outlet mall shopping in LA area

[sydlee]

Originally Posted by smokingGun

I asked my friend's wife who's a buyer for Burberry about outlets and she says 90% of the clothes you see there are made specifically for the outlets at a certain price point and have never been offered in mainline stores. It may say Ralph Lauren or Coach or Burberry on the tag, but it's their outlet label with a lot of corners being cut to compete with Zara and Express. Even the Barney's, Neiman's and Sak's outlets have "house" brand merch made for them.

This is true. It's about segmenting the market based on price points. That said, however, there are actual outlet finds (i.e. merchandise from the mainline stores) at some of those stores. You just have to become familiar with their mainline store offerings so you can spot them when they get sent to the outlets (e.g. Coach Factory vs Coach deletes).

[RaymondChandlerLives]

Originally Posted by BeatAngMoh

Citadel is much better than Ontario Mills. The latter seems third world. If you want a great outlet experience go to LV.

Read: Anywhere Latinos make up the majority of her clientele = third world.

[sydlee]

Originally Posted by RaymondChandlerLives

Read: Anywhere Latinos make up the majority of her clientele = third world.

But...the Citadel attracts a large Latino base of shoppers.

[BeatAngMoh]

Originally Posted by sydlee

But...the Citadel attracts a large Latino base of shoppers.

It's right next door to Montebello (upper class Hispanics) and a hop skip and a jump from the "Eastside" so that makes sense IMO. You also see a lot of tourists from places like China being bused there from their hotels. They are the reason for the queues at Coach, Michael Kors, etc. Nothing wrong with these demographics. If you are white, you will stand out like a sore thumb but no one is going to harm you. Citadel is modern, its not small and its very clean in contrast to what people may perceive it to be just because you hear the word Hispanic. In contrast Ontario Mills reminds me of a run down older mall in a foreign country somewhere in Europe. And the people who shop their seem a bit "thuggy". It could be the Inland Empire element. There are also foreign tourists bused there to do their shopping.

At the end of the day, you are going to any outlet mall to get a good deal. If you are worried about ambience and racial demographics then shop on Rodeo Drive or the Grove.

[L.A.-Mex]

In LA Metro

Ontario Mills
The Block at Orange
Desert Hills (not really)
Citadel
Camarillo

others near by

Tejon ranch
one in carlsbad (im not sure)
also LV has great outlets