? about Allen Texas/Premium Outlet

[bookgirl]

My birthday falls just before Labor day this year. My mom and I are taking a road trip (do a little shopping/gambling/girlstuff) to celebrate. We were going to drive down to Austin/San Marcos which has a Prime Outlet location. (Coach, Ralph Lauren, etc)

However I just found out that Allen, Texas has a Premium Outlets with a Coach store, and has a medium range hotel chain that we like just a mile away. It'll be Labor Day Weekend and a shorter trip is a plus to changing destinations as well as that fact that the same hotel chain in San Marcos is 70 dollers higher for the same night and level of stay. However I much prefer the Prime Outlets to the Premium.

Has anyone been there? I'm familar with north Texas (I'm from Oklahoma) and we are also going to be hitting Grapevine Mills and staying one night at Winstar's new resort hotel in Thackerville, so a short jog over to Allen would be much easier than another 4 hours to Austin.

Any info would be appreciated.

 

[missypie]

You really need to print the store directories from both. Note that Allen has only one outlet center but San Marcos has both Prime and Tanger. Years ago, Prime had all the best stores, but some have migrated across the way to Tanger.

San Marcos has Besty Johnson. Allen doesn't. Just look at the directory for the stores that excite you and see if the ones you like are in Allen. Allen will be a lot less crowded than San Marcos.

 

[JamieW]

There is also an outlet center in Hillsboro, which is between Dallas and Waco, so still much closer than San Marcos, if you want to add another stop to your Grapevine Mills and Allen stops.

http://www.outletsathillsboro.com/

 

[bookgirl]

You really need to print the store directories from both. Note that Allen has only one outlet center but San Marcos has both Prime and Tanger. Years ago, Prime had all the best stores, but some have migrated across the way to Tanger.

San Marcos has Besty Johnson. Allen doesn't. Just look at the directory for the stores that excite you and see if the ones you like are in Allen. Allen will be a lot less crowded than San Marcos.

I actually am not much of a browser, so the first thing I always check is the store list. Either one has stores that I like, but the fact that Allen is less crowded would definitly be a plus. I really like the Coach outlets so that was my main goal, and it always seems like the Prime outlets get a better selection then the Premium outlets.

There is also an outlet center in Hillsboro, which is between Dallas and Waco, so still much closer than San Marcos, if you want to add another stop to your Grapevine Mills and Allen stops.

http://www.outletsathillsboro.com/

They have Fossil. I love Fosil. Thanks for the heads up, we'll have to look at it.

 

[missypie]

Be careful with Hillsboro...call the store or stores you want to visit before you make a special trip down there. It's been a couple of months since I made the trip south on I-35, but at that time so many of the stores were dark. We deemed it not even worth a stop anymore.

 

[bookgirl]

Be careful with Hillsboro...call the store or stores you want to visit before you make a special trip down there. It's been a couple of months since I made the trip south on I-35, but at that time so many of the stores were dark. We deemed it not even worth a stop anymore.

I went to look and Fossil is really the only store that I would want to see and it's not worth the trip over. I've noticed at a lot of the smaller outlets the stores are closing.

 

[PirateSnowmen]

I would say that unless there are quite a few more stores you'd like to visit in San Marcos, the trip wouldn't be worth it. I live in Dallas, so I go to the outlets in Allen a few times a year. They're really nice, but can be quite crowded on the weekends - Saturday in particular. I seem to always go on Saturdays, and even though it's crowded, it's definitely manageable.

I went to look and Fossil is really the only store that I would want to see and it's not worth the trip over. I've noticed at a lot of the smaller outlets the stores are closing.

I don't know about any of the outlets in San Marcos, but they have a Fossil at the outlets in Allen. I've bought a couple of things from there and always go inside every visit