St. Augustine Prime and Premium Outlets

St. Augustine Prime and Premium outlets

"Discount Designer"

St Augustine Premium Outlets

2700 State Road 16. St. Augustine, FL 32092

www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=55

St Augustine Prime Outlets

500 Prime Outlets Blvd St Augustine (904) 826-1311

www.staugoutlets.com/

St. Augustine (where I reside) is in between towns that sport large shopping malls, but it does have 2 gems of its own: the “twins” as I call them. More like fraternal twins, they are an indoor and outdoor outlet mall that are directly across the highway from each other and can be accessed from going either left or right off the same exit. I believe they date back to the 1990's. Outlet malls carry fashions at discounted rates, and can be known to carry favored items that had been discontinued in the full-price retail stores months before. Prime is the newly renovated indoor mall and Premium is the sprawling open-air shopping center.

For the historians: I don't know much about the "twins'" early days, but a fresh bit of history was just made in 2008. When two malls open near each other, there can often be a bit of "sibling rivalry" that starts with one being the favorite and one being less popular, and ends in a switching of roles.
When I moved to St. Augustine in 2005, the outlets were probably only about a decade old. The Premium outlet was the more popular mall. Open air, facing the highway, passersby could see what it had to offer. Some of the stores, like JCrew and Gap have always been there, but at that time, a few other more higher tiered stores were located there too, such as BCBG Maxazria.
The Prime outlet, called "Belz" at the time, was a dull grey structure with no outward windows or much decor, that had the names of some of its tenants posted on the outside wall. It was not much to look at. It was very slow inside, even on busy days. In 2008, all of that changed.
A major upgrade was announced. The mall received a complete makeover. Added onto the side that faced the highway (and looked toward the Premium mall on the other side) were an entire series of store fronts that looked a little like a mini version of the other mall. In the middle, blocking the main entrance from highway view, a free standing department store was constructed. The entire mall received a new more uniform design and paint job and some top tier outlets moved in. Just before the Holidays, the department store was occupied by a Saks Fifth Avenue off Fifth, and some of the outside stores became Gucci, Hugo Boss, Juicy, Cole Haan, Michael Ors, Escada, Dooney and Bourke, Bebe and a few of the Premium's stores moved across to it including the BCBG. A few hundred new jobs were created that year. (Including one for me)
Though the mall never really does the same volume of business as the larger outdoor mall, it was a supercharged year for Prime. In 2009, the economy really took a turn for the worse and many of the employment opportunities ended. (Including mine at that time) Those new stores are mostly still there, but Escada failed and has become menswear store after menswear store. After their first year in Prime, some of the stores also stopped carrying the same caliber of merchandise. I remember having a conversation with an employee in a Sak's department store in Orlando. This person told me that the first year and the first holiday season in a top tier outlet brings some choice merchandise for great prices, but after the first six months to a year, the incoming shipments only bring the less popular, most clearance-worthy items.
Present day, as far as I'm aware, Premium is still doing the higher volume sales.

Who they’re for: Both malls can accommodate retail needs of all types of people from various social classes and cultures. Since they are located directly by a major highway that spans the eastern seaboard at an exit that leads to the Nation’s Oldest City (a tourist hotspot), about 75-80% of the shoppers are from out of town and even out of country. There is not a concentration of any one kind of demographic here. You will see locals with both high and low incomes and from all races, and you will see large touring families of Asians, Indians, Germans, Swedish and more. The international guests can purchase fashions at a much better price in USD than back in their home countries.

Their best assets: Prime Outlets offers a Saks 5^th Avenue Off 5^th, which is an unusual opportunity to get pricey designer Saks merchandise at 20-80% less than retail value.

Premium is home to the major athletic merchandise companies including Nike, Adidas and Reebok, which are also marketing their goods at maybe 20-60% off retail value.

Other great retail: For prime, it’s Guicci, Michael Kors, Cole Haan, Hugo Boss and Kenneth Cole. There are also some more middle-range stores including Guess and Nautica and many youth/young adult lower pricepoint stores such as Charlotte Russe, Rue 21 and Papaya. And many more. For Premium, most all of the stores are at a middle or lower pricepoint including Gap, JCrew, Ann Taylor, Converse, Maidenform and many more. Of the two, Premium seems to offer more goods for children making it more of the “family” mall. There are also multiple car dealerships and a Gander Mountain on the premises, as well as restaurants and a family game center called “Adventure Landing”.

What they Lack: Party supplies and greeting cards. Premium had a shop for this, but it closed in 2010. Also, being outlets, the merchandise is on kind of a “hit or miss” basis. An outlet version of a standard store may or may not carry a certain item or line of items that can be found at  the original store. Also, much of it is “last call” and will not be restocked again once it is gone.

Signs of decline: moderate: some shuttered stores in Premium, but nearly half of the left wing in Prime

Rating: 3.5/5

Fun fact: There are essentially 4 kinds of outlet stores.

Here are some from St. Augustine.

1)      Stores that offer a lesser line than their regular store. The merchandise is made of cheaper material and is often more simple in design. Example: PacSun outlet

2)      Stores that offer defective merchandise that is discounted. Example: American Apparel Factory Store

3)      Stores that offer last year’s looks at a lower price. Example: Hugo Boss Factory Store

4)      Stores that offer part of the standard line from the regular store at a discounted rate. Example: Kenneth Cole Outlet