|
|
Woodbury Commons - A Shopper's ParadiseJul 23 '01 (Updated Jul 26 '01) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line If you enjoy shopping for bargains, this quaint upscale shopping center is a perfect place to visit during a NY vacation. Have lunch and make it a day's outing. Shop 'til you drop at this outstanding outlet center with its terrific collection of upscale designer outlet stores. Find savings of 25-65% off regular prices on a variety of items. Shop in 220 colonial styled buildings for designer fashions, sportswear, athletic wear, shoes, intimate apparel, children's fashions, toys, accessories/jewelry, housewares and home furnishings and gifts & specialty items. All the finest brands and designers are represented here. The center is kept in immaculate condition and the landscaping is regularly tended. Park you car in one of the large sprawling lots or arrive on a tour bus. Be sure to arrive early. Parking gets tight on weekends and holidays. During these peak times, the center runs a complementary trolley service to take you around the center and to the parking lots. It's fun to ride. The large sprawling Woodbury Commons Premier Outlet Center is divided into several sections. Be sure to pick up a guide in the food court, which contains a listing all the stores in the center and a map so you can get your bearings. Also, pick up a 40-page brochure just inside the entrances to most stores, which contains coupons and ideas of which kinds of items, various stores carry. In the center of the brochure is also a map. You will not be able to visit every store in one day, so choose the ones you are most interested in shopping. Food stands and Kiosks are available throughout the center. For apparel there's Banana Republic, Donna Karen, Burberry, Club Monaco, Giorgio Armani, Jones New York, Kenneth Cole, Liz Claiborne, Polo and Versace to name a few. Looking for that perfect handbag, stop in at Coach for great bargains. If it's athletic wear you want, visit Adidas, Nike, Reebok and others. Find stylish woman's sized clothing at Mariana Rinaldi, Elizabeth, Dress Barn and more. For kids and teens there are Carter's, The Children's Place, Dr. Martins, Fubu, Oilily, Oshkosh B' Gosh, Pacific Sunwear, Skechers, Warner Bros. and more. For Home Furnishings, visit Mikasa, Ralph Loren Home Collections, Waterford Wedgwood and Williams-Sonoma Marketplace. The center has plenty of benches for taking a break or for just enjoying the weather. Outdoor tables and benches, as well as umbrellas, tables and chairs provide nice spots to eat, as well. A nice variety of indoor restaurants are here, also. Applebee's is one of the most popular. We meet other relatives and have lunch in one of the restaurants. We also enjoy sampling tidbits of food in a couple of the food stores. Charming lantern lampposts provide evening lighting and add to the ambiance. A good selection of Lite Music plays softly outdoors in some areas. Cute outdoor kiosks make browsing fun. Brick-like pavers and concrete make it pleasant to stroll around the center. Directory signs are everywhere. ATMs and public phones are located in the Pavilion & Tower Building and other locations. All major credit cards are accepted in stores. International and domestic shipping are available at Samsonite. The beautiful Bear Mountain creates a lovely backdrop for the colonial setting. It is especially beautiful in the fall when the trees turn a palette of glorious colors. It is very picturesque. At the big white gazebo, Woodbury Common provides musical entertainment on Friday afternoons during the summer. Their 3rd annual Broadway Series is in full swing now. Live presentations of Annie Get Your Gun, Chicago, Fosse, The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables are being performed. Call the center or visit the Website for the schedule. Expanded seating and landscaping for these performances are just about completed. The lovely center is a very relaxing place to shop. The shop workers are all friendly and helpful. I have shopped here since it opened and have never had any kinds of a problem with service in any store. They are all consumer friendly. Coupons are always welcomed and accepted even after they expire. The customer comes first here. Shop workers even suggest how you can save more money. A young man came into Esprit looking for a Band-Aid and the clerk gave him one from her pocketbook. How thoughtful! The center is kids friendly. It provides strollers ($3) for rental at the information center and high chairs in the food court. Various ride 'em toys are available around the center to keep tots busy. Kids enjoy sitting next to a life sized Ronald McDonald perched on a bench (heck, I enjoy sitting by him, too.) Warner Bros. has a lively display of full sized cartoon characters opposite their store that catch the eyes of youngsters-a good market tool. Food served in the food courts and at small stands appeal to kids. Although there is no playground here, there simply isn't room for one; there is plenty of room for kids to exercise. There are clean rest rooms scattered around with changing tables for babies. Lots of trashcans are provided for all the messes kids make with their ice creams and drinks. There are also many stores geared to young children. Woodbury Common is also handicap accessible. Complementary wheelchairs are available at the information center. All stores and restaurants are handicap accessible. Ramps and curb cuts make it easy for handicap people to navigate. All rest rooms have handicap stalls. The center is also tuned in to the needs of foreign visitors-and they turn out in droves to shop here. Written welcome messages in seven languages greet them as they arrive. Messages heard on loud speakers are given in different languages. Even coupon books have Japanese translations. There is a currency exchange machine in the food court. The center offers many enticements to lure them here-shopping totes, coupon books and maps. The sections are color -coded to help them find their way around more easily. My family loves to visit this place. It's a nice outing on a sunny day. We all come here at least five times a year. It's an hour's drive for us from Westchester County - or, from NYC. We all like the fact that the center is clean, safe and well maintained. It has good bargains, good lunch places, free parking (plan to arrive before 1pm on weekends, holidays and Christmastime) and is easily accessible from a variety of major roads. We especially like that we park our car once and can walk around the center without having to cross busy roads. With such a wide variety of stores, we all find ones we like to shop. My sister and I came up here yesterday. By buying two pairs of slides on sale at Esprit, we saved half price on the second pair and split the savings. Since we also bought a pair of sneakers, on sale, we were able to save an additional $10 since our total purchase came to over $50. At Harry & David, we sampled a delicious Red Pepper & Onion dip. We each purchased 3 of the jars for $12.00, regularly $14.99, and saved an additional $5 with a coupon. I bought three baby outfits for Baby Showers and save about half the regular cost (most items here are 30-70% off manufacturer's suggested prices) at Carter's. In addition, I used a coupon for an additional $5 off my purchase. My sister bought a completer set of dishes at Mikasa. She saved 20% off the store's already reduced price using a coupon in the outlet's brochure. At the Paper Factory, I stocked up on greeting cards and 4th of July clearance items. I saved an additional 10% off the sale prices. At Dansk, we also bought sets of place mats on sale and then saved an additional 15%. At the Book Warehouse, we bought sale priced travel guides. Finally, at WestPoint Stevens, I saved 10% off the already reduced prices for a set of sheets and received a traveler's pillow for 1 cent. My sister got a towel for one cent. We ate lunch at our favorite restaurant, Tyme to Eat and saved 10% off our bill. This is a nice table service restaurant, not in the food court. It serves delicious sandwiches, wraps, grill specialties, homemade muffins and tons of other choices. We like it here because it is away from the hustle and bustle of the food court. A place we like to eat in the Food Court when it is not too busy is Posa Posa. This is an Italian Pizzeria (cafeteria style) and also an indoor/outdoor Café with table service. Food is delicious and very inexpensive. There is usually a line for ordering in the Pizzeria at lunchtime. So, we try to eat lunch at a later time when it's less busy. You can save 10% with the coupon book at Posa Posa. Before you go, be sure to visit their web site www.premiumoutlets.com. Sign up for their VIP Shopper's Club. Get special announcements of sales and discounts. In addition, several times a year, I receive e-coupons for a coupon book packed with valuable store & restaurant discounts- even free gifts. There is also an up-to-date list of all the stores here, as well as a list of the 25 other Chelsea Premier Outlet Centers. I have also visited centers in GA, MA, FL, CT, NJ and ME. Others are in Washington, D.C, VA, OH, IN, TX, OR, NM- as well as 9 in CA. There is one in Hawaii and 2 in Japan. This may explain why so many bus tours of Japanese tourists arrive here each day. This place is a wonderful day trip from Manhattan. Many tour companies and convention planners include Woodbury Commons in their offerings of day trips. It is not unusual to see ten or more tour buses in the parking lot-many of them are bus tours of tourists from foreign countries. Shortline and GrayLine (42nd & 8th Ave.) Bus Companies have daily bus runs from the Port Authority, as well as from Long Island, Westchester, Rockland and Bergen Counties. Other tours operate here also. You can call (845) 928-4000 for more information on transportation or direction if you are traveling by car. So, if you plan to be in Manhattan and are looking to get out of the city for a day, here's a nice way to spend your time & pick up several bargains. Don't send me the bills. For more information,directions or Group Tour discounts write or call: Woodbury Commons Premier Outlets 498 Red Apple Court Central Valley, NY 10907 (845) 928-4000 Stores are opened 7 day a week Jan.-Mar: Sun.-Wed. 10-6, Thurs.-Sat. 10-9 Apr.-Dec.: Mon.-Sat. 10-9, Sun.10-8 Call for special holiday and seasonal hours From NYC take the New York Thruway (I-87) to Harriman, Exit 16.  |
| Read all comments (6)|Write your own comment |
- Top 200|
Ads by Google
|
by knotheadusc
by artemis8
