Camarillo Outlet Center Mixes Things Up With 11 New Stores
Between Black & Decker, Flapdoodles and Movado, the Camarillo Premium Outlets center may have the shopping spectrum blanketed.
The tool store, the children’s clothing shop and the watch outlet were among 11 retail stores added earlier this month to the lineup at the 3 1/2-year-old discount shopping center. With three more stores--Nike, Liz Claiborne Shoes and Nautica--scheduled to open in October, the center will offer a bigger mix in its 118 outlets.
“This really rounds us out with some categories we did not have,” said Michele Rothstein, vice president of marketing for New Jersey-based developer Chelsea GCA Realty, which owns the outlet center. “The appeal of the Camarillo [center] has always been the sum of its parts.”
Other new tenants at the center, which attracted 10 million shoppers in 1997, include American Outpost, Carters, Jockey, Jones New York Company Store, Jones New York Men, Perfumania, Remington Products and Rockport.
They join an existing list of tenants that includes Versace, Donna Karan, J. Peterman, a Barneys New York Outlet, a Gap Outlet and Lenox.
“There’s not a lot of duplication--we added nice additional brands that speak to the quality that we’re trying to bring to the center,” Rothstein said. “No one here is an exclusive to the industry, but they are not found all over the place.”
Rothstein said getting Nike in the shopping complex was one of the bigger causes for celebration.
“Nike is a destination unto itself,” she said. “For the past six to 12 months we’ve been establishing ourselves in the tourism community. Once we hit the 100-store level, we were able to market ourselves for that. With brands that have more international appeal, like Nike, the name doesn’t have to be explained. We don’t have to explain what they sell.”
The timing of the store additions is by design. The majority opened just before the long Labor Day weekend and all will be up and running in time for the holidays.
Terri Cameron, manager of the outlet center, said the center will begin its holiday shopping marketing campaign Oct. 15, just two weeks after the planned Oct. 1 launch of the Nike and Liz Claiborne Shoes outlets.
Through direct mail and media advertising, mall officials intend to entice holiday shoppers to drop by early in the season.
“We’ll launch an aggressive marketing plan for the holidays--’Shop the Outlets First,’ ” Cameron said. “We know we’re going to get last-minute shopping. We’re just trying to encourage people to shop early too.”
The new stores occupy a 45,000-square-foot wing of the Premium Outlets. By October 1999, the center plans to develop an additional 20,000 square feet, Cameron said. The Chelsea GCA development company also is considering purchasing a 2.8-acre lot adjacent to the center, she said.
