The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass

To me this seemed more like an outdoor mall. When I hear outlet mall, I think discounted prices. Only about half of the stores I actually went had the discounted prices, most of the stores were just regular shops. Thank being said, I really like the variety of shops available and in one place. It had all the stores normally go in, but normally have to sotp at 3 different places to hit them all. So the one stop shopping was great. The weather was nice for a January day, so it was nice to be able to walk around outside between actual shopping.

We’ve been here a few times and yesterday was the best! There was no one there! Must have been about 4:00 or so, the day shoppers had gone and the evening shoppers hadn’t arrived! We prefer outdoor shopping rather than an enclosed mall so this is perfect. We had just had something to eat or we would have gone straight to Johnny Rockets… Next time for sure!
Very clean, good eats and most of the stores we like are here.
One of us goes more for shopping, the other for the food! :) so we’re both happy!
We will continue to go here over any other mall in the Louisville area.

I only do the outdoor mall thing if I have to, because I am not a fan of weather. Too hot, too cold, too windy. Its pretty much always too something to be wandering around outside. And parking here is horrific, they took a bunch of the little parking they had to add more shops. And the bathrooms are unbelievable, seriously, like totally disgusting. That is, of course, if the bathrooms aren’t out of order. On the plus side, they have good bargains. You should know your prices before you go, though, because the bargains are hidden in a forest of overpriced stuff. I have been disappointed in the quality at some of the stores, the Coach outlet springs immediately to mind on that score. I like going to the Ghirardelli store and the Under Armor, Hanesbrands, and Nike. I am a fan of a good bargain, but the discomforts involved in coming here often make me unwilling to deal with it.

I come here way too often. It’s hard to pass the Simpsonville exit without stopping, but it has got me in trouble with my wallet and my fiancé!
First of all there are sooo many stores! Some of them are the usual outlet fluff (weird, cheap brands you’ve never heard of), but for the most part you’ve got quality stores to keep you busy all day! My favorites are J Crew Factory, Banana Republic Factory, Saks Off Fifth, Yankee Candle, Kate Spade… and the list goes on.
More than half my current wardrobe has come from the outlet mall. And let me tell you, I look fabulous!
My advice to everyone is as follows:
–Be choosy about what you buy. If you think it looks cheap or feels gross, it does. It doesn’t matter it’s that fancy brand you usually love.
–Not all sales or promos are good deals. Have a game plan. Sign up for online coupons from those stores. Pay attention to their marketing plans. You will learn quickly how to save the real money.
–Come on a rainy day! The mall is outdoors, but each corridor is covered. You won’t have problems with parking or crowds!
–Park on the backside of the mall (second right hand turn after you get off I-​64). Much less crowded!
–The sit down taco restaurant is delicious, but the wait can be a bit much if you are on a time constraint.
–The bathrooms in the information center/​food court are amazing. They are kept so clean and there is probably 20 stalls!
My only complaint (as the spouse to a former store manager) is directed at the outlet mall management company. Respect your employees and close the mall down in a timely fashion in inclement weather!!! Last year during the multiple snow storms, the outlet mall either closed after store employees already made the treacherous ride in or didn’t close at all! Both times without communicating to the stores what their plans were. The one day they did close, management didn’t alert anyone until 10am the day of! I know someone who got in a car wreck on their way to work that same day. Not cool.

Beautiful mall, great selection of stores with some good deals. Loved that it was the «calm before the storm» this week before Black Friday. The North Face was the best store we’d shopped at for this trip. We will return.

Great out let with lots of stores. As long as you know what you want you can get a deal. Watch out for teen age sale people now willing to recheck prices. I took 2 stars off for AE who would not validate a price that was on the back wall. Happy shopping. All stores we went in honored military discount plus one star.

There are a lot of different places to go shopping, and regardless of what you are there for you can find something you want to take home. I ended up buying clothes and even some Funko figurines for my collection. The prices are generally not much cheaper than you could find online though, but there are clearance sections in every store where you really need to head to look for super deals. It’s fun to go for a day and pick up some stuff, but it’s not anything that will change your life.

Love shopping here. Prices aren’t always lower than any other place, but I can find things here I can’t get elsewhere. I love the shaded walkways, the abundance of clean restrooms, and the fact that employees are so nice. Check out Skechers, with the most comfortable shoes. Make sure you visit Ghiaradelli Chocolates for a free sample. The Northface store has a huge selection of styles and colors at great prices! I am coming back in the fall.

Yep, finally checked it out to see what all the buzz was about. It was a nice sunny day when I visited and we really enjoyed the layout of the place. It provided for a leisurely stroll. We really did have a great day here.
There are definitely some great shops that you can’t find at any mall in Louisville– and some are discounted as you’d expect in an outlet mall– but many were very overpriced. I didn’t find the discounts I’d expected that make me want to visit the outlet frequently, but it makes for a nice «girls’ day» close to home.
Also, there are very few lunch options nearby. With that being said, I’m looking forward to seeing the area grow!

I really like the Outlet shops. Yes there are a lot of stores that are either in Lexingtn or Louisville, but there are some that aren’t. You don’t always get really discounted prices but the few times I’ve been there I’ve found some great deals! It’s a nice layout as well.
They have a few food options, but it can get crowded in there. It’s nice that there is a Culvers and another sit down restaurant just a short walk from the outlet. It also looks as they are still adding on new stores. I’m curious to see what they will add.

Good deals, not a bad drive from Louisville ! I hear they are adding a bunch of new stores in the fall.

I’ll give this place 3 stars. The people at the Hot Topic were all very nice and that’s pretty much the only reason why they don’t get a two star rating. Most of the people that work in the stores here seem to be very rude and disrespectful. The people working at the Guess store here are nothing but jerks. Said hey to the cashier and he just ignored me through the whole transaction. I didn’t see anyone working in the Banana Republic so I just left the store and went on to the next one.
I think I will come back here though; just to go to some of the shops I missed. This place is nice to go to if you have nothing else to do; and it does have some shops in it that you can’t find in Louisville like Sax on Fifth for example. They also have a lot of stores that sell kids clothes like Osh kosh and Carter’s. They even have a Toys R Us.

A new favorite place to go shopping now! We found some great deals, it made it def worth the drive! Heartstrings has adorable clothes and major discounts for your little ones! A very nice place to spend a few hours of shopping instead of the mall!

I really enjoy the hour-​ish drive from Lexington to Simpsonville to go here. I especially appreciate the stores for the plus-​sized girls, i.e. Torrid and Layne Bryant. Going here during the spring when the weather is in the high 60’s or low 70’s is glorious. Strolling between the shops is relaxing.
The only flaw I have found is that there is not many food options around. The Taqueria Tsunami is pretty decent. The other options seemed to have weird generic names like chicken Now or Pizza.
I am looking forward to this whole area growing.

I’ve gone a couple times to the outlet, and I found myself only caring about one shop… Asics. All of the other shops didn’t live up to my standards of outlet prices or selection.
I was just underwhelmed by the whole experience. While the outlets would be fun to mosey around and window shop, it wouldn’t be my first choice if I was looking for something specific. I would rather go with a bunch of girls and slowly walk store to store while talking. I did notice that there weren’t as many teens as there are in the malls, which was a definite plus.
I didn’t go opening weekend, nor did I attempt to shop here during the holidays, so I can’t speak to parking or traffic during those times, but on an average Saturday, there was ample parking.
Also, the last time I went, there was a fire alarm that kept going off, with no fire in site. There was no guidance on what we should do or anyone going around advising that it was a test.

So so excited to have an outlet mall in KY finally!
The shoppes are great and there is a plethora of stores ranging from Old Navy and Hot Topic to Saks Off 5^th and Gucci. If you know how to shop, you can find some truly great deals out there.
Stay away from the food court… It’s very much like an outlet version of a food court with a knock off Chic-​Fil-​A and Sbarro. There is a place to eat called the Taqueria (or something like that) and it’s actually got some pretty good food.
All in all, it’s a beautiful mall with lots of diversity and good deals. Check it out.

Do you like retail therapy? Do you feel a little need for retail therapy right now? If your answer is yes then you should definitely go check out this outlet mall. Let me explain myself first — I gave it three stars because I have been to some outlet malls in the Chicago area that are better so of course I’m a little biased. With that said though, this is a super awesome place to go to get some super awesome deals! They have plenty of stores there, ranging from places like Adidas, American Eagle, Lucky, Coach and Michael Kors. You have your pick of the litter, so to speak.
The food court was definitely depressing so if you are a hungry shopper I would recommend getting some food before or after your little extravaganza. But what the food court lacks, Ghirardellis shop makes up for in their delightful store front which is lined with yummy, yummy chocolates.
If you are buying in bulk then definitely go here because you can buy so many nice clothes for the seasons and you won’t feel guilty about the money you’re spending because the deals you get are crazy cool. I will say that places like Yankee candle, Adidas and some of the clothing shops have the best deals so if that’s what you’re looking for then perhaps you are in luck! It’s an outdoor mall (as is the case with almost every single outlet mall) so it’s a nice little walk on a nice day.
Now go get your retail therapy on.

So… I think a lot of people have really old ideas of what outlets are. Gone are the days where you could find stuff for rock-​bottom prices or stuff that’s from a season ago. Outlets today are a mix of cheaper lines of a company, the same kind of store you would find at a mall, and a group of brands in one company that went in on a store together. There are deals to be found, but they do come at a price: usually you are either trading quality or your time in finding these deals.
I do the I-​64 corridor drive between Louisville and Lexington more times than I care to admit, and watched with interest as the outlet shops went up. The excitement has died down, so getting in and out of the place is not a problem any more. I love how it is right off the expressway and it’s pretty easy to navigate. It’s a good driving break. Parking is relatively easy to find. I wish there were more entrances… I think there are six entrances to the store complex… so people try to get the closest parking spaces.
They have a good variety of stores, and the complex is pretty compact. I like that most of the walkways are covered so if it’s raining or snowing, you can still have fun shopping. They are some deals to be had, but again, it’s like a treasure hunt. North Face had some hiking shoes and jackets that were crazy discounted their first opening weekend, but I think the sales have slacked off. I was picking up some toys at Toys R Us Express, and the cashier told me that they usually have a more limited amount of merchandise that the big box store has, but their prices are about 30% lower than the regular store. As much as I love me my Kate Spade, I’m actually getting a little disenchanted with their outlets: the leather and nylon that they use for their outlet line have really gotten shoddy and cheap looking these past few years. I can totally pick out which purses are outlet purses and which are regular line just by looking at them; this was not the case several years ago. I went their opening weekend when everything was like 60−70% off and while women were insanely grabbing bags, walked out with nothing because of the crappy material. But I managed to score $ 7 Spanx at Francesca’s last weekend!
Now if only they would open a Le Creuset or a Williams-​Sonoma outlet, I’d be there daily.

Finally I don’t have to trek all the way to Cincinnati for a decent outlet mall. This holiday season while I was in Lexington, I came here three times with my family to buy last minute gifts and score some clothes for myself.
The layout of the stores makes so much sense. Some other outlets I’ve been to have stores forming a rectangle, surrounding the parking lot in the center, so you would need to walk quite a bit from store to store. This outlet, on the other hand, has its stores right next to each other, which minimizes unnecessary walking and maximizes the use of space.
I was very impressed with the variety of stores, which range from your typical stores jn the mall like AE, Gap, Coach, Ralph Lauren, but also others not found in Lexington like Kate Spade, Cole Hann, and Saks off 5^th. I can spend alllll day here. You can score some good deals especially during the holiday season.
If you get hungry, there’s a food court conveniently located in the center of the outlet. There’s Chinese, Italian, and American fast food. Not the best food options but good enough to grab a bite or two. There’s also a Ghredelli shop if you are craving for some sweets.
Needless to say I will be returning!

I did it. I visited Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass on its opening weekend
I was expecting the Black Friday from Hell in terms of traffic and crowds, but really, we were stuck in traffic getting off I-​64 for only about 10 minutes and lucked out by finding a parking space in our first few minutes of looking.
And I was happy that I went. There are definitely some shops to visit — but this outlet mall was not the shopping destination I was hoping for.
I did not find the discounts that will keep me coming back again and again.
First, though, some pros:
* For the most part, it’s very clean, as you would expect a brand new shopping center to be.
* I love how it’s outdoors, part covered and part not. It had the feel of some of the shopping centers I’ve been to on the West Coast.
* There is ample seating outside of stores — all the better to deposit a tired boyfriend on while you continue shopping until you drop.
* Lots of parking spaces, though none too terribly far from the entrance to the center. It looked like there is also a shuttle service from a more distant parking area.
* A decent selection of stores that are a mix of stores you can already find locally and those you cannot. A Gap outlet is always a welcome sight, along with new-​to-​the-​area stores like Under Armour and Michael Kors.
But the purpose of an outlet mall is the discounts. Otherwise it’s just a mall, and Louisville already has a few of those. And while the discounts varied store to store, I didn’t find any that were substantially lower than what I would find elsewhere.
For example, I was very excited about shopping at the Ann Taylor LOFT outlet store, but I found the same 40 percent discount that you find in Mall St. Matthews. The clerk tried to tell me the 40 percent discount was uncommon, but as anyone who gets their many, many emails can attest to, the 40 percent markdown on merchandise is given at least once a month.
In other stores, I would see an object or piece of clothing here and there that was substantially marked down, but nothing worth the pilgrimages I and my friends have made to outlet malls in the past.
And the food: I enjoyed Taqueria Tsunami, which looked to be the only sit-​down restaurant in the outlet mall. But there are only about a handful of other quick-​hit meal options, when you exclude the dessert stops. If I’m driving the 30 minutes from Louisville to spend my day there, I’d like to have more options for lunch or dinner. Since the Outlet Shoppes are not really by any other restaurants — or at least not too many yet — there should be substantial options to keep me from leaving the center altogether in search of sustenance.
The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass offer a nearby outlet option that Louisville had been in need of. I’m hoping that with some time, it can grow into the destination everyone wants it to become.