Factory Outlets Plan to Bring Business to the Grapevine

Two developers are hoping that bargain hunters will soon be singing “I Bought It on the Grapevine.”

A pair of giant factory outlet centers, totaling 580,000 square feet, are being planned for Interstate 5 near the border of Los Angeles and Kern counties, 65 miles from downtown Los Angeles.

The factory outlet, an East Coast institution dating to the days when New England manufacturers sold their wares from factory doors, is a relative newcomer to the West Coast, industry experts say. Manufacturers began opening outlets in the West in the late 1980s.

The outlets would change the character of Gorman, a truck-stop hamlet just south of the Kern County line. The town is one of the few population centers on the Grapevine, as the stretch along Tejon Pass winding through the Tehachapi Mountains is called. Gorman’s school district, the smallest in Los Angeles County, enrolled 64 students this year.

Ginsburg Craig Associates of Newport Beach has received permits in Kern County to build the Grapevine Factory Stores, a 220,000-square-foot outlet near Lebec, a roadside town a few miles north of Gorman. Company officials hope to break ground this summer and open the outlet next spring.

Factory outlets, which often sell brand-name goods at lower than retail prices, are located away from urban centers to avoid competition with department stores carrying the same products.

Barry Ginsburg, general partner of the Lebec project, declined to name the outlet’s 50 tenants but said they would offer a wide range of department store merchandise.

The company opened an outlet near Palm Springs last June. Its offerings include Gorham silver, Eddie Bauer sportswear and Evan Picone clothes.

Factory outlets allow manufacturers to clear out their inventories by offering seconds, end of season clothing or surplus merchandise. Sometimes they offer in-season merchandise as well. Savings at discount outlets can range from 30% to 70%, Ginsburg said.

“The consumer has demonstrated a willingness to drive an hour and a half or longer for extraordinary services,” Ginsburg said.

Another developer specializing in retail outlets, McArthur/Glen Group of Washington, is proposing 360,000 square feet of commercial and restaurant space along with a motel in Quail Lake, a few miles east of Gorman. The developer’s local representative, Psomas & Associates, recently requested permits from Los Angeles County planners.

Joel B. Miller, a Psomas vice president, said the companies interested in the outlet include Liz Claiborne, Jordache, Van Heusen and Maidenform. The outlet, which could employ 900 workers, also is projected to open in 1992.

Asked if the outlets were in a race to open first, Miller said: “I’m not sure we’re in a race. I’m not even sure we’re in competition.”

Ginsburg, when asked if the Gorman area could sustain two large retail outlets, said: “I have no opinion on that.”

Newhall Land & Farming Co. plans to open the Santa Clarita Valley’s first regional shopping mall 40 miles to the south in Valencia next year. Company spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer said she doubted that the outlets would draw customers from the mall, or vice versa.

“Those are very different approaches to merchandising,” Lauffer said. “I don’t see any conflict between those facilities and the Valencia Town Center.”