Outlet Stores
Outlet stores, or factory outlets as is commonly known here, are retail stores of famous brands selling overrun or out of season stocks. This concept has existed in the U.S. for years, and is now spreading around the world.
Many designer and mid-range labels can be found here, and with labels like Tommy Hilfiger, Polo Ralph Lauren, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Guess, Nike, Adidas and accessories like Oakley, Le SportSac, Coach, you can dress yourself from head to toe in outlet store-bought items.
It seems these outlets started off as ways for the company owning these labels to sell out of season or overrun stocks instead of disposing of them, but in recent years it has become quite an income earner, mainly because the labels are directly selling them, bypassing distributors or retailers. For us shoppers, we get to buy designer labels at good discounts all year round, instead of fighting hoards of other shoppers during sale season in retail malls. Hell, recession or no, we still want to look good!
In my recent trip Stateside, I got to experience these outlet stores firsthand. They are mostly situated just outside cities, built up as little towns with streets, alleys and shops situated along the streets. Shoppers could comfortable walk on the streets without worrying about vehicular traffic, and pop into the shops when something catches their fancy. At one which I went to, the place was literally swarmed with PRC customers grabbing merchandise like it was the end of the world. As for me, let’s just say the extra empty bag which hubby and I brought over was packed to the brim on the flight back 
In Malaysia, F.O.S (factory outlet store) has been in existence for quite a number of years. They operate in retail malls, carrying de-labelled merchandise (the labels are cut out) at good discounts. You could easily identify the clothes from labels like DKNY, Gap, A&F, Ralph Lauren, Hilfiger, and more. F.O.S was where I was1st introduced to the brand A&F, which occupies a lot of my closet space recently, along with its sister brand Hollister.
Popped into IMM a while back, and noticed a few outlet stores there, mainly Esprit, BYSI (a local women’s fashion brand) and others. I know Anchorpoint over at Queenstown also houses a few outlet stores. I bought a blouse top for $23.90 at Esprit, it had a sticker price of $59.90. At a 60% discount, good deal, I say.
Will the trend of outlet stores continue over here? With the economic downturn, coupled with people’s undying lust for shopping, I sure feel we have only seen the beginning of things to come.
Tags: Shopping
Liked this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
