ChocolateFactory

We will be in PHL from Thursday morning (11/24) until Saturday afternoon (11/26).

The whole point with the trip was enjoying Black Friday in the outlets.
I especially want to buy new skiing clothes from Spyder and a laptop bag from TUMI.

When I booked the trip, I thought there were at least two outlets malls in/near PHL, one of which had a Spyder store and the other one had a TUMI store.

However, now it seems like only Philadelphia Premium Outlets in Pottstown has a Spyder store, and there is no TUMI outlet store.
(But I will be going to Puerto Rico after Xmas, where there is supposed to be a TUMI outlet store.)

My questions now are:

1. Is the outlet mall in Pottstown really the only one we should go to? Or is there some other place we should check out?

2. The mall in Pottstown opens at 12 AM on Black Friday, but it's a 1.5 hour drive from our hotel (Le Meridien PHL). We have a rental car, but we still don't feel like going there twice.
Should we rather go on Thursday (as most stores seem to have higher discounts all week), hoping for better availability of all sizes?
Or should we rather go on Friday - most likely higher discounts, but potentially fewer sizes available and long lines.

3. Is it really worth going there at midnight? After all, we only have two nights in PHL - not much time to check out the nightlife. And if we drive there ourselves, we can't even have a drink.

Thanks!

AMflier

About half an hour west of Pottstown is Reading, PA. You may want to check it out. There are a lot of outlets there, some in malls many freestanding. No Tumi or Spyder but many others.

Shopping on Black Friday is a blood sport and not for the faint of heart. Traffic will be terrible. You will probably only want to go to one location. We stay home this weekend, so I can't provide advice on the best time to shop.

IIRC Tumi's semi annual sale starts around this time of year. There may be some deals in the Tumi store in PHL

ChocolateFactory

I've wanted Spyder ski gear for a long time, so if I can only go to one place, then I think I'll have to go to Pottstown.
Is there any point in taking public transportation (a train maybe?) to avoid the traffic?

Do you think it would make sense to go there on Black Friday or would the overall experience (size availability, lines, small price difference) be better on Thursday?

I've only experienced a Black Friday once, that was in LAS in 2012.
And while there was quite a bit of traffic, I still managed to find a parking space for the RV (!) I had rented, and lines weren't that bad...

bitburgr

You can try Philadelphia Mills (formerly known as Franklin Mills). Bigger than the one in Limerick (Pottstown) but no Spyder outlet and a bit of a rougher crowd.

For a outlet store, I never got the sense that the Spyder store was inexpensive. And it's really not that big, so selection may be small. Still, there's no way I'd go there at midnight.

bitburgr

There's no train to Limerick. But I guess there are buses.

ChocolateFactory

Ok, well I guess buses wouldn't really make sense, they would just be stuck in the same traffic jam and generally be less convenient...

I guess our best option then would be to go to Limerick on Thursday (to increase the likeliness that my size will be available), and maybe to Philadelphia Mills either the same day or on Friday. After all, it's only a 20 minute drive from our hotel...

Maybe I should contact the Spyder outlet in advance... Would really regret driving 3 hours for a small discount and them being out of my size...

bitburgr

I live in PA and feel like I should know this, but there will also be a 6% sales tax so any small saving might be negated. (As PA charges sales tax on sporting goods apparel)

And if you aren't a men's size S or XXL, your chances will be better.

Having said all this, I'd still go during the day. It's a nice mall (and it's all outdoor, so be prepared) so plenty of things to shop for. But no real food option onsite (yes, there's a Ruby Tuesday and a Subway sandwich place...plus Starbucks and a lousy food court)

ChocolateFactory

Damn, I really should have planned this trip a little better... Haha.

But then again, where I live, we have 19-25% sales tax (VAT), so 6% really isn't that bad.

rittenhousesq

The Philadelphia Premium Outlets is really the best option for outlet shopping in the Philly area, but if you really want to enjoy outlet shopping I would go to the Woodbury Common Outlets in New York State, about 30 miles north of NYC. That place is huge.

bitburgr

So how did you make out? I was in the Spyder store earlier today and it looked untouched. Full racks all around.

ChocolateFactory

We ended up actually going on Black Friday, but not at midnight.
We went at noon - first a short trip to the TUMI store in downtown where basically nothing was discounted.
Then to the Premium Outlets where we shopped for 7.5 hours straight (I had to double check my gender hasn't changed ).
Found some great ski gear from Spyder, 380 bucks for a jacket, pants, gloves, scarf and a couple long-sleeve t-shirts. I'm happy!
Traffic was actually fine at that time - when we went to the outlets, the midnight shoppers were probably heading back (we saw some lines in the other direction), and when we left, the after-work shoppers started to arrive.
And probably a lot of people were out of town for Thanksgiving anyway.
Thank you all for your help!

Vaucluse

You should continue to KOP mall on your way back from Outlet.

ChocolateFactory

Haha! We were super exhausted (maybe not as exhausted as the store clerks though, some of which had been working for 24 hours), so no, definitely not.