The Kittery Outlets

It’s about 100 stores spread among 14 plazas along both sides of Route 1. The selection is immense, but the distances between some of the stores can be daunting, based upon the spread out nature of things.
So its basically very different from most of the outlets you’re probably familiar with. This really isn’t the kind of place where you park in a central lot and walk around a singular complex. Not everything is interconnected, so it can be challenging walking from one to another, let alone crossing busy U. S. Route 1 to see stuff on the other side of the street.
Doing some advance research and figuring out exactly where you want to shop will pay you big dividends here. Either that or bring your track shoes.

Nice little burger joint on the right side of this outdoor mecca.
I didn’t particularly care for the hot dog, but I will try again.

Not the best but not bad at all, we found some great deals at Coach and Tumi, we were on our way back from ME when the highway was blocked so took a detour and this is right off of Rte. 1 which is very convenient.
Easy parking, not too crowded. Will visit again.

Kittery Outlets are just okay — I’m semi-​spoiled because I have Woodbury Common Outlets just an hour drive from where I live, but even so I don’t find these outlets to be impressive.
The layout is poorly designed — the outlets are clustered together in mini strip-​malls along route 1. The problem with this is that the clusters are not connected, so to get from one group of stores to another you need to get in your car and drive to each of them — it gets tedious and annoying after a while.
The selection of stores is okay as well — kind of what you expect in an outlet mall, nothing too special. You can sometimes make a killing when shopping at outlets but there’s no guarantee. I do enjoy shopping, so I make the best of my visit and have generally picked up a few things on each of my trips.
The Kittery Outlets, Tanger Outlets, and Kittery Premium Outlets are all adjacent to each other so you can easily spend a good chunk of the day exploring and spending — happy shopping!

I feel like the outlets can be fun but would be better if the stores weren’t all spread out across both sides of Route 1, and having multiple sections of stores. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have everything grouped together so you don’t have to keep getting in and out of your car, fighting to find a parking spot, or just fighting traffic in general. And plus, the sales can sometimes be the same as what you would find in the mall. That being said. I do enjoy going because there are some stores that I don’t have near me and like to explore new things when given the chance.

Wenn man mit 2 Frauen in den Urlaub fährt, muss man gerade in den USA den einen oder anderen Shopping-​Stop einplanen. Unsere erste Station war das Outlet in Kittery.
Zu jedem Shopping-​Besuch gehört auch eine ordentliche Vorbereitung. Das Kittery Outlet gehört zum Verbund der Premium Outlets, dort sollte man sich auch vorher auf der Homepage registrieren, um in den Genuss eines Voucherheftes zu kommen. Auf der Homepage wird auch noch auf extra Savings hingewiesen.
Da wir schon in Florida die Geschäfte geplündert hatten, waren wir nur noch auf absolute Schnäppchen aus. Die Preise aus Florida hatten wir also noch im Gedächtnis. Man sollte in jedem Laden dann auf die Zauberworte Clearance und additional savings achten. Hier kann besonders viel gespart werden. Anders als in Deutschland kann man mehrmals sparen und es gibt fast nie Ausschlüsse. Oft kann man bei Erreichen einer bestimmten Kaufsumme zu den bereits erzielten Ersparnissen nochmals 10 — 20% sparen.
In Kittery erwarten den Gast 65 Outlet-​Stores, die in 5 verschiedenen Gebäudekomplexen geclustert sind und den Highway 1 auf unterschiedlichen Straßenseiten säumen.
Was hat uns gefallen:
Gute Ersparnisse: Bei Tommy Hilfiger für eine Damenjeans, eine Kinderjeans, eine Badeshorts und ein Poloshirt für insgesamt 57, — $ gekauft, das waren umgerechnet 47, — €. Eine Ersparnis von 70% zum ursprünglichen Verkauspreis. Alle bekannten und für Europäer interessante Designer waren vertreten.
Nicht gefallen hat uns:
Um alle Geschäfte zu besuchen, muss man immer wieder zum Auto zurückkehren und auf den nächsten Parkplatz fahren. Nervig und hat uns auch dazu bewogen, die Shopping-​Tour irgendwann abzubrechen. Es gibt natürlich keine Bürgersteige, wie in Deutschland, so dass man immer auf das Auto angewiesen ist.
Da am nächsten Tag Freeport geplant war und wir noch müde vom Flug waren, sind wir nach 1 Stunde weitergefahren. Man kann Kittery empfehlen, aber der Besuch der Geschäfte ist schon umständlich.

These outlets are poorly designed. You should be able to park once (maybe twice) and walk everywhere, but instead you park (and on a busy day, have fun driving around and around to find a spot), you go to some shops, you get back in your car and fight with the traffic to find your next store further down the street, repeat, lather, rinse. I wouldn’t make a special trip to come here, but if you need to get some «deals» and live in the general area, sure, go and have a ball.

Good shopping! I have found loss of deals in many of the stores. Make you go to informational services and get a coupon book. The only drawback is that you have to drive to each little strip of stores which is no big deal in the summer but sucks in bad weather.

I had not been here in over 10 years and some things have changed, definitely more stores and more restaurants. Pretty much the same outlet stores that you see at almost every outlet centers in the US. I was impressed that there was a Hanna Andersson outlet, found some great deals there for my nieces and nephew.

Nice outlets, but I didn’t think the bargains were all that great. Prices were what you’d find at most malls on sale, I think. I’m not much of an outlet shopper though. I was in the area and thought I’d give them a try. People in all the stores were very friendly which was nice, but there was a definite element of tourists who weren’t as friendly and that was a bit of a turn off (though nothing to do with the outlets, just the people who shop there). I did find a great pair of shoes at the huge shoe store which I was happy to see had a web site that I’ll definitely be checking out!

Outlets are all the same. Pastel colors. 95% of all clothes are in sizes XS, S, or XXL.
Kittery is in a good location if you’re driving from Boston to anywhere in Maine, but the outlets are all spread out in little stripmalls. You can’t really walk so you have to keep getting in/​out of the car and finding parking spots. The stores are pretty standard, but not nearly as extensive as what you’d find in Wrentham MA.
Best store in Kittery is the Trading Post and that’s not even an outlet.

Good stores, good deals/​prices, parking everywhere, and very little traffic. I love it here!

The Kittery Outlets have, in my opinion, gone downhill a little bit over the past couple of years. Some stores I enjoyed visiting have closed, others have moved in consolidations. Some of the sections are up to half-​empty right now. There’s still quite a few stores I enjoy visiting to make it worth the trip, and if I really want some nostalgia, I can dine at the Weathervane Seafood restaurant (many years ago, there used to be one in Saratoga Springs which I visited often).
The brochure giving the store layouts is currently outdated. I wanted to go to the Black and Decker Outlet, which was suddenly not where I remembered. The brochure showed it had moved, and when I got to that area, all I found was an empty building. I eventually had to call the provided number to learn it was no longer a working number.
One thing they do well here is place signs (blue with white lettering) near each section’s entrance to allow you to see what stores are in each complex as you approach.
If you’re going there for anything beyond clothes, you may want to double-​check in advance to make sure the store (s) you want to visit are open.

best store was Columbia… prices were good. However all stores charge taxes… I think 5% but might be a bit higher. I did not like this and it was a surprise to me. I am from Taxachusetts (Massachusetts) and taxes are not charged on clothes here.
Will I return, yes. Just to shop at Columbia and maybe check out the coach store.

It’s an ok outlet mall.
The layout and spreadoutness (new word) is a bit extreme with shops all over the place. Reminds me a bit of those in CA which I guess grew and had no choice but to occupy spaces dotted around.
It has the usual suspects of mall stores and if you know what you are looking for, then you can most likely find it. I think most outlet malls are best when you have something in mind.
If not, you are liable to get something you either don’t need or something that could have been gotten somewhere else for either better quality or equivalent price.

Ah the Kittery Outlets… Being that I grew up about 15 miles from the Wrentham Outlets I suppose maybe this review may be a bit biased though I’ll try to remain fair.
THIS PLACE SUCKED! Seriously, for someone who is a bit of a bargain hunter I found that almost every store that I went in charged retail if not MORE than retail and the selection really wasn’t that good. I couldn’t find a single deal there, pricing in general was a joke. Example: 70% off and and this weekend only an additional 25% off — great you think, and then you check the tag and see the item’s been marked up to account for the discount. So after it’s all said and done, you’re still paying retail.
I think Kittery Outlets were designed to serve as a great shopping destination for folks who don’t have big malls or designer clothing stores in their town/​state.
Bottom Line — If you don’t mind paying retail and want to hit a J. Crew, Polo, Nautica, Brooks Brothers and Crate and Barrel all in the same day. It’s 100% worth the trip, other than that the average prices, the traffic and strange configurations of store clusters make this a one-​and-​done for me.
PS: Stop at Bob’s Clams and get a cup of the Lobster Stew oh man, too good.

I’ve reviewed a few of the Kittery Outlet stores before but it never occurred to me to lump them all together into one review until I saw someone else do it. Well yes, I have an opinion or two on the outlet stores.
The good news: It’s all here… somewhere. It’s a confusing mass of stores in an endless series of little strip malls. You’ll get lost but I think that happens by design so you’ll look around. There IS a web site so you can plan your trip, but don’t. Drive around and explore. And besides, the Kittery Trading Post is stuck in the middle of it all.
The bad news: First, they built this insane place on the Maine side of the border when there’s no sales tax a mile away in New Hampshire. Who built this thing, the State of Maine? Next, it’s a traffic nightmare even when it’s not the holiday season. Endless minivans and SUVs with drivers on cell phones play bumper cars in the parking lots. If you’re a pedestrian, be careful because nobody else will be paying attention. Finally, they’re not all REALLY outlet stores. You’ll want to know if something’s a good price or not before you come here.
So, it looks like there’s more bad than good here but that’s not true. It’s a good place to get what you need because of the variety. As with many things, your first time is going to be awkward but you’ll get the hang of it before long.

First time here this weekend, so I’m a newbie to these outlets.
Tons of stores, but it’s spread out allllll along Route 1. Stores are in clusters on both sides of the highway and separated by other streets along the length of Route 1. To avoid getting hit by a car or crossing the highway, you need to drive to the 10+ sections of the outlets.
Layout aside, my boyfriend and I were able to maneuver through outlet chaos relatively quickly (2.5 hours!) and pick up a few things that we had been wanting.
I think this is a general rule with outlets, but a lot of the clothing (and other non-​clothing ones too) stores have lower quality clothes and products that were intended to be sold only at outlets. People go in thinking they are getting the same quality for less, but sometimes, that’s not the case! Just an FYI, take it or leave it.
Regardless, I am super happy I scored 2 pairs of jcrew shorts for $ 18/​each!

I am now amazed at the stores that just opened here. We found an Orvis and Barbour store next to the Eddie Bauer. Also, there was the new Under Armour right next to the Bose store. This outlet heaven is just getting better and better. I can’t believe higher-​end stores are opening here. This certainly makes it worthwhile if you live in northeast Mass if you want to avoid the craziness of Wrentham Outlet Village.

This place is completely over-​rated.
Before going to the outlets, I suggest this strategy.
1) Figure out what you’re seriously on the market for (i.e Denim jacket? Gabardine wool work pants? Cashmere sweaters? Leopard print ballet flats? Navy blue wool boyfriend blazer)
2) Visit the website and note down the stores which will likely carry the items you’re looking for and which buildings they are in (i.e GAP, Banana Republic, J. Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren, Jones New York, Nine West). Don’t go with the idea of you just want to see what they have, because you’re going to be overwhelmed very easily and then end up buying stuf you don’t really need but you bought because «it’s on sale»
3) Go to Kittery and grab the first parking spot you can, I find behind the buildings have more spots and less people even bother to look there. Leave your car there and walk the rest of the way, because leaving one building to go park somewhere else down the street with the amount of traffic here will seriously make you lose an extra hour or two for nothing. Beside the buildings at not spread that far apart and if walking a block or two is normal for you and if you’re not buying a brand new canoe or TV set, then carrying stuff is not a big deal.
That said, I hit Kittery for the first time this weekend and found absolutely nothing that I was looking for. The outlet stores are basically stocked with stuff which the «normal» stores couldn’t sell. The styles and selections were ugly. That’s also the risk of discount shopping, it can be hit or miss and you need to go often in order to catch the finds. Had I been looking for jeans, then you can’t miss here, between the Levi’s store, GAP, Old Navy, Calvin Klein, Banana Republic, you’re bound to find something.
The J. Crew store was also a disappointment. Even the classic pieces like a navy blue wool suit coordinates and blazers were only $ 10 off their original price of $ 200. Not a bargain in my mind.
I’m sticking to Marshall’s. TJ Maxx, and the DSW shoe warehouse from now on.

As others mentioned, this outlet experience is not ideal in terms of parking/​driving, but I do appreciate the pamphlet they make readily available to you, which provides a full list of stores and a map so you can plan out where you want to go. I’d rather have a map than wandering aimlessly with minimal assistance, as I’ve experienced at some other outlets. The map is also available online at
.
Over 120 stores to choose from… everything from Banana Republic to Wilsons; from Movado to Adidas; from J. Jill to Gymboree. As is common in outlet shopping, some stores were more impressive than others in terms of bargains. My best find was a mid-​weight Columbia jacket for spring/​fall, originally $ 90 but marked down to $ 20. Coach was offering an additional 20% savings the day I was there; they had a lot of bags that came to about $ 100, which wasn’t exactly a steal but still a nice departure from their original $ 400 price tags. The Kittery Trading Post has a huge mish-​mash of stuff if you’re looking for souvenirs, various clothing and a large selection of camping/​hunting stuff.