When outlet stores first appeared, they were situated near their manufacturing plant. That is how the name came to be. It was an outlet for the manufacturer to sell its goods. They could cut out the middle man and by doing so they could offer their clothing at discount prices. These prices were very close to the actual wholesale price. The outlet stores would carry overruns on orders they received. They would also have garments that had minor flaws in them and therefore could not be sold in retail stores. The outlet stores didn’t generate a lot of money primarily because they were not conveniently located to the public. The public didn’t want to make a trip out of their way only to find out that the items they were looking for were damaged or unavailable. In a lot of cases the public had to rummage through bins of clothing to make a find. These were the real bargain hunters.

The manufacturers got together and came up with some ideas to attract the public. They put all the outlet stores in one spot, making finding what you were looking for less of a crap shoot. This helped somewhat, but the outlet stores wanted to increase sales even more.

Someone proposed that they could make more money by having the outlet stores more conveniently located to the public and offer many more brand names to catch their eye. It also was proposed that the outlet stores carry more than just overruns and damaged goods. They could produce goods that would only be carried in the outlet stores.

Outlet stores are located near highways and interstates and mostly in rural areas. At least they started out in rural areas.

“The politics of outlet stores is to make you believe you are getting a bargain on every item. I have found that most often you can shop in a department store during their sales or with discount coupons and save more money than you could at an outlet store.” This makes you believe that you have to travel to get a bargain. You also get the feeling that you are going to get the best price available on items you have seen in brand name stores.

The outlet stores often include stores seen in regular malls. The difference is that the goods they carry in their regular stores may not be exactly the same goods that they carry in their outlet stores. You will see names like Off Saks Fifth Avenue not Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom Rack not Nordstrom. This tells you that the goods they carry are made primarily for the outlet store but you may find some items that the regular store carries.

You see names like Brooks Brothers Factory Store. Here you will find some of the items that are carried in the regular stores but you are not going to find their higher end goods. The store wants to make the highest profit they can by selling them in their regular stores. So the only time you will find the higher end goods in their outlet stores is when the items did not sell well or they have some odd sizes left over from a group of items or you find clothing from a past season.

The politics of outlet stores is to make you believe you are getting a bargain on every item. I have found that most often you can shop in a department store during their sales or with discount coupons and save more money than you could at an outlet store. And these are clothes that are in season and popular.

There are always exceptions to the rule. And dedicated bargain hunters may indeed find some “steals” if they look carefully, shop at the right outlet stores, get lucky and examine the merchandise carefully. Don’t be afraid to ask clerks if a particular item was made for the outlet store or if it came directly from retail. Depending on the store, you may or may not get a truthful reply. But if they know, most clerks tell the truth.