The Outlet Mall: Dumping Ground, Cannibal Channel, Or Smart Strategy?

Manufacturers' retail outlets have come a long way in size, geographic reach, and popularity since men's-clothing-maker Anderson-Little opened the first non-factory-adjacent outlet stores in 1936. Until the 1970s such outlets, inevitably single stores located far from primary retail centers, served mainly to dispose of excess or damaged merchandise. But since then they have grown to include multiple manufacturer-branded and non-branded stores at the same site, great breadth of designer label offerings, and an increasing proportion of in-season alongside irregular and overstocked items.