A glance at the vacant storefronts in the center near the Interstate 205-MacArthur Drive interchange certainly confirms that new retail concepts are needed.
As the pondering of new retail ideas by the parent Northwest Outlets firm continues, another Tracy Outlets store — Tuesday Morning — is holding a final clearance sale and will close soon.
Elaine Yager, who has managed the outlet center for the past 17 years, reported that the number of stores in the center is down to 10, and the loss of Tuesday Morning will reduce it to nine.
Most recently, the Gap Outlet Store, Oshkosh B’Gosh children’s store and Van Heusen men’s and women’s clothing all pulled the plug and moved to new outlet center near Livermore.
That much-larger, higher-end outlet center, which opened recently as Paragon, is now owned by Premium Outlets, the major outlet center firm in Northern California.
No doubt, the new Livermore outlet center has had some impact on the local center, but Tracy Outlets has never tried to go head-to-head with centers with high-end stores and instead has concentrated on mid-level retailers.
Earlier, however, the local center had lost other major stores with well-known names, including Reebok-Rockport, G.H. Bass and Liz Clairborne.
“Our owners realize we need a new strategy for the center, and they’re working at developing one,” Yager said. “They are serious about getting the right kind of stores that will make the center work.”
The owners, Gary Patterson and Rick Cordes, have repainted the center in a five-color range and are considering new signage, she said.
“Besides Tracy, they have four other outlet centers, so some of the new ideas could come from them,” Yager said.
The Walnut Creek-based firm’s other outlet centers are in Anderson (near Redding), in Bend, Ore., in Post Falls, Idaho, and in Pasco, Wash.
The Tracy Outlet Center was opened in November 1994 by McArthur/Glen of McLean, Va., with 35 retailers. Two years ago, it had 21 businesses.
Yager noted that despite the empty storefronts, Tracy Outlets still has some solid retail establishments, including Levi’s, Carter’s children’s wear, Famous Footwear, Lane Bryant, Corning-Revere and Hip-Gen.
“I just hope Tracy residents realize that our center is located in their hometown, and that we really want to provide the kind of shopping they want,” the center manager said. “We’re working hard to find the right niche.”
Graduation time?
As Glenn Moore’s coverage of progress in creating a new football stadium at Tracy High School indicates, the current weather pattern of mostly sunny days is moving the project along at a good clip.
Originally, the construction schedule called for the project to be completed in time to hold Tracy High’s graduation ceremonies at the new Wayne Schneider Stadium at the end of May.
That’s still a hope, but Superintendent Jim Franco of Tracy Unified School District indicated earlier this week that the project may not be completed until sometime in June, and Tracy High graduation would have to be held at West High’s Steve Lopez Stadium.
But, he added, there’s still hope that with good weather, the Tracy High stadium could be ready for graduation day. It’s going to be a photo finish.
• Sam Mathews, Tracy Press publisher emeritus, can be reached at 830-4234 or by email at shm@tracypress.com.
I haven't seen Tracy in many, many years but find it a shame anytime a remember facility goes out of business. Maybe someday I'll pay a visit but am afraid I'll be sorely disappointed. Ahh, for the "good (and they WERE) old days". :)
No, it can't all be blamed on the mall. A lot has to be laid at the feet of the outlet center owners for not keeping up with the times. As someone stated earlier, a place or two to grab a quick bite would have been nice. When new, the stores(cont'd)
Replace the site with a half dirt, half concrete.
Build Tracy a much needed skateboard and bmx dirt complex.
The should have been a mall or an outlet mall, not both in Tracy. Rather than have one be vital, we have both which are dying a slow painful death.
The regular mall here in town is pathetic. If not for the Target (I HATE walmart) and the Movie theater tthe mall would have gone under years ago.
And the Tracy Outlet mall is a joke. I don't know why they are fighting to keep it open. If anything it's probably costing more money to maintain then it's taking in.
I do have to say that the Livermore outlets are a nightmare. SO crowded and parking sucks. I can't handle large crowds, so the one time we went, will be our only time. It's a nice place, although they could use a decent food court or a couple better places to eat.
Alecm9311, that Vans outlet by Bass Pro has been there for years. You make it sound like it's new...nope.
Second, even though the outlet business is growing, Tracy's outlets aren't nice enough, new enough, or popular enough for new businesses to want to locate into. Manteca is turning their empty mall out by Bass Pro Shops into outlets, and so far they've brought in Vans, Banana Republic, and GUESS. So that's two outlets centers on either sides of us that are far newer and nicer, with better anchors and location too. Couple that with the planned expansion Livermore will be going through later this year (almost entirely leased), it seems like our outlet mall is done.
That is such a wierd, marketers take on shopping. Who knows, it may be right for some folks. I just dont know them. When I go to the store, whether supermarket or mall store, I go to get what I need and leave. For example, if I am at home thinking I need a new pair of jeans, I go to Pennys, buy the jeans and leave. I got what I came for. What would be the point of hanging around? It could only result in my buying something I dont really need.
Food at a mall is not something I purchase. If I want to go out to dinner I dont want to deal with mall crowds, snot nosed teens and the like. I just want a decent stand alone restaraunt.
"It could only result in my buying something I dont really need."
That's the point isn't it? That's where stores make their money. How many people go to Target, Costco or Walmart for just 2 things and come out with a shopping cart full of stuff $200 later. These stores are masters of getting you to linger and buy stuff you don't need. The outlet mall needs a similar strategy. Get the inital draw, make it fun to be at the outlets and keep them coming back. When I went last, I thought to myself that I'd never take family or friends there. There was no where to grab lunch so even if I wanted to stay longer, I couldn't and the kids were bored to death and wanted to leave. They need to rethink their business model or close down.
Location - hidden and hard to get to. Not a retail location per se and surounded by light industry.
Price - price no different than other outlets, higher than online
Selection - very poor
Experience - Several other outlet/malls in area now that are offer more selection, food, entertainment.
Outlet needs to find its purpose, relocate to better more retail, customer friendly area and if you can't compete with prices then offer better experience with food/entertainment.
Good Luck
I drive by the Paragon outlets every day on the way home from work and the center is dead on weekdays. Hopefully the weekends can sustain it because the weekday consumer traffic won't. It was swamped on its opening weekend but no so much anymore.
I look forward to the day that Tracy has few to no vacant storefronts but I fear that is a long way off. They keep telling us the economy is looking up but so far, in Tracy, I don't see it.
The former Chevy's, however... people being hired in at the new Buffalo Wild Wings are claiming that Elephant Bar is coming, so I wouldn't give up hope just let. An Ulta store (major cosmetics superstore) will also be opening next to Petsmart in the Home Depot shopping center. Our future isn't totally shot, even though it's awfully close.
Why are spaces empty... that's a start.