Cincinnati premium outlets
While I am not the biggest fan of endless shopping, I still love occassional walks through shopping malls. If nothing else I like to window shop, and occassionally, I will treat myself to a new outfit for my upcoming travels.
And at this point, I should mention that I do not like to spend a lot of money on clothes. So most of the clothes I own, are either from a thrift store or from outlet stores. And one of my favourite outlet stores is called Cincinnati premium outlets, and you can read more about this place in the following blog post.
How to get there?
You will find Cincinnati premium outlets about halfway between Dayton in Cincinnati, Ohio, more precisely, in the Monroe county. The address that you can put into your GPS is 400 Premium outlets drive. If you are coming to the Cincinnati premium outlets from Dayton, take an exit in Monroe, turn left at the traffic light and then keep going straight. Once you reach the Waffle house (it will be on your right), turn right, and then immediately turn right again. You will be driving uphill for a little while, and then you will notice the parking lot and the Cincinnati premium outlets behind it.
If you are coming from Cincinnati, also take an exit in Monroe and turn right. Same as if you were coming from Dayton, turn right after you pass the Waffle house and then turn right again. If the parking lot in the back is full, you can drive around to the front. There are less parking spaces there, but fewer people know about it, so you are basically guaranteed to find a parking spot there. The back parking lot is huge, so there are signs with letters and numbers that will make it easier to memorize where you parked your car.
How does the place look like?
Cincinnati premium outlets are basically a big outdoor shopping complex, which makes shopping there a pretty unpleasant experience when it is cold and when it is raining. Well, some of the parts are covered, but in winter, I prefer shopping in indoor shopping centers. Do not let that discourage you from visiting this place in more unpleasant weather, though!
The place itself consists of six long buildingswith stores on both their sides. From the highway, the place looks smaller, because you cannot see how long the buildings actually are. It is pretty easy to orientate there, just find the desired store on a map, and you will see whether it is inside the first, second or third building.
As you can see on this picture, the storefronts are covered, so you will not get wet if it rains. And do not worry, this place is not decorated like that year - round. This picture was taken around Christmas time.
You will find maps of the Cincinnati premium outlets all around the place. I agree that the place can be difficult to navigate without a map, since the stores are scattered around in a random order. But once you find it on a map, all you need to do is to walk to the right building.
Shops
One of the shops that I love at the Cincinnati premium outlets, and it does not even sell clothes, is the Lindt chocolate shop.
Just look at all thic Lindt praline variety! And yes, I tried them all (except the mint chocolate, ewww), and no, I could not decide which one is my favourite.
If you would like to find out more about it, I wrote a blog post, describing it, a few months ago. But I am sure the real reason you are reading this, is to find out the best clothing stores at Cincinnati premium outlets. These are my absolute favorites:
I am sure everybody is familiar with a famous department store, Saks. At Cincinnati premium outlets, you will find Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth, which sells highly discounted models from previous seasons.
Saka Fifth Avenue has some really nice clothing items, but I never buy them in a regular store, because they are just too expensive. I love the fact that I am able to get them at Cincinnati premium outlets. And, like I said, I do not mind wearing models from previous seasons.
Banana Republic factory store is the place to go if you would like to buy some casual clothes without spending a fortune on them. I especially love their blouses because they fit me perfectly. There is a Banana Republic store very close to my house, but I prefer to go to the one at Cincinnati premium outlets not only because it is cheaper, but because the employees there are among the most friendly ones in any store I have been to.
I am sure you are familiar with the Converse brand. Most people associate Converse only with shoes, but they sell more than that. In this store, you will also find T - shirts, handbags, duffel bags, socks and even towels! And let's not forget the awesome selection of the Converse shoes that you can see in there. I will never wear a plain Converse pair of shoes again!
I visited this store during sales, and I bought three pairs of Converse sneakers. Each pair cost me nineteen dollars.
Rue 21 is an American equivalent of the European store New Yorker. It offers affordable street fashion, targeted towards younger people, and not only are the prices very low (this is an outlet, after all), they often have amazing promotions, such as buy one, get one fifty percent off, or even free.
Aeropostale is a cool store with even cooler deals. The items that I usually buy there, are T - shirts, hoodies and jeans, and they often have buy one, get one free deals.
Nike factory store sells Nike shoes and clothes for sometimes up to eighty percent off the original retail price. Last time I was there, I bought Nike running shoes for twenty nine dollars (the original price was around ninety dollars), and a pair of yoga pants for a little over nine dollars each (and they usually do not cost less than forty dollars).
There is even a little playground for kids in the middle of this place!
Cincinnati premium outlets also has a Lacoste store, and despite the low prices there, I never shop in it, because I do not like their clothes.
Prices
Since all the stores here are outlets or factory stores, the prices are much lower than in regular stores. Of course, not everything will be from this season, but who cares? I am certainly not the person who only wears clothes from the season they came out in.
You can spend even less money if you go there during winter and summer sales, but there is usually too many people there to make the shopping experience enjoyable, and if you do not manage to get there on your first day, all there will be left, will be extra big and extra small sizes. And do yourself a favour and do not try to shop there during Black Friday. It is just not worth it. Last year, I drove there with an intention of getting some new shoes, and I turned back once I saw the crowds.
A few words for the end…
Cincinnati premium outlets are a great place to stock up on some upscale clothing for a low price. Situated between two major Ohio cities, they are just an easy drive away from whenever you are.
