The family reunion was held in St. George, Utah. My sister and I went there via Interstate 15, which is the common route most people take to Las Vegas, from Los Angeles. When we get near the town of Barstow, we notice billboards advertising an outlet mall. 95 Outlets!!! I have never been to an outlet mall. Mostly, because I hate shopping. I try to do everything via catalog or the internet. And, most of the outlet malls are located pretty far out. If you are not familiar with outlet malls, they are these large malls full of overstocks and seconds of popular, name brand items. You are supposed to be able to find designer labels for less. Anyway, we were curious and pulled into 95 Outlets, in Barstow. It was pretty much deserted when we pulled in on Friday morning. Judging by their store map, there were only about 22 stores that were actually open. And these seemed to not be doing too well. A handful of stores had moved across the street to the Tanger Outlet Mall, which seemed to be newer. I think that the outlet malls have become the victims of their own success. Someone came up with the original idea, which filled a niche, and it took off. Other copied it and opened their own. Pretty soon, there are too many and they all suffer. Plus, I think the novelty wears off pretty quick. Some of the items I looked at, I thought you could still get cheaper at some of the chain department stores like Target and K-mart. It's too bad that the one in Barstow is doing so badly, I'm sure when it opened, it brought some much needed jobs to the community.
Posted by Valkyre at February 24, 2003 12:39 PM