In the Bronx, Plans for an Outlet Mall Offering High Fashion at a Discount

[Shortline Bus]

 

Shopping for luxury labels at a discount has long been an obsession for visitors and residents alike in fashion-setting New York City.

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Now a real estate developer, the Lightstone Group, is looking to build the city’s first upscale outlet mall in the Bronx, according to borough officials who have been briefed on the plans. If realized, the outlet mall could be a drawing card for a city torn between celebrating one-of-a-kind haute couture at Fashion Week and coveting the sales and convenience of mass-retail suburban malls.

“If there was a Louboutin sale in the Bronx, people would go in droves, no matter what,” declared Amanda Sanders, a New York-based image consultant who commands up to several hundred dollars an hour to dress the comedian Chris Rock and others.

For years, New Yorkers intent on the outlet-mall experience have piled into cars and buses bound for the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, N.Y., a colonial-style village in the Catskills overflowing with racks of Versace, Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren, all at a fraction of Madison Avenue prices. Or they may head to other designer outlets on Long Island, in Connecticut and in New Jersey.

But while many people want designer clothes and accessories without designer prices (a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes typically costs more than $600), not everyone is willing to spend the day trekking up to Woodbury Common — 48 miles north of Midtown Manhattan — and back, Ms. Sanders, 39, said. For that reason, she herself goes only once or twice a year, even though it has been worth the trip: she has scored a Gucci dress and a pair of Chanel ballet flats at bargain prices.

More than 12 million people a year — many toting empty suitcases for all their designer finds — descend upon Woodbury Common, according to tourism officials. That makes it one of the top destinations in the state, trumping Niagara Falls (8 million visitors), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (6.3 million), the Statue of Liberty (3.8 million) and the Empire State Building (more than 3.5 million).

 

 

 

http://www.nytimes.c...&pagewanted=all

 

 

 

FYI. I want to thank the Great One for posting it first in Bus Thread. Guys please keep it to whether the mall should open or not? Please make the bus comments here. Thanks

 

http://www.nyctransitforums.com/forums/topic/37047-proposed-new-mall-at-whitestone-cinemas-that-could-affect-bx5-q44-q50/

[Joe]

Can I buy that Gucci suit with my EBT CASH card?

[B35 via Church]

woodbury common an upscale mall.... who knew?

 

As for opening a mall over there, as long as the land exists for one, hell, I say go for it.... You already have the Gateway Mall on one end of the Bronx.... What "type" of mall it'll end up being is of no consequence to me..... The LI Tanger's (riverhead & deer park) are played, The Galleria is one of those "wolf in sheep's clothing" type of malls & The Westchester is overrated (up in white plains), and woodbury common & Palisades are too much of a hassle to get to from the boroughs.....

[Shortline Bus]

woodbury common an upscale mall.... who knew?

 

As for opening a mall over there, as long as the land exists for one, hell, I say go for it.... You already have the Gateway Mall on one end of the Bronx.... What "type" of mall it'll end up being is of no consequence to me..... The LI Tanger's (riverhead & deer park) are played, The Galleria is one of those "wolf in sheep's clothing" type of malls & The Westchester is overrated (up in white plains), and woodbury common & Palisades are too much of a hassle to get to from the boroughs.....

 

 

Don't forget some folks from the boros also go to Franklin Mills in Philly and that other outlet mall in the Poconos(forget name of it lol) as well.

[SoSpectacular]

As long as they can get this thing built fast I'm all for it

[NYCtrainfan01]

I'm with Sospectacular! If they can get it built quickly, I'd say go for it!

[realizm]

Such a project will bring badly needed jobs to the Bronx, which is a good thing for many who want to work.

[lilbluefoxie]

Such a project will bring badly needed jobs to the Bronx, which is a good thing for many who want to work.

 

hopefully the Bronx politicians dont cancel this one like they did with the Kingsbridge Armoury redevelopment projects.

[Concourse Express]

hopefully the Bronx politicians dont cancel this one like they did with the Kingsbridge Armoury redevelopment projects.

 

The old plan for the Armory was an abomination and deserved cancellation. The new proposals for the Armory are much better IMHO (I'm leaning on the Young Woo proposal over the ice rink proposal though...)

 

That said, I like this "upscale mall" idea; I'm in agreement with the others here - so long as construction doesn't stall or is slow, go for it!

[Shortline Bus]

Unlike other proposals in recent years such as Wal-Mart for the Queens Center Mall area and also Spring Creek Gateway in Brooklyn sounds like almost a slam dunk for approval. Only issue that will could block it is the brutal traffic since it's located at the Whitestone Expressway and Bruckner (Cross Bronx/Bruckner Freeways)intersections.

[lilbluefoxie]

Unlike other proposals in recent years such as Wal-Mart for the Queens Center Mall area and also Spring Creek Gateway in Brooklyn sounds like almost a slam dunk for approval. Only issue that will could block it is the brutal traffic since it's located at the Whitestone Expressway and Bruckner (Cross Bronx/Bruckner Freeways)intersections.

 

 

I doubt it will create too much traffic, Long Islanders arent going to go to the Bronx unless its to the Yankee Stadium, they sure arent going to go to a mall up there especially with the same stores already on Long Island, same thing with Westchester and New Jersey, so the likely customers are Bronxites and people from other boros in the city.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I doubt it will create too much traffic, Long Islanders arent going to go to the Bronx unless its to the Yankee Stadium, they sure arent going to go to a mall up there especially with the same stores already on Long Island, same thing with Westchester and New Jersey, so the likely customers are Bronxites and people from other boros in the city.

 

 

LOL... I'm not even too sure about that... Some Bronxites yes and maybe some from the other boroughs but for most the Bronx is the last place anyone would go for shopping. I mean hell I had only been to the Bronx as a kid to the Bronx Zoo and then on several occasions to Yankees' Stadium, but outside of that I saw no reason to come to the Bronx. I'm sure that attitude is still prevalent.

[mark1447]

 

 

I doubt it will create too much traffic, Long Islanders arent going to go to the Bronx unless its to the Yankee Stadium, they sure arent going to go to a mall up there especially with the same stores already on Long Island, same thing with Westchester and New Jersey, so the likely customers are Bronxites and people from other boros in the city.

 

 

Don't be to sure about Westchester residents not coming down to the Bronx. We are suppose to get a mall in Bay Plaza. I'm sure people from the Pelhams will want to come down here for shopping. Yeah you can head on the Cross County Parkway to the Center in Yonkers, but even with that, the folks would have an option to come down.

 

Its just like those in the Bronx who commute to White Plains or along Central Park Ave from Yonkers to Greenburg. Stores and the casino....

 

 

 

LOL... I'm not even too sure about that... Some Bronxites yes and maybe some from the other boroughs but for most the Bronx is the last place anyone would go for shopping. I mean hell I had only been to the Bronx as a kid to the Bronx Zoo and then on several occasions to Yankees' Stadium, but outside of that I saw no reason to come to the Bronx. I'm sure that attitude is still prevalent.

 

 

That is the only reason some people even come to the Bronx. Bronx Zoo, The Botanical Garden (eh..) and the Game, nothing much. Yet you still got people who think the Bronx is bad, outside these attractions.

[KeystoneRegional]

I have zero problems with an Outlet in the Bronx, but I have a big problem with traffic, and I hate dealing with Bronx traffic, they better get a traffic plan going here or I'll not shop at neither Bay Plaza or the Bronx Outlets. That's one reason I usually tell my dad to take Bergen County simply because of the Tappan Zee's structural problems and most importantly the Bronx's horrible traffic.

 

@Shortline: The Pocono's outlets are the Crossings Premium Outlets, located between Route 611 and I-80 in Tannersville.

[Shortline Bus]

I have zero problems with an Outlet in the Bronx, but I have a big problem with traffic, and I hate dealing with Bronx traffic, they better get a traffic plan going here or I'll not shop at neither Bay Plaza or the Bronx Outlets. That's one reason I usually tell my dad to take Bergen County simply because of the Tappan Zee's structural problems and most importantly the Bronx's horrible traffic.

 

@Shortline: The Pocono's outlets are the Crossings Premium Outlets, located between Route 611 and I-80 in Tannersville.

 

 

Thanks Keystone. Honestly Keystone this proposed outlet mall I am sure is more designed for mostly customers living in the Bronx/Manhattan and Lower Westchester towns such as Pelham, Yonkers and Mt. Vernon. And not for someone from Brooklyn or SI.

[B35 via Church]

Don't forget some folks from the boros also go to Franklin Mills in Philly and that other outlet mall in the Poconos(forget name of it lol) as well.

I'm sure they do.... lol....

 

Franklin Mills & the VF outlets in Reading, Pa fell off hard.....

The Crossings I haven't been to in a good minute, so don't know what's up w/ that mall out there....

 

I doubt it will create too much traffic, Long Islanders arent going to go to the Bronx unless its to the Yankee Stadium, they sure arent going to go to a mall up there especially with the same stores already on Long Island, same thing with Westchester and New Jersey, so the likely customers are Bronxites and people from other boros in the city.

 

Long islanders won't, but folks in Westchester will most certainly drive down to the bronx to shop at an upscale mall.... it's the one thing that's rather lacking in westchester county as it is..... depending on what (and how many) stores they plan on having, you'll see ppl. comin down from as far as connecticut....... Maybe much ado about nothing, but I see a few CT plates @ Tanger (Deer Park)... If CT folks are willing to drive to Suffolk County, heading over to the Bx is nothin......

[lilbluefoxie]

I dunno, its gunna take a while for the bronx to shake up its image among those who arent city savy. I do hope this mall project helps to improve the Bronx and push it more upscale which will encourage more people to move in, and more businesses to invest there.

[KeystoneRegional]

Thanks Keystone. Honestly Keystone this proposed outlet mall I am sure is more designed for mostly customers living in the Bronx/Manhattan and Lower Westchester towns such as Pelham, Yonkers and Mt. Vernon. And not for someone from Brooklyn or SI.

 

 

You're welcome Shortline! I know what demographic this outlet (and the Bay Plaza Mall) is targeting, though I'll visit once when both opens, but I will not visit for a long time because I don't usually travel to the Bronx, I usually pass by the borough on Metro-North, Inter-City Bus or Car, =P.