I mystery shop regularly and had the opportunity to get some free goods and bonus pay if I went to my nearest outlet center to do a couple assignments. With Christmas fast approaching, I really needed to get a start on shopping, so I took the assignments and spent the afternoon moseying through the outlet mall - I visited ten stores in all. Most of the deals left me unimpressed, and the deals that I was impressed with, I either didn’t need or want or couldn’t afford. The best deals were at the following stores:
- Coldwater Creek had a tiny clearance section of home goods for 70+% off. Although the prices were great (a painting marked at $25 from $250), the majority of the stuff in that section was the wrong color or style, or broken.
- Wilson Leather had an additional 30% off their clearance prices and all the designer handbags were 60% off. These deals can also be found on their web site.
Perhaps you can find some great deals at the outlet malls if you make a plan of attack.
- Make a list of stores you want to visit or items you need
- Call the stores ahead of time or visit the stores web sites for deals
- Shop during the major “deal” holidays such as President’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas.
- Shop seasonally. Shop early spring for Christmas and winter clothing and shop fall for summer clothing.
- Print off coupons from the outlet mall’s website
- Join the mall’s membership. This can be free or it could cost a few dollars, but you get coupons and deals online or through the mail.
I’ve noticed that I can find better deals when nice quality items go on sale and clearance at local stores such as JCPenney, Kohl’s, VonMaur, etc. D is the online deal finder extraordinaire and can find just about anything cheaper online than in the stores. We’ve been finding deals and shopping online for a long time. The feeling I got when walking into a store I drove an hour to get to just to see 25% off – bummed me out. As for me, I will stick to online shopping! I love GottaDeal’s site!