Let's Make a Deal!

Skip the mall and head for the Lake George outlets this holiday season

Story and photos by Elizabeth Piseczny

The scent of new merchandise, the rush of cash changing hands, the excitement of catching a glance at a red tag-- all reasons why the hunt for an amazing bargain can turn your average holiday shopper into a rabid discount-rack maniac. And for many holiday shoppers, this craze is reason to head to the mall. This year, however, if money’s a little tight, but Santa is still stopping at your house, head to the outlet malls of Lake George.

Head down the Northway, take a left after you get off of exit 20, and don’t forget a good pair of sneakers. The outlet malls of the Lake George Plaza, Adirondack Outlet Mall, and French Mountain Commons are all within walking distance-- literally just across the road from each other-- but with all the deals of these three shopping centers, you’ll be there all day. If you want to venture a little further, you can drive up the road to the Log Jam Outlet Center, a smaller outlet which offers more outdoors-y shops, like Olympia Sports.

Now, let’s be clear. I’m not much of a shopper. I like to get in, get out, and get done, spending as little money as possible. However, my trip to the outlet malls would’ve convinced any observer otherwise. My intentions were simple. I wanted to browse and window shop, maybe buy a pair of boots, definitely check out sales, and get some gift ideas for the people in my life. Accompanied by my boyfriend, Moses, I thought I could stealthily pick up on some things on his wish list.

We started out at the Lake George Plaza, a clean plaza with green awnings covering a variety of high-end and low-end stores. A quick stop to PacSun offered friendly employees who greeted me upon my entrance to the store, but didn’t follow me around or try to “help me shop.” Sale tags read thirty percent off, or advertised shirts for $9.99. I was intrigued, but I was also on a mission. So, we headed out to the next store.

 At Yankee Candle we were again cheerfully greeted, and impressed with the five-dollar candles and three-dollar candle holders, but were quickly overcome by the powerful scent of the candles. Still, I made a mental note to return at a later date for some easy, cheap gifts for my mother and aunts.

Our next stop, the Timberland store, offered a few clues into the mind of my companion: perhaps a new flannel shirt (for under twenty bucks), but definitely not a pair of work boots, which were on sale, yet still out of my price range. The store was quiet and uncrowded, and we were left alone to browse. Definitely catering more to Moses’ tastes, as we left he commented, “I like this store.” Hmmm, interesting.

We passed by Perfumania, Maidenform, Izod, and Van Heusen, which was covered in signs advertising 50 percent off storewide, in favor for the Coach Outlet. I braced myself and entered the store. This is definitely the most crowded and the priciest of all of the shops that Lake George Plaza offered. Even though there were steep discounts on much of the merchandise, most of the bags, wallets and other accessories were still out of my price range.

At one point, Moses picked up a stiff leather square imprinted with the Coach “C.” I couldn’t fathom its purpose until he disgustedly exclaimed, “It’s a fifty dollar mouse pad!” We continued to browse, and I was enchanted with a four hundred dollar coat with the colorful Coach plaid pattern, but we soon headed out to find a real sale.

Overall, the Lake George Plaza offered some great brand names, was clean, well-lit, and hassle-free. 

Next, we headed next door to the Adirondack Outlet Mall. It was clear from its slightly run down appearance and much less crowded parking lot that many of the stores were lower-end. There were several shops that had access from outdoors, but we passed the Big Dog store in favor of the entrance to the indoor mall.

Inside, a couple stores had clothes racks scattered about, and each storefront looked like a cute home decorated for the holidays.  While the clothes were unimpressive, this mall offered the best selection of shoes out of the three. I looked into Easy Spirit because some simple black boots caught my eye, but was quickly bored. The woman running the shop was on the telephone making what was clearly a personal call, so we left without much browsing.

However, we soon stumbled upon Factory Brand Shoes, a treasure trove of heels, sneakers, sandals and boots. I was quickly engrossed in my search for the perfect winter boot, while Moses collapsed onto a convenient bench to await my decision, but not without a worried glance at my expression and a reminder that we were looking for boots only. How could I contain myself to just the boot section when the entire room was covered in shoes?

There was a great selection of shoes, and the prices were marked down, but not great. Prices ranged from about forty to eighty dollars for boots, not too much more competitive than DSW or any other shoe store.In the end, I just wrote down the name of the boots I had found and vowed to find them online at a cheaper price.

Lastly, as we tired of shopping, we crossed the busy road to visit the French Mountain Commons, which featured stores like Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Banana Republic, and Nine West.  Of the three plazas, this was the most expensive and had the craziest parking lot. Even before the Black Friday insanity, cars were coming in and out, barely regarding pedestrians. At least in the other plazas, drivers were polite and cautious.

The Banana Republic was offering forty percent off the entire store, and employees kept an eye on the many shoppers within its doors. There were great items, like a vibrant orange cocktail dress and on-incredible-sale sunglasses. Many of the stores had signs and enticing, elegantly dressed mannequins in the windows. The Gap was bustling with business, employees stocking tables and shelves, and clothing, shoes, accessories everywhere! I was tempted by not only some great, colorful sweaters and a pair of fluffy, fuzzy socks, but I could have knocked off most of my shopping list in one fell swoop-- a thick, grey sweater for my brother, a pair zebra-print flats for my best friend, a bright red cardigan for my mom.

I was really impressed by the shops that Lake George offered, and surprised that the outlet mall existed! How could I have lived in the Adirondacks for three years and never known that there actually was decent shoe store within a two-hour radius? With plenty of parking, store-wide sales, and teams of employees desperate to get merchandise out and commission into their pockets, the Lake George Outlet Malls are a great place to get started on your seasonal contribution to the economy, or even just to window shop.

Have you visited the Lake George outlet malls?