I don't know the heck happened because this outlet mall used to be a lot better than what it has turned into.
We stopped in while on vacation up north and after hitting about three stores, we were ready to leave. For some reason, we kept looking around for awhile. I guess we thought that somehow it was going to get better. It didn't. We should have just left as soon as we felt the urge to split, but unfortunately, we did not. When we did leave, we literally ran to our car to get away from here. While this never on a par with the outlets in Birch Run, it was at least a decent stop to pick up a few bargains. Well, not anymore. Something has changed and not for the better.
First of all, this is an outlet mall, albeit a small one, but it's still an outlet mall. The price are the same as any regular shopping mall and higher, in fact, in certain circumstances. I don't know what kind of bargains this place holds anymore. I didn't see any. It's weird because I've shopped here several times over the years and it used to be at least average, despite the relatively small number of retailers.
When we stopped in, it was packed, shoulder to shoulder with tourists trying to get in some last minute back-to-school shopping or something. Every store was messy, yet nobody seemed to be buying anything in most of them. It was so strange. It was like all of these people were just zombies shuffling about in the extreme heat, wandering around aimlessly looking for that good bargain that just didn't exist. I guess they were drawn to this place from the highway, with the huge mall sign serving as some sort of welcoming beacon.
Regardless, there were a lot of heat-exhausted (and smelly) shoppers, but not too many buyers. The stores were packed, but the checkout lines were oddly empty. I stopped into Old Navy, The Gap, Coach, Bath and Body Works, etc, and every store was boasting the same higher pricing that I'm accustomed to at my local shopping mall. There wasn't a bargain in sight, not even at Old Navy or Coach, where I've picked up nice things before that were better-priced than their regular store counterparts. Not this time. It was just a very lackluster shopping experience for me and I love to shop, but this was just meh.
Many of the shops were holding some sort of "sidewalk sale" with all of their "summer clearance" items tossed haphazardly onto tables on the sidewalk. What a mess that was. Clothes, shoes, you name it, falling onto the pavement and being trampled on by shoppers before eventually being thrown back onto a table or rack by a disgruntled salesperson only after it had been stepped on about 17 times, but who's counting? Now, who is going to want to buy a skirt that's been stomped on repeatedly and stained with whatever was on the bottom of someone's shoe? Not me. What a disaster.
It seemed like everyone had an attitude and it showed. It was a case of some bad mojo. The vibe was unfriendly and the sales were bogus. The restroom was filthy, everybody was bumping into each other and borderline aggressive and we couldn't even get a coffee from the little cafe because the person manning it apparently went on break. We left empty-handed. read more