Fashion Outlets of Chicago - A new mall filled with high-end retailers selling designer clothing at discounted prices

Chicagoland suburban malls like Oakbrook Center and Woodfield Mall will need to step it up this holiday season by offering deals and incentives for shoppers in order to compete with the new Fashion Outlets of Chicago. Located in Rosemont, Illinois, this giant two-level outlet mall is filled with about 150 stores/boutiques. Many of these stores are high-end retailers selling designer labels at significant discounts. My mother and I checked out the Fashion Outlets last Thursday – opening day!

With the exception of Saks Fifth Avenue’s Off 5^th store, most of the high-end retailers are located on the second level. The first level houses popular stores such as Forever 21 and Gap Outlet. Sports stores like Nike Factory Store and Under Armour are also on the first level as well as many children’s stores.

As my mother and I rode the escalator to the second level, we noticed numerous people standing in a line. Actually, there were series of lines and security guys at the head of each line. We couldn’t figure out what was going on – was the Starbucks kiosk in the middle of the crowd giving away free coffee? Was there some meet & greet with a celebrity? Oh no…these lines were to get into Gucci, Tory Burch, and Coach. According to mall employees we spoke to, the average wait for each line was over an hour. We chose not to waste our time waiting in lines and ventured to other stores. Prada was selling purses for 40% off, Herve Leger had a fabulous selection of dresses that were marked down, and Neiman Marcus Last Call offered racks and racks of clothing by a variety of luxury designers. Stores like Cole Haan had purses and shoes for up to 60% off.

Another high-end designer store where we shopped was Giorgio Armani. It was very exciting to see all these beautiful clothes marked 60% off. Like many of the other stores in this mall, the selection of discounted clothing and purses was vast. The store sells clothing for men, women and children. There were also cases of unique jewelry (shown in the photo below) marked 80% off.

Unique clothing & accessories at the Armani outlet store

We discovered a couple new retailers (at least we had never been to these stores). One was called PORTS 1961. It is a Canadian retailer that is new to the Chicago market. The designs and clothing fabrics were stunning; most of which are made in Italy. The other retailer is London based L.K. Bennett. The brand is not new to the market, but the outlet location is a first for the area. The clothing is very elegant and I love the patent leather shoes and purses.

I really liked the BCBG Max Azira store, and the prices were amazing! It was impressive as far as the amount of merchandise that was available in the store. There were all styles of dresses, skirts, tops, pants, blazers, and accessories. BCBG jewelry rarely goes on sale at the regular store, but this outlet store had tons of necklaces, bracelets and earrings marked down.

You can find great deals at the Banana Republic Factory Outlet. Most items for men and women were an extra percentage off the sale price. It’s a good place to stock up on basics like a pair jeans that cost $20, sundresses that were under $30, and tops that retailed for $10-$20.

I advise making a plan before you go to this mall as it is so massive. Print out a map of stores from the mall’s website www.fashionoutletsofchicago.com to get familiar with the space and where you want to shop so you can make the most of your time there. We spent over 4 hours at the mall and did not get to all the stores we wanted to visit – just have to go back soon!