What exactly is Outlet Shopping?

If you have never seen it in the US, you do most likely not know it from Germany. Huge outlet shopping malls are everywhere. They offer all kinds of products and items way cheaper than in the stores. These outlet malls are in every big city, usually a bit outside. They do not only sell one brand but severals in many different stores. A major asset is that the so called “average” brands are sold as well, not only high-end fashion brands and designers. If you read this blog you know that, when it comes to driving routes, I sometimes point out outlet malls on the road. We always made some great deals here and did quite some shopping, everyway much cheaper than in Germany in cheaper than in the regular stores.

Outlet Shopping in Orlando

I describe two very big outlet malls in this blog: Orlando and Las Vegas. Orlando has two malls: Orlando Premium Outlet Vineland Avenue and Orlando Premium Outlet International Drive.

We like these mall, they are a good opportunity to buy everyday clothes, clothes we still need at home on a daily basis (as opposed to e.g. cheesy tourist T-Shirts). Some things we always buy quite successfully are sporting clothes and running shoes (sometimes Adidas, sometimes Nike or Reebok). Also Jeans from some of the famous Jeans brands and T-Shirts were always cheap. Sometimes we also found more fancy clothes for work in an office or chic leather shoes.

Both Malls in Orlando are huge. It’s impossible to go to all the stores. You should focus on the brands and stores you like in particular. That’s what we always did: some American brands but sometimes even German brands like Adidas are cheaper. The discount policy varies in every store. Some stores are much cheaper than at home others not at all. All the stores with great discounts are full of people; basically just follow the crowd to find them.

Shopping in an Outlet Mall

A pair of Levi’s Jeans is usually 120 Euro here in Germany. Sometimes you get a discount a pay 80 to 100 €. In an outlet mall, we found them for 50 dollars. Nike running shoes are usually 100 € and more here, in the US outlet we paid 40 – 50 dollar. We also found a premium leather jacket for 55 dollars. You can see in all these examples how much money you can save.

One thing that is not so nice: these outlet malls are very busy. It’s not a relaxing way to shop. I almost had to fight for my Nike running shoes.

The good thing about these malls is: you find many American brands here. Some of them are not available in Germany like Gap, Banana Republic, Guess, Victoria’s Secret, Sean John (Puff Daddy’s fashion). There are also stores from the big fashion designers (Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Boss, Armani). Apart from that they usually have perfumeries and toy stores (Disney, Toys’r’us).

When Should I Go?

The basic rule is: the longer the day, the fuller the mall. In the evening, these malls are always crowded. From that point of view, going in the morning would be the right choice. But there are also some reasons to go in the evening: in winter, Florida is dark rather early; you can do something else in daylight (beach, ocean, hiking, etc.). Anything you need daylight for. You can easily do these malls after sunset. That’s what we did. The outlet malls are open a long time, in Orlando even till 11 pm.

I think it’s enough to do one outlet mall. The best option is to decide based on the brands and stores that are important to you. Their websites have lists of all the stores (link at the bottom). You don’t find all the brands in every outlet mall, for example Levi’s isn’t everywhere, whereas Gap can be found in literally every shopping mall. Both Orlando Malls are so huge, I think they have enough for everyone. If you are rather open when it comes to that, choose based on what’s closer to your hotel or your driving route.
One thing we could not find was an electronics store (something like Mediamarkt or Saturn in Germany).

To us, this was always a way to spend one or two evenings per holiday like this. You buy things that make sense, no tourist crap and you have done all your shopping this one time and have enough time for everything else Florida has to offer.

I list the two big shopping malls in Orlando. But there are many more.

See also Outlet Shopping in Las Vegas.

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Outlet Shopping in Las Vegas

Two outlet malls have their own article on this blog: the first one is in Orlando, the second one in Las Vegas. (Some general information about Outlet Shopping can be found in part 1 Orlando).

Las Vegas has two big shopping malls: Las Vegas North Premium Outlets and Las Vegas South Premium Outlets.

South Premium Outlets is between the Las Vegas Strip and the airport, North Premium Outlet is between Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas. On The Strip you find busses to both. In the bus, there are many more people with shopping bags, that’s how you can be sure to be on the right bus. Both malls can be reached easily by car as well. Parking is available but can be full on busy days. We wanted to go there on Black Friday but finding parking was impossible. But that is an exception. On a regular day, parking should not be a problem.

North Premium Outlets next to Las Vegas Downtown

We decided to visit the North Premium Outlets first. It’s located south of the Strip. That is why we did the shopping mall first and stopped in Downtown on the way back to the Strip. Being in Downtown is best in the evening when the lights are on.

The bus line is called North and Downtown Express Northbound. The bus comes every 10 to 15 minutes all day long and stops right in front of the mall. If you don’t have a rental car and don’t like busses, another option is to take a cab. It’ not that far, a cab would be possible.

The mall itself is basically a one-storey building. There is no second or third floor. It becomes clear, once again, that Las Vegas has enough space to build large buildings on the ground. It’s not only a Las Vegas thing but more a general thing in the US. The country is huge, space is available. Buildings don’t need to be high, but can be flat and large. That means you need to walk quite a bit from one end to the other. It’s doable and not a problem, but I would not suggest walking back and forth too many times.
All the malls have website with store maps on it. These maps can be printed or downloaded to your phone. You can also find maps at the entrances of the malls, there are also signs with maps on it. I suggest using these maps; I always needed them. Simply because these malls are so huge, you need to pick a few stores to visit.

South Premium Outlets Near the Airport

The South Premium Outlets are a bit smaller than their counterpart in the North (145 stores, 175 in the North). If you need all of the 175 stores, better go North. Except from that, there is no big difference between these two malls. Some brands are not available in both stores. If you fancy a certain brand, find out where it is before you go there.

One thing that this is always available is food. You always have opportunities to eat, have a coffee or just a small snack. With all these stores, a little break can be necessary sometimes.

There Are Many Stores at the Strip – Why Should I Go Outlet Shopping?
When you stay overnight in Las Vegas, most likely you are at the Las Vegas Strip. You have many shopping opportunities, some of them in short walking distance. All of the hotels have stores, some as many as a regular shopping mall in Germany. The ones that need to be mentioned are Caesar’s Palace (The Forum Shops) and the Planet Hollywood shopping mall. Moreover there are shops in the Venetian (Grand Canal Shoppes), in the City Center and in the Mirage. One thing you can definitely do in Las Vegas is going shopping.
Many of these stores are sophisticated high-end stores. Some of the famous designers have their flagship stores here. Bellagio has almost exclusively flagship stores, Caesar’s Palace has a mix of several brands and Venetian is again very sophisticated. Planet Hollywood is more normal, most stores would have been right for me. Anyways, I have to say these outlet malls were way cheaper. Going there once and doing all your outlet shopping is worth it. To us, that’s usually all the shopping in one holiday. I don’t need it every day. But it’s a great opportunity to buy my everyday clothes for a very good price.

Which Outlet Mall Should I Visit? North or South?

In the end, there is almost no difference. As mentioned above, if you absolutely need to buy a certain brand, find out where it is. Apart from that, I would go where you can reach better. If you are interested in Las Vegas Downtown, do the North Mall and Downtown on the same day. The South Mall has nothing close by, except the airport. It’s a bit in the middle of nowhere.

I would always go the outlets malls in the morning. Las Vegas is not really a morning beauty. All the lights show their beauty only in the evening. Usually, you have some time off on the day in Las Vegas. That is a good time to go to the malls. The malls become more busy in the afternoon and evening. The sooner you arrive, the better.

General Information about Las Vegas can be found here.
Information About the Flamingo Hotel can be found here.

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