Texas Premium Outlets Malls - some questions
 

Calling the shopping experts that know their Texas Outlet Malls.....

I have 2 free days during my upcoming US wine road show. This free time will be as I land back in Houston. I have to decide if I will drive to San Marcos to do my shopping there, or if it will suffice to stay closer to Houston and just hit the Houston Premium Outlets which can be found in the Cypress area.

If anybody here knows both shopping destinations, I would greatly appreciate any input you would have... I know the San Marcos Outlets and they do have the plus of also having the Tanger Outlets right next door, so the entire shopping area is very large.... from my review of the Premium Outlets website, the actual size of the Houston Mall is similar to the San Marcos (140 and 145 stores), so leaving the additional options of the Tanger shops aside both centers seems to be quite similar....

Also, Im sure there is no scientific answer to this question, but... can one expect the Houston Outlet prices to be any different to the San Marcos prices...? Houston and its area would appear to be some of the more expensive regions in the State, but then again, San Marcos serves the San Antonio area which is also a large & well off city so frankly I dont know what to expect in terms of differential pricing, if anything....

Any advice would be appreciated...

Thanks,
Alex / Gaucho100K

San Marcos
 

If you have the time, make the trip to San Marcos.

I-35 Exit 200

Try to go during the week because the weekends are crazy there.

I wouldn't call myself a "shopper" (unless Amazon and newegg counts) but I grew up smack in between both of these locations and have been to San Marcos on a yearly basis for longer than I'm willing to admit. While I have no experience with any of the outllet malls in the Houston region, I'd say you would have to be crazy to drive past them just to get to San Marcos.

I would be beyond surprised if you couldn't find everything and you were looking for and more within 50 miles of IAH (or HOU f.t.m.) . If all you want to do is shop... don't bother driving 150+mi.

Now if you have some extra time and want to see some sights like the Alamo or riverwalk (San Antonio) or something in Austin (ie 6th street) then the drive is absolutely worth it. There's plenty of touristy/locally stuff to do throughout the central Texas region. Please forgive tthe lack of foliage, it has been a hot -HOT- summer and normally we keep things aa bit more green.

Whatever you choose, I'm sure you will find what you are looking for. Welcome to Texas :-)

Thanks for the input.... well, like I say, there is the Cypress location which would appear to have the same 140ish stores of the San Marcos location... so yes, I would like to spare myself another 150 miles if I can, but just need to weigh out the differences. I assume the Cypress location does not have a Tanger Outlet location similar to San Marcos, or...?

Yeah... been there one a weekend before and it was nuts.... Im afraid I will have to do this on a Saturday so I guess I will make an early move and try to beat the crowds.

BTW, I like your handle, Im a Nikon fan myself.... need to pick up a new zoom lense for my D300... looking for something around the 24-200mm range, if possible with a fixed aperture and EDIF & VR technologies.... any ideas...?

I (un)fortunately, depending on how you look at it, had a 3 day BBQ road trip with sister in June. Our BBQ tour took us to Houston and the Austin area. During that tour, and between BBQ sampling, we visited both the Cypress and San Marcos outlet malls. As a non-window shopper, all 3 outlets had a dizzying array of stores.

As you and others have already mentioned, both locations have a Premium Outlet, but San Marcos also has the Tanger Outlet. My sister made a point of comparison shopping in many stores and the prices were the same at both locations.

I think what it comes down to is A) Are you going just to window shop? B) Are there certain shops that are a must hit? C) If you are buying "stuff", are you willing to haggle on the price of said stuff? D) And finally, what other activities do you want to do / see?

My sister is a haggling machine and found success at all outlets, but maybe a little more success in San Marcos because there was more competition, which can give you some negotiating power.

To me, I would just go to the Cypress outlet center and find something else to do with your time in the Houston area. If you decide on going to San Marcos, a trip to San Antonio or Austin would be a good idea. Certainly driving through Lockhart, TX to try some great BBQ does not hurt.

One thing to consider is the San Marcos store count may be similar, however the stores in San Marcos are much higher end. I also find that even though lets say Cypress Prime may have a Polo for example, the Polo in San Marcos could be twice as large.

Also San Marcos has some great home outlets like Pottery Barn, resoration hardware, etc...

Just took a second look at cypress website since its been a while since I've been to that loction, it doesn't have a Polo so bad example. Hopefully you get my drift though.

Hi... thanks for your input.... Im not sure I understand you correctly... but are you saying that its customary to haggle (ie. negotiate price) at these outlets...??? I did not know this was customary in the US... thanks for any clarification you can provide.

I had the same disbelief before going with my sister. No matter what the product was and no matter what the store was, she haggled. If the haggling at a certain store did not work; she moved on. I would say her success rate was around 75%, but she was only looking for certain brands and certain items. I, as a man with no fashion knowledge, even thought the haggled prices were outrageous just because of a name on it.

Her "secret" was to haggle with men, never women. In my sister's wisdom, women salespeople know what other women customers are trying to do by haggling and always say no and men can't say no to women when it comes to haggling. Again not my wisdom, but in her case it worked.

Good luck in your hunt... err I mean shopping.

Make sure you are signed up for the Premium Outlets VIP shopper. Then add both centers to your list and compare the VIP-only coupons/offers. These discounts are slightly higher than the coupon book you pick up from information, but can also differ from center to center even for the same stores.

If I am looking for something specific, I often check the VIP offers at Camarillo vs. Desert Hills. Have found several times where Desert Hills will have a better coupon - something like 25% off one item vs. $20 dollars off a $100 minimum spend at Off 5th. Then it becomes a question on whether the extra hour each way is worth it?

I visited San Marcos a couple weeks ago driving from San Antonio to Austin on a Saturday. 107 degrees and a million people. Our main focus was kids clothes as our 19 month old has outgrown most of his clothes. Did find a lot of value.

Interesting to find this thread as I have the same question as Gaucho100k: a friend is traveling from Brazil to Dallas and I suggested San Marcos Outlet. However, as it turns out, she is also a Rothko admirer and is interested in going to the Rothko Chapel in Houston. In this case, I was not sure if it would be worth going to San Marcos (and hitting some bbq places near Austin) or "just" going to the Houston Premium Outlets. Also, Tanger Outlets opened in Houston in late 2012, making it seem more appealing to stay in the Houston area.

Gaucho100k, what was your experience like?

Having been to both San Marcos and Houston Premium Outlets, San Marcos is a little better, IMO. But it completely depends on what stores you want to visit, I seem to remember there was one that San Marco had that Houston didn't, hence my preference. Tanger Outlets generally not anywhere near as nice as Premium ones, so you can pretty much cross that off your list unless there's a store you very much want to visit. The prices are pretty much the same between San Marcos and Cypress.

Lastly, I had no idea people haggled at outlet malls. Learn something new every day, I suppose.

I am in San Marcos every other week for work. It seems that the deals that people are used to, or expect are no longer abundant. San Marcos is quickly becoming like any other outlet mall. Stay in Houston and go to an outlet mall there