Tanger Outlets, A good place to shop and save.
Written: Oct 12 '03 (Updated Oct 06 '09)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Many top brands in one place.
Cons: Sometimes the bargains aren't all-that-great. You must know your prices. No protection from the elements
The Bottom Line: Having so many top names in one place helps the shopper.
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| popsrocks's Full Review: Tanger Outlets |
I have been to two different Tangers Outlet in the last week.
What's a Tanger
Back in 1981 Stanley Tanger came up with the idea of putting name brand stores, some of them outlet and factory stores, under one roof. Maybe I should say around one parking lot. His thought was to put these up near tourist destinations. He knew that people are always looking to bring something home from vacation spots. He enterprising idea was to separate people from their money with better name brand stores rather than cheap souvenirs.
He now, as CEO and Founder, has over 28 of these retail centers all across the nation in 20 states. There will be more.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Last weekend I was in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country on a family fun weekend with my wife, two daughters, a friend, and one grand daughter. Just east of Lancaster, on the busy RT30, is a Tangers Outlet mall in this very popular tourist destination. The other great deal is that there is no sales tax in Pennsylvania.
Riverhead, Long Island
This week my business brought me out to the east end of Long Island into the town of Riverhead. This is a summer destination that is also leads to the crossroads of Long Islands South and North forks. This means going to the Hamptons and Montauk Point south and east or the wine country and boating destinations north and east. Right at the last exit of the famous or maybe rather infamous Long Island Expressway is Tangers Outlet Mall. It has a nearby neighbor of Splish Splash, the Water Park. My wife has shopped Tangers a number of times and gotten some pretty good prices.
The Tangers on Long Island has over 160 brand name stores. They are actually divided into two neighboring shopping strips. Both are somewhat U shaped with parking in the middle and the stores lined around the lot.
The malls also have places you can get something to eat and even a small play area for the kids.
Where's What?
It's hard to keep track of where 170 stores are. Through out the mall are posted information boards and on them is a chart listing the names of the shops with a layout of the mall.
The charts are colour coded and the stores are given suite numbers. To find the store you are looking for simply look for the name listed in alphabetical order. Next to the name will be a colour, yellow , blue, green, and the like. Next to the colour is a number.
With that information look at the mapped chart, find the colour and then look for the suite number. Now you know where you want to go.
Getting to your stores
The Riverhead mall is as noted earlier is broken up into two sections, Tanger I and Tanger II. With the chart you can see which area your store is in. The maps list the stores under the Tanger I and Tanger II listings.
Walking each Tanger is doable. Trying to walk to both is a bit much. Though not impossible it's really a car drive from one to another. Available shopping carts help make any walking with packages a bit easier.
You can move your car around too. On most days there is ample parking. Look out, though, during the Christmas Holiday Season though! It can get crowded.
The Riverhead Tangers also has a trolley system that moves people. It runs during the busier times of day. They can certainly help those aching feet at the end of a long shopping day.
What's There
TANGER I
Aeropostale
Anne Klein
Ann Taylor Factory Store
Bass Clothing and Shoe Outlet
Bath & Body Works
Bodum Outlet
Bundles
Carter's Childrenswear
Casual Male Big and Tall
Claiborne Menswear
Coach Factory Store
Corning-Corelle
DKNY Jeans
Dana Buchman
Danskin Factory Outlet
Delia's
Dress Barn
Dress Barn Woman
Ecko
Eddie Bauer
Elisabeth Outlet Store
Etienne Aigner
Gap Outlet
Geoffrey Beene
Greg Norman
Harry and David
Izod
Jockey
Jones New York
Jones NY Sport
Kitchen Collection
L'eggs Hanes Bali Playtex
Le Creuset
Levi's Outlet by Designs
Limited Too
Liz Claiborne Outlet
Liz Claiborne Shoes
London Fog
Maidenform
Maternity Works
New York Jewelry
Nine West
Oneida
OshKosh B'Gosh
Payless Shoes
Pepperidge Farm
Perfumania
Pfaltzgraff
Polo Ralph Lauren
Reebok Outlet
Rena Rowen
Samsonite
SAS Shoes
Springmaid/Wamsutta
Sprint
Stride Rite/Keds/Sperry-Topsider
Timberland
Time Factory Watch Co.
Tommy Hilfiger
Totes/Sunglass World
Van Heusen
Vans Shoes
Welcome Home
Woolrich
Zales
TANGERII
ABS, Home and Carpet
Adidas
Aerosoles
Allen Edmonds
BCBG
Baby Gap
Banana Republic
Barney's New York
Benetton
Big Dog Sportswear
Bombay Company
Bose Factory Store
Bostonian Clarks
Brooks Brothers
California Sunshine Swimwear
Camp Coleman
Candies
Cape Cod Crafters
Casual Corner
Casual Corner Woman
Children's Place
Chico's
Claire's Accessories
Class Perfumes & Cosmetics
Cole Haan
Cosmetic Co. Store
Country Clutter
Dexter Shoe
Easy Spirit
Escada
Factory Brand Shoes
Farberware
Fila
Fossil
Fuzziwigs
G & G Retail
Guess Factory Store
Haggar Clothing Co.
J. Crew
Johnston & Murphy
Joseph Abboud
Kasper
K-B Toy Outlet
Kenneth Cole
L'eggs Hanes Bali Playtex Express
Le Gourmet Chef
Lenox
Lids
Lillian Vernon
Lindt Chocolate
Little Me
Maxx New York
Mikasa
Movado
Music 4 Less
Nautica
Nike
Noritake
Off 5th Saks Fifth Avenue
Office Max
Old Navy
Pacific Sunwear
Paper Factory
Perry Ellis
Petite Sophisticate
Polo Jean Co
Pottery Barn Furniture
Pottery Barn Kids Outlet
Puma
Rave Girl
Remington Outlet
Rockport
Royal Doulton
Samsonite
Scents for Less
Seiko
Skechers
Socks Galore
So Fun Kids
Steve Madden
Strasburg Childrens
Sunglass World
Tumi Kipling
Tupperware
Ultra Diamond Outlet
Vitamin World
Waterford/Wedgwood
Westpoint Stevens
Wilsons Leather Outlet
This happens to be a good mix of apparel, shoe stores, furniture, housewares, and specialties. Some Tangers may have different stores depending on their location, however many of the listed name brands can be found in most of them. All these stores are neat, clean and very well stocked. I don't know if its because the workers work in particular brand stores they represent, but, they are more friendly and helpful than at regular discount stores and other mall stores.
Stop to Eat
The Tangers have places where you can get a bit more energy for your shopping experience. In Riverhead they have a full food court in the Tanger II area. In it they have a good selection of fast food offerings.
Auntie Anne's....Cinnamonster/Taco Bell....Great Steak and Potato....McDonald's....Ragin Cajun....Villa Pizza....Wok & Roll
This area has tables inside and outside. They McDonalds has one of their play centers for the little ones. It's the McDonald's Playland.
There is also a little train set up outside that is very attractive and the kids love it! It's called the Tanger Choo Choo.
Also spread out within the malls are other small areas with foods and vending machines.
More Comfort in Mind
Scattered throughout the mall near these vending area are rest rooms. There are nine or ten in Riverhead. I remember Lancaster having plenty rest areas too.
At some of them you will also find telephones and ATM Machines.
Information Center
This is there Office and Visitors Center. Both Long Island and the Pennsylvania outlets had them. There are offices that have info about the mall. Maps are here as in many other places like at the food court.
This is also the area where you may rent strollers and wheelchairs.
Gift certificates can be purchased at the center too. They can be used in all the Tanger Malls across the nation.
More information
The regular hours of The Riverhead Tangers in April-December are 9-9 Monday through Saturday. Sundays are 10AM till 8PM
The winter hours of January -March are Sunday -Thurday 10-7 Fridays and Saturdays are 9AM till 9PM.
PRICES
I am not the best shopper. My wife is terrific. She knows her regular prices on goods. This is important. For the most part you can get some very good prices of 15% to 40% off on some items. Other items are priced as bargains but are just simply a cheaper version of regular brand name stock. Some of these items are not in their regular store inventories.
On our last shopping spree in Lancaster last weekend my wife and I purchased Reebok sneakers. The prices were a bit less than retail store prices. We also paid only half price for the second pair. In reality we purchased each pair at a little more than 25% saving of regular retail prices.
My daughter did well in the Izod store and saved a good chunk of change on a winter jacket.
My other daughter picked up a really cool t-shirt, though I don't know which store. It has a big smiley face wearing a bucket hat with the caption HAPPY CAMPER
Tanger Outlets make us all happy and they are still building new ones.
More Savings
It is worth stopping at the visitors center and asking about any specials. Every month they have some kind of promotion going on. I read about a deal for AAA members. You have to go to the office and show your card. They will give you a savings booklet for 15% off products in many of the participating store's regular discounted prices. They have many little deals where you can save additional money. Check out the Tangers web site for more of this information.
Update 2009 There is now another Tangers on Long Island. There is now the Tangers outlet in Deer Park, Long Island.
I happen to live quite close to the Deer Park Tangers outlet but have not yet visited it. I will update when I have been to Deer Park Tangers, Long Island.
www.tanger-outlet.com
Two destinations that have Tangers Malls
Long Island So much to so many
Pennsylvania Dutch Country An overview
Recommended:
Yes
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