Located all across the country, Prime Outlets offers destination shopping at its best (and sometimes its worst). Over the Labor Day weekend, my sister-in-law and I decided to take in the fabulously hyped sidewalk sales occurring at the outlet in Jeffersonville, Ohio. Know that Outlet Mall doesn’t always equal sale.
First, I need to mention kudos to our hosts the evening before at Eden Hall Bed & Breakfast (www.edenhall.com). Located in Xenia, Ohio, this lovely mansion is seated in a neighborhood just off of Main Street and offers quiet solitude in the midst of hustle and bustle. Not that Xenia is busy, but that it is more restless than peaceful. Our hostess, Tracy, was both the owner of this lovely mansion built in 1840 and is a photographer. You really should check this place out for a stay and/or for any of your photography needs – she does fabulous work.
Back to Prime Outlets. Located near Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus, PO is a great place to go if you don’t mind walking. Their set up is pleasing to the eye, but you can tell that work needs done. Some of the areas needed cleaned and better care taken, but we were there to shop – not to critique the surroundings. I’m looking for deals and I have a method. I don’t have to go into every store, but I do peek into each to scan the merchandise and to see if anything catches my eye. The Calvin Klein store caught my eye, but it was the posters of the half naked twenty-somethings that were better deals than the price of the clothing. Jeans $50+, shirts $40+, eye candy – priceless.
Anyway, PO offers more than 70 stores and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 9pm; Sundays 10 am to 7pm. There is plenty of time to shop, but if you get caught in the long exhausting lines that occurred in some of the stores that seemed hopelessly and helplessly undermanned, then perhaps you should consider using two days and splitting up you shopping.
Some of our favorite stores are reviewed next. These stores were our favorites for different reasons, and we did not get to each of the stores listed at the end of this article. First, kudos to the food stores, especially Harry & David and Le Gourmet Chef for having samples out. These stores are strategically placed so that a person can shop for a while, get hungry and happen across each one of these stores at the right time. LGC had several dips and crackers out for your snacking, while H&D; offered coffee and Moose Munch. You can’t beat that – and served by a woman whom could’ve been your favorite Gramma. Next, Perry Ellis! By far my favorite men’s clothing store there. 15 pieces of quality dress clothing for $170 – yes, that’s right. 4 pairs of dress pants, 7 dress shirts, 1 tie, and three pairs of socks. My husband looks great and is really happy I didn’t break the bank. Van Heusen would be my next favorite for men’s, but I didn’t buy anything there…went to Perry Ellis First.
The stores listed under A weren’t impressive in prices. For those in B, Bass Outlet offered good deals, Bath & Body was great, BCBG was laughable – I needed a second mortgage as was Brooks Bothers. Also, who is the buyer there? I was frightened by the patchwork corduroy pants or the cords with ducks embroidered on them. WTF?!!! Under C, Crabtree & Evelyn offered nice deals, Chico’s offers interesting sizing. If you wear a 10-12 you are considered a 1.5 or a 2 there. Talk about ego booster. Coldwater Creek was a surprise for me. They had a lot of pretty clothes for the 40-somethings and the prices weren’t bad. Corningware offered great prices with few on staff – LONG LINES! Dress Barn wasn’t too bad in prices – we found a few things there, but it wasn’t a huge sale. The E’s were pretty usual to their normal pricing. We went into FBS and it was ok – nothing great. Didn’t go into Fossil – but it looked cool. Will go in next time. In the G’s, Guess was laughable for prices and offered no help with their sizing either. The people at Guest Services were polite and accommodating – thanks for the coupons and your help. The H’s offered up Harry & David and Haggar Clothing. Two good stores for different reasons, but worth going into. The I’s and J’s – Jcrew wasn’t open yet – disappointing since I had a coupon ready to use. The other stores weren’t much different from what you’d expect. K’s, Kitchen Collection = clutter! Tight spaces, undermanned. L’s have already been discussed, but I didn’t go into Lane Bryant for extended sizes or Limited Too! For little girls. I was disappointed by Maurice’s – they had NO sale. Nautica was funny to walk around in price wise and Nine West offered good deals for shoes. Old Navy offered its usual pretty decent deals and we didn’t go into Oshkosh. P’s – well, let’s see Pac Sun was fun and pretty good in deals on the clearance rack. Pepperidge Farms smelled great but offered no samples. PERRY ELLIS!!! PSO was ok, but no price breaks and offered limited selection. Pottery Barn and William-Sonoma are combined – which makes for bigger crowds, crowded stores, longer lines, and chaos. I ran out as quickly as I could. Back to R’s – both stores were ok. Rue 21 is kind of like Wet Seal and was fun to look around in. S’s: SAS was pretty good, not much else in the S category though. For T’s I don’t even remember seeing Talbot’s – if that tells you anything. Tommy Hilfiger was spendy and their sizes are weird. Apparently a men’s 32×34 isn’t, so try on the clothes. For the U’s, Under Amour had no sales and we didn’t do the other two stores. Van Heusen, again was a great place for men’s clothing. W, X, Y, and Z – The White/Black store was REALLY COOL! My SIL got a pair of FABULOUS jeans for $6 and are so cool! (Jealous). Wilson’s offered decent savings on leather; WSO I explained earlier with Pottery Barn. The rest we didn’t sneak into, so I can’t really say.
So, that gives you a run down of the shopping. The food offerings were pretty good, but we opted for a smoothie to keep on shopping. We weren’t there to eat. Kudos for the Trolley operator. We wanted to take this lovely old man home with us, bow tie and all. He was very kind, and always had a smile even though it was over 90 degrees. Go to www.primeoutlets.com to review sales, savings and events that are upcoming before you go. They also offer directions from a variety of places….so check it out!
A listing of all of the stores follows: (www.primeoutlets.com)
