When the world economy gets back into higher gear, will there be negative ramifications for the outlet sector?
“The outlet center has only been here in Europe since 1993 and grew out of the last downturn. Every center that we have enjoys a much higher profile now than it had a year ago, because people are seeking them out. That awareness won’t go away. For sure, people will go back to the high streets, but once people have been to an outlet center they’ll want to come back. What will happen in Europe will be the same as what we saw in the past in the U.S. In the U.S. what happens is every time there is a downturn the outlet sector goes up, and during the recovery it flattens, a plateau, but it doesn’t go down again. When people go into an outlet center they know how much they’re going to spend, they don’t know what they’re going to buy. When people go into a shopping center they know what they’re going to buy, they don’t know what they’re going to spend. And when they go to an outlet center they buy three of everything because it’s all half price. The brands like it because the outlets target f
