21.05.12
KITTERY, Maine — The numbers are enough to make most business owners salivate. Second- and third-quarter sales are up 25 percent over last year; November sales were up 18 percent; Thanksgiving weekend sales were up an average of 10 percent to 14 percent.
Apple? Walmart?
Nope. The Tanger Outlet malls in Kittery, said Marketing Director Mari Hoell. And those numbers hold true pretty much up and down Route 1, as the Kittery Outlet stores attract large numbers of shoppers.
With 118 stores stretching from the tip of the Coastal Route 1 exit off of Interstate 95 to Haley Road, only four remain unrented, said Lynn Smith, marketing director for all of the outlet centers — actually an amalgam of centers owned by several different outlet companies.
"We always have a 95 percent or better occupancy rate," she said.
Business is booming, with recent openings of trendy stores for high school and college students like Charlotte Russe, Lucky Brand Jeans and 12 sports and sneaker stores. The Kittery Outlets are not alone in this. Across the country, outlets are seeing skyrocketing sales.
Source: Seacoastonline.com