A Review of Johor Premium Outlet
The mention of Premium Outlets brings back exciting memories for me. I can remember the days of “high-intensity” shopping for famous brands – Polo Ralph Lauren, Nike, Calvin Klein, DKNY, GAP, Levis, Timberland and many more. You need not pay exorbitant prices like what you find at Orchard Road in Singapore and neither will you feel out of place at the designer outlets; the sales assistant at Hugo Boss will still smile at you even if you are in your bermudas.
From the scorching heat at Las Vegas to the winter cold at Chicago, I shopped on various occasions at these Premium Outlets from morning till close, lugging around bags and bags of purchases on both my hands and still craving for more at the end of the day.
Such, is the lure of the Premium Outlet chains as the discounts are real – not the typical “mark up the price before slashing” kind of sales. The prices are truly CHEAP – a Nike dri-fit shirt which can be purchased at less than SGD 30, a CK long-sleeve shirt for less than SGD60, a pair of timberland boots for less than SGD60. Occasionally, there is sugar to the icing when the outlets give “discount on top of discount”, taking another 30% off the discounted price for instance. Despite the price, the range of designs is not compromised and you can find a good selection of fashion items to cater to your kind of dress sense.
Premium Outlet Logo
Thus, I was both eager and hopeful when it was announced that right within Johor Bahru, a Premium Outlet center will be opened, only the 3rd country in Asia to do so. There is a slight apprehension as I wondered if the discounts would be as real and as steep as what you find in United States – the boutique stores in Orchard Road might be hard hit if this is truly the case. Nevertheless, I made it a note to visit the Johor Premium Outlet the moment I have the opportunity to.
Christmas Eve turned out to be the moment of opportunity, as I was off work and happened to be in Johor Bahru. I also need to get a gift for my hubby whose birthday is coming up. It is not difficult to find the Johor Premium Outlet. If you are coming from Singapore (Woodlands) for example, it is a 20 minutes drive from the Johor Bahru CIQ: – Take Exit 253 via the North-South Highway, then Exit 304 -> Exit 302A.
In total, you pay 2 toll charges – RM2.10 and RM0.80 respectively. See map below for more details.
Directions to Johor Premium Outlet (Source: http://www.premiumoutlets.com.my/center-information/directions)
As my car approaches the Premium Outlet, my heart skipped a little. From far, you can see that the design of the Premium Outlet Center is almost the same as what you find in the United States. The logos of famous brands are clearly visible. With 80 stores already opened in Phase 1, I intend to spend the rest of the day shopping!
On the way to Johor Premium Outlet Center
The first hiccup of the day started even before I reached the center. For some reason, only one car park gantry was open and there was a long queue formed to get into the car park of the Premium Outlet Center. Took 10 minutes for the queue to clear, but my spirits was not dampened.
As there was a slight drizzle, I made a dash from my car towards to nearest building. From one of the information stand available, I understood that there were 2 levels of shops which were fortunately, all with sheltered walkway. As I took a first glance at the shops surrounding me, it seemed that there was some local flavour to the setup. For example, Vincci, Padini and Charles and Keith were making a presence. Eh.. not exactly the kind of “famous” brands I was looking for..
Padini and Vincci at the Johor Premium Outlet
I decided to start off with the more international brands.. Nike, Puma and Timberland. As I entered Read on…
7 commentsDecember 27th, 2011
