Thursday, February 23, 2006

Outlet Shopping

I am a sucker for cheap items. In fact, I'm sort of addicted to getting the best deal possible!! I do have my limits, of course, but I just can't pass up a great deal most of the time. In many ways, a good deal justifies (for me) splurging on something I really want. I guess that would make my saving null and void!

We have several outlets in Maryland/Virginia, so they really do have to be good. T and I both agree that the best deals can be found in Hagerstown. We go there a couple times a year and they beat the Mills and Prime Outlets Leesburg by far. They are pretty much in the boon docks, unless you like to ski in the winter or visit Civil War battlefields. They are on the way to Deep Creek, Pittsburgh, West Virginia (I think??) and a host of other vacation destinations - catch my drift?? I mean, no one ever passes through unless they have a serious reason!

Last fall, T and I went to Hagerstown and they were advertising the opening of one of my favorite stores, Gymboree. Now, in the regular mall scene, this store would be considered a chain boutique of sorts. The clothing is actually, for the most part, pretty high quality, a little trendy or even trendsetting and extremely overpriced. When I shop at Gymboree in the mall, I never buy at full price - it's just wayyyy too painful!! So, you can imagine my utter joy when they advertised an outlet, something I know they have not really done before. I've occasionally come across Gymboree clothing at TJMax or Marshall's, but I've never seen an actual Gymboree Outlet. Truth be told, I was EXTREMELY skeptical that they would actually do this, so I really didn't get my hopes up too high.

When we returned to Hagerstown this past weekend, Gymboree was on the top of my list. It's funny, because my girls are basically almost out of that cutesy clothing. Kt would rather shop at The Limited Too (which I'm not a big fan of!) and Em LOVES her hand-me-downs, something I'm trying to capitalize on before she realizes they used to be Kt's!!

Anyway, we meandered into this "Outlet" to find exactly what they called it, with a little Gymboree twist! I recognized (I'm really an addict) all the lines from last spring. I was shocked to find clothing that only last summer was on total clearance in the stores retagged at very reduced prices, but still not as low as the clearance clothing at the end of a season. The difference is that at the end of a season in Gymboree, you can rarely find anything that matches in the right sizes, and here, we had bucket loads of these lines at some greatly reduced, but still inflated prices.

They also had many of these retagged clothes at discounts, some 50% off the tagged price, which was really a great bargain for these clothes, but still enough to limit the amount purchased. It was a very pleasant surprise, I think, and I look forward to returning!

Of course, you just cannot beat the Children's Place Outlet at Hagerstown - bathing suits for $1, shoes for $2 and snow boots for $3. I mean, for Pete's sake, it's better than going to a thrift store!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok, I am going on vacation in 2 weeks to that area. Where are these outlets at? Thanks! If you can, email me at js2p3k@yahoo.com

Thanks!

deanna said...

HI! I've had more people search "Gymboree Outlet" lately - it's funny! I added a link to the Prime Outlets in Hagerstown. That's probably the easiest way for you to find them. We also love the outlets in Hilton Head, SC, but that's a little far:) Thanks for stopping by!
http://www.primeoutlets.com/cntrdefault.asp?cntrid=1026