Cincinnati Premium Outlets: A Wasted Few Hours

The Cincinnati Premium Outlets opened in Monroe, Ohio and almost immediately became a hit with travelers and locals in the area. The opening weekend drew such large crowds that police were called in from several local towns just to handle the massive amounts of cars passing through the area. I was interested in visiting the outlets, but waited for the crowds to die down a little before visiting and once I did, I was disappointed.

Monroe is obviously planning on the Cincinnati Premium Outlets bringing in a lot of traffic because the parking lot completely surrounds the building. We didn't have a problem finding parking at all, though there were quite a few shoppers there on the day. The only problem we had was in remembering where we parked since the lot was so big.

The Cincinnati Premium Outlets are nice and airy, with large open spaces and areas without any coverings. You could walk through closed off areas and then wander into an open area, which had a nice breeze during the summer, but I can see how this could pose a problem during the colder, winter months.

I visited that day with my boyfriend and I was a little surprised by the store selections. The typical stores were there such as Tommy, Polo, Coach and Nike. However there were also a few different stores and there seemed to be quite a few stores catering to the teenage crowd. I was most excited to see a Converse Outlet Store, but was disappointed to find that it wasn't yet open.

There were many stores that weren't open yet, even though the mall opening already occurred. Other stores at the Cincinnati Premium Outlets had signs indicating that they wouldn't open until next spring. A few of the stores we ventured into didn't look fully stocked yet and also didn't have enough workers to handle the crowd. At one store we waited 20 minutes in line because only one person was working.

I was also highly disappointed in the prices at the stores, which were significantly higher than other outlet malls. The Jeffersonville Outlets, which is only 45 minutes away have much better prices and a bigger selection of stores. I found one pair of pants from the same outlet store here for $25 more than I paid in Jeffersonville.

After spending some time at the Cincinnati Premium Outlets, we wandered over to the Treasure Aisles Flea Market, which is right across the road and spent nearly three times as much, but had a lot more stuff to take home. The sad thing is that the flea market was basically deserted, while the outlet mall was full. I've been to the Cincinnati Premium Outlets once, but I think I'll stick to the flea market from now on.