High-End Outlets Enjoying Season

Disneyland. The Hollywood sign. Mann’s Chinese. The Camarillo outlets.

County residents may take their shopping alternatives for granted, but the faithful come from all over Southern California and abroad for a chance at the big buys--amid the big crowds--offered by the Camarillo Premium Outlets, merchants say.

On Wednesday afternoon, in the thick of the holiday shopping season, it was difficult to find a visitor who hadn’t traveled from outside the county for a chance at the outlet experience.

Probo Sutejo, on a trip to Southern California from Indonesia, had already seen Rodeo Drive and its upper-crust boutiques, but decided to make the trek out to Camarillo for his Versace fix.

“It’s so far. I feel like I’ve gone all the way to San Francisco,” Sutejo said. “[But] I wanted to shop here. Maybe I’ll get a good price.”

Sutejo rejoiced at his decision to make the long journey to the county.

It may have less atmosphere than Beverly Hills, but he found the bargains he was looking for.

A terry zebra-striped bathrobe half-off at $693, or those black briefs, down to $73, from $146.

For the most part, those traveling the farthest are those looking for the most exclusive brand names, designers like Donna Karan, or the chichi brands at the Barneys outlet, store managers said.

“They’re different. They want the higher-end stuff,” said Emily Perez, manager of the Esprit outlet, which has a solid local clientele.

“They’ll call and say, ‘[Does the mall] have Polo? Do you have Ralph Lauren?’ ”

At Barneys, about 90% of the clientele come from out of the county, mostly from the hipper neighborhoods of Los Angeles, where the retail store’s prices can be out of reach, manager Kim Galla Wileman said.

At Versace, it’s more like 99% from out of county, according to regional manager Chris Dumont.

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These are the people happy to drop $17,000 on the typical glittery Oscar-night dress draped in the window.

“A bus would pull up, somebody would call out, ‘Tour bus!’ and we’d all get really excited,” said Amelia Gaxiola, the store’s manager, of the busloads of Japanese, Korean and German tourists out on massive shopping runs.

And the brand-conscious are out in force this year--Versace officials said its sales have increased by 40% over this time last year.

Outlets are major shopping meccas these days, and Camarillo runs second in Southern California for low-cost fashion status, behind only the Desert Hills Premium Outlets in Cabazon.

“The Hollywood crowd comes through here,” said Terri Cameron, the outlet mall’s general manager.

“Bruce Willis was here this weekend. Tommy and Pamela Lee were in. Everybody likes to bargain shop. It’s an international pastime.”

But plenty of average, noncelebrity citizens were driving into the county on Wednesday ready to consume.

Ruby Diaz of Eagle Rock, accompanied by a troupe of relatives from the Philippines, was making her first trip to the outlet mall and was nearly giddy at their savings.

“We’re not done yet,” she said. “We won’t be done until tonight. I’m telling my husband we have to come back next week.”

Danette Zuniga of Glendora called in sick at work to make the hourlong drive to the outlets.

She managed to buy 20 gifts in two hours, slipping through the crowded Mikasa china store with aplomb.

“It’s kind of far,” the first-time Camarillo outlet shopper admitted.

“That’s the reason I had to call in sick.”