Clothing stores vs their "outlet" version

nile455

<font color=green>Have you met the Monsters of the
Joined
Nov 28, 2001
I remember when a clothing store's "company outlet" used to be a great opportunity to find discounted prices on discontinued or overstock items. But over the last several years it appears these places are nothing more than cheapened knockoff versions being passed off as their regular merchandise.

A good example of this is the Banana Republic Factory Outlet which is far inferior quality to what their regular stores sell. Anyone else notice this trend?
 
Absolutely...Banana Republic has items they call the same as the regular stores that are made of completely different fabric. Loft does this to an extent too, however, I actually prefer the t-shirts at the outlets to the real store.

I am a huge White House Black Market person and I will not shop at the outlet. The clothes don't even look the same.

You also have to be careful about handbags as the quality at the outlets is generally inferior if it is made for the outlet.
 
Yes, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, and J. Crew all have factory stores that sell a lower quality line than the regular stores. I like that they aren't trying to pass it off as regular merchandise and I find a lot of things I live at all of these stores as well as the regular stores. I get a ton of stuff from Ann Taylor Factory as well as regular Ann Taylor. I actually don't find the quality to be too different between those two stores. I think the Ann Taylor regular store has better colors and cuts.
 
I do well at Gap's stick and brick outlets as well as the online version. Great place to pick up same quality basics and marked down goods from the "premier" line.
I also stock up on Hannah Andersson pjs and sundresses; excellent quality whether from the outlet or not.
 


The only handbag outlet I like is Kate Spade, and even then I really just like their accessories. They'll often do a 70% off everything sale and I can get their earrings for dirt cheap. They make great gifts.

I do like the Ann Taylor outlet. I've gotten some great workwear from there. LOFT, the quality just isn't there for me. I'll only shop their regular store.
 
Online shopping has really changed the need for outlets.

Every summer we used to go to an outlet in CT (actually 2 of them) and buy DGD's clothing for the following summer at great prices. For a long time they had the only j.crew kids' store within one of the outlets that was close to NYC or at least close to it that I knew how to get to.

Now I just buy the same goods online at similar prices.
 
My wife was looking for a hard to find model of Levi's when the Levi factory outlet store opened and the manager told us their merchandise is exclusive to the outlet stores. I have no idea if they are of lesser, equal or better quality, but they weren't any we had seen before.
 


The Outlet Mall we sometimes frequent has the same stuff at the same price as any of their other stores.
 
Coach occasionally has stuff that was overstock or old styles. You can find this on the label if the product number on the tag starts with an "F" or "FS" for "factory" or "factory style".
 
My wife was looking for a hard to find model of Levi's when the Levi factory outlet store opened and the manager told us their merchandise is exclusive to the outlet stores. I have no idea if they are of lesser, equal or better quality, but they weren't any we had seen before.

Maybe some of it, but there are items that are pretty basic to their main line like 501s and 514s. The one I always preferred is the 550 (straight leg, zipper, relaxed), but the outlet stores don't carry them. I remember finding a discount from the Levi's online store and got them for about the same price (plus free shipping) that the outlets were selling the main line jeans on sale.
 
It’s been a few years since I’ve purchased from Banana Republic or the outlet version, but I never noticed a dip in quality at the outlet (I care more about construction than fabric). I know I once bought a dress at the outlet that was knocked off by the regular store a couple of months later. My only disappointment in quality was actually from the normal store. It was a sweater that only survived for like a month before just falling apart and becoming a pilled mess.
 
The only handbag outlet I like is Kate Spade, and even then I really just like their accessories. They'll often do a 70% off everything sale and I can get their earrings for dirt cheap. They make great gifts.

I do like the Ann Taylor outlet. I've gotten some great workwear from there. LOFT, the quality just isn't there for me. I'll only shop their regular store.

I was at Kate Spade today. The store is having a big sale, but I just bought earrings.
 
Coach occasionally has stuff that was overstock or old styles. You can find this on the label if the product number on the tag starts with an "F" or "FS" for "factory" or "factory style".

I always ask which is "store" and which is "factory, just to make sure. Lots of time the price is a big indicator because the actual store product is a lot pricier.

It seems like many of the stores with the least amount of variety/items are closer to the old, true outlets.
Things were left over stock, not mass-produced for the outlet. I miss those shopping deals.
 
I always ask which is "store" and which is "factory, just to make sure. Lots of time the price is a big indicator because the actual store product is a lot pricier.

It seems like many of the stores with the least amount of variety/items are closer to the old, true outlets.
Things were left over stock, not mass-produced for the outlet. I miss those shopping deals.

That stuff more often than not ends up in off-price stores. However, that's generally stuff coming from department and sporting goods stores.
 
The question will be irrelevant in a few years when Amazon puts all of the clothing stores out a business.

I think clothing stores, especially higher-quality lines, may survive for a while, as many people still prefer to try items on. Once shipping is down to same-day with free returns, though, online will likely take over. Then people will be able to try on clothes right at home. Zappos already does this, although shipping isn't that fast yet.
 
Years ago I worked at an Eddie Bauer outlet store. What I learned is that they had different labels (interior clothing tabs) to indicate where the merchandise came from/was destined to go. One for traditional store lines, one for catalog, another for their home items, and then the outlet. Each had a slightly different color/stitching to indicate this. The outlet line was still good quality, but often designed for the outlet at a slightly lower price point. In addition to the outlet line, we did carry overstock, clearance, and returns from all of their lines.
 

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