  I know the Merrells at the outlet (which is, conveniently, 8 minutes from my house) are no cheaper than the ones at the mall.  But!  I can choose from a hundred different styles in one space instead of having to spend hours shopping Macy's, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, etc. to find 20 styles.  I could also shop all those styles online, but I can't try them on online.

And the outlets do, in fact, run some good sales, and/or have scratch-n-dent shelves.  That's such a small proportion of their business that it's really not worth driving an hour or more to risk finding nothing of value.  They are the teasers, what make people go home and say, "Hey!  I saw a Coach bag for only $80!" to convince their friends to come out, never mind that there were two bags at that price in a store with 600 bags at $550.  But if I'm in the market for a new pair of Merrell boots, I'll duck into Le Creuset across the way to see what's on sale just in case I get lucky.

None of that makes it worthwhile to drive an hour, though.  Before they built this outlet mall near me, I completely gave up on outlet shopping because it wasn't worth the drive.  (Well, I gave up on retail shopping in favor of second-hand shopping to the greatest extend I could.  But shoes, swimsuits, things that just don't turn up second hand in good condition or with a worthwhile selection, I still buy mostly retail.)

Oh, and - the outlet malls around here bill themselves as vacation destinations.  Because when you're on vacation, you SPLURGE!!!  That's another reason to move them far away, it's not just that you have to drive to get to them, but that once you get there, it's PARTY TIME!  WOO HOO!  The outlet mall an hour from me does massive bus trips, there are motels near by, yes - people come and spend a weekend at the outlets bottoming out their savings because they're on vacation!

Not to mention the fact that every place in the U.S. is now indistinct. All the strip malls and chains have stripped our towns of their identity and flavor. They all look the same. The chain reaction went from downtown to malls to strip malls. I suppose maybe online will eventually replace all stores and businesses. (?)

good analysis, really ..."The emperor has no clothes on "

I would imagine that this is done with either city planners or Geographers who have a focus in planning. Many chain type restaurants hire planners to decide the best locations for the business. I used to know someone who had this job for a well known restaurant chain.

Outlet malls are often located in hard-to-reach places to create the impression that the products sold there are of higher value than their actual price, which can encourage consumers to shop more and my location. However, the reality is that the prices of products at outlet malls are not always significantly cheaper.

It's interesting how outlet malls tend to pop up in remote locations or unexpected areas where am I, like the one in Barstow, California.

Outlet malls use strategic location as a key marketing tactic, often situating themselves in high-traffic areas or near major highways to attract a steady flow of shoppers. This placement not only makes them easily accessible but also enhances their visibility, drawing in customers who might be traveling or seeking deals on their way to other destinations. Additionally, the store timings at these outlets are typically extended to accommodate varied schedules and maximize footfall, allowing shoppers more flexibility to visit and take advantage of discounts. By combining prime location with convenient Store timings outlet malls effectively boost their appeal and sales potential.

It's interesting how outlet malls often pop up in unexpected locations! Barstow, California, is a prime contexto example.