15 years ago I preferred outlet shopping in Europe to the US - somewhere like Bicester Village, it had stores I actually wanted to buy from, and was uncrowded on a week day, with staff giving you attentive service.

The outlet malls I have been to in the US and Canada are not nearly as pleasant - there are far more 'mall' stores, albeit the outlet versions, and a very few higher end stores. And a gazillion people.

Now, I tend to avoid outlet malls altogether - one opened not terribly far from me last month, and I went to see what all the fuss was about. Fuss about nothing, IMO. People were queuing for a long time to buy Coach handbags - I just don't understand that at all - the handbags are for the most part, sub $500, so any savings you obtain are not going to be substantial. I could understand queueing for discounts on handbags that cost $5000, but in all honestly, Coach is available at department stores, which often have sales and discounts on anyway.