Rain and wind didn’t deter early-bird shoppers Thanksgiving night or Friday morning at the region’s destination retail center, Gilroy Premium Outlets, off U.S. The arrangement of the outlets can make shopping a bit more challenging, and the management tries to make navigation between stores easier through wayfinding and directions signs to help shoppers get from point A to point B. Unlike many other large outlet malls, which are built in a racetrack or horseshoe configuration, busy roads such as Leavesley Road, San Ysidro Avenue and Arroyo Circle separate parts of the Gilroy Premium Outlets. The custodial and security services are contracted out to Environmental Service Concepts and Allied Universal security. With the management staff and guest services, Simon employs six people for the outlet center’s management. “When they go to Union Square in San Francisco, the prices are quite a bit different than coming here you can save up to 25 percent or 65 percent from what you’re probably paying there with the retailers here,” Fulmer said. Credit card incentive programs, where retailers offer back rewards for spending, plus the overall experience of shopping at an outlet mall help attract these shoppers. Depending on the time of year, multiple buses full of shoppers from around the world come to the outlets in search of deals. Over the years, tour buses full of foreign shoppers have become more and more frequent at the Gilroy Premium Outlets. “Christmas obviously is one of the busiest shopping times of the year, so it’s where a lot of sales are made, but the stores here know that you can’t survive in a business based on one holiday or another.” “I wouldn’t say it’s make or break,” Fulmer said. Statistics indicate that the number of shoppers staying at home on Thanksgiving rose by 28 percent or $3.7 billion, according to MarketWatch. Increasingly, major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target have begun heavily promoting online sales, including one Target online promotion that offered free shipping if the shopper met a minimum spending limit. The crowds kind of say it all for us,” Fulmer said.ĭespite Fulmer’s rosy picture of today’s retail industry, the shifting buying habits of consumers continue to take their toll. “I can tell you that we see full parking lots and we see shoppers with two or three bags from different locations, and those are all indicators that people are here and they’re shopping. While Fulmer would not share sales statistics, a full parking lot and cars lined up at the Leavesley Road exit on Highway 101 indicated brisk sales on Black Friday. Even if it’s seasonal help, they know that these are the hours that people are shopping, so they know the stores need to be staffed,” Fulmer said. Given the importance of the Christmas shopping season for the retail industry, working long and awkward holiday hours should be taken as a given for full-time and seasonal retail employees. It’s in response to the shoppers, but that’s the business that we’re in.” “The shoppers want to come and be immersed in the holiday spirit with the hustle and bustle of the shopping. “It’s not something that we need to do, but it’s something that Simon chooses to do we want to provide the shoppers with the best experience,” Fulmer said. In the last five years, the retail industry has needed to adapt to give shoppers what they want.Īccording to Fulmer, the Nike, Adidas, Lululemon and North Face stores often have lines of shoppers waiting at the doors before the stores open, but long lines of campers waiting overnight for stores to open doesn’t happen at the Gilroy outlets. The overnight hours are no longer a new occurrence. whose stores opened at 6pm and stayed open until 2am. It was a long Thanksgiving night for many outlet store employees. Given the size, the variety offered from 145 different stores, and the number of shoppers who come every day, the outlets are like a small city. The Gilroy Premium Outlets, which was bought by Simon Property Group in 2009, sprawls across 54 acres with 577,000 square feet of retail space and 860,000 square feet for 2,927 parking spaces. “The property is a hub for holiday shoppers the diversity of offerings from numerous retailers means there’s something for every type of shopper.” “This time of year is always a busy season for us at Gilroy Premium Outlets,” Fulmer said.
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