October 2006 Cover Story Features

Cover Story

Retail Marvels
Polo Ralph Lauren won the award for Best Overall Chain at the 2006 Outlet Retail Chain Awards, presented at the VRN Fall Outlet Retailing Convention in Orlando in September. Other top winners were Children's Place, Disney Outlet, Neiman Marcus Last Call, Jockey, Nike, Coach, Pottery Barn, Lacoste, Restoration Hardware, Under Armour and BCBG.

Features

News Up Front
Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets in Mercedes, Texas prepares to open; Kitchen Collection aquires Le Gourmet Chef; industry pioneer Greg Boyle dies; some residents seek incorporation at site of future Tanger center; Tourneau, which previously announced it would be opening outlet stores, goes up for auction; and plans for CenterState Crossing Outlet Village die in Columbia, Mo.

Growing Maidenform
Maidenform opens two new stores and has plans for more.

Tighter Ship
Oneida Ltd. goes through major changes aimed at making the company leaner and stronger than ever.

Bouncing Back
Converse, after closing all its outlet stores in 2001, mounts an aggressive push back into the outlet world.

Retail Briefs
Premium denim-jean maker True Religion Apparel to open first outlet store; Wilsons-The Leather Experts looks ahead to the vital Christmas holiday sales period for an upturn; Jones Apparel, a major outlet player, takes itself off the market; Iconix - which owns the Joe Boxer, Candies, Bongo, Badgley Mischka, Rampage and Mudd brands - buys outlet stalwart London Fog, but its 33 stores are sold; and Gymboree hails its first back-to-school promotion.

Tanger Openings
Two new Tanger outlet centers hold their grand openings, one in North Charleston, S.C. and the other near Wisconsin Dells, Wis.

Colorado Models
The Outlets of Colorado chooses six young models to represent the three centers in TV and print promos.