It is week three in my old-new hometown and nothing is done yet. Our apartment is still under construction, German bureaucracy is killing us and still no job on the horizon. To take our minds away from all the troubles we decided to go to the Designer Outlet Center in my city for some shopping frenzy.
This Designer Outlet is a pretty interesting thing as it does not fit into the image of my hometown at all. Neumünster is, lets say, a very boring town with nothing at all to do there. The only good thing so far is the fact that it is located in the middle of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, thus making trips to the nearest cities like Kiel and Hamburg very short. But apparently something big happened in 2012, the Designer Outlet opened and attracts ever since then a huge amount of visitors and tourists from other cities and countries. I had been at this place already before but didn’t pay so much attention to it but now, as we need pretty much everything new in our home, it feels like heaven to have this outlet center here.
There are not only all kind of brands people desire (at least this is what I heard, I have no clue about clothes and kitchen ware) but there are also few restaurants and Starbucks. Okay, Starbucks I will never enter as I just don’t like the coffee there, but actually seems to be a tourist magnet on its own. The Outlet Center has been build to resemble an old middle European town with each building housing at least one store. I wonder why they chose to create this little town in this certain style but I must say that it looks pretty neat. I believe it takes half day to visit actually each store but I will never try this unlike my wife who seems eager to stay there from morning till evening closing time.
When we visited my wife asked me why we didn’t go there with her mother during Spring time when she visited for three months. Well, actually she did not remember that she did not want to go to there with her mom because of MIL’s insane shopping frenzy. As I know MIL by now, she would refuse to leave the shopping area and camp there to be the first to enter at opening time. Nobody would be able to drag her away from that place so it was pretty smart by my wife not to mention the existence of the Outlet Center. Yes, I have indeed a crazy Mother-in-law but at least she is not spending (yet) every penny on such stuff.
It seems also that the Outlet Center is an attraction for Chinese Tourists.There is even one Chinese tourists organization doing bus trips to Neumünster to go specifically to that one Outlet Center and furthermore two big Chinese restaurants opened in the past two years as well. I can’t say much about the quality of those restaurants as I still have to visit them but there are certainly many Chinese in the Outlet Center.
In the end I can say, or actually my wife that it is just great to buy some needed kitchen ware from certain brands so much cheaper than usual. I doubt that I will be there too often in the following years but I bet my wife will be there especially after our apartment is done to purchase all kind of (weird) things.
Crazy Chinese Family 
There’s also a couple of shopping towns like this in Spain. I have never been but it seems there are Chinese tours specially organized to go to this kind of places… because who would travel 10,000 kilometers to see old churches, museums and different peoples, but hey if you can buy discounted Dior and eat the same you eat at home then it’s another story!
I checked about this outlet center in my hometown and the owner has europe wide these similar outlet centers. Must be good business, especially when chinese tourists are coming with fat wallets 🙂
This is a very interesting shopping precinct. Open aired and one shop in each building. We have one of them in Melbourne, up in the Docklands area of the city. If it rains, it might be a bit hard to go around shopping there, I’m not too sure if that’s a problem with the Designer Outlet in winter. You must be tired walking around the Outlet all day. I don’t know how your MIL does it – shopping all day on her feet and she doesn’t feel tired. Same with my parents and relatives.
I am really not good with shopping but my wife and her mother are professionals it seems. No matter how long they walk around when it comes to shopping they don’t get exhausted but as soon as we take a quick twenty minute walk they are dead tired.
I wonder how this outlet center is during winter time, I doubt there will be as many tourists as now
I guess when your wife and mum are shopping, they are attracted to the things on sale and so forget about how tired their bodies are actually are. Or maybe their bodies are just naturally wired for shopping.
I’m sure you’ll visit the outlet center in winter, and let me know how it goes then 🙂
Oooh I just LOVE shopping. Why is Nathan so grumpy? And is that a Marc Jacobs store behind him in the photo? How can he possibly be sad during shopping? Maybe you didn’t buy him enough stuff. 😉
I believe it is a Marc O’Polo shop. Well, Nathan got his shopping annoyance from me it seems. I am not the happiest person their either :p
Got to say that I’m not really a fan of shopping either…I’m more of the buy-and-go…but sometimes window shopping can be pretty therapeutic too…when there are no crowds around of course…haha..:)
Nathan is so cute and lovable. Big hugs. 🙂
There is a place called Woodbury Commons outlets ~90 minutes north of Manhattan. It seems all Chinese people, even ones who have never been to the US, know about it. This week my BIL is visiting us during a business trip. He apparently has a shopping list longer than his arm from his wife, and wants to go to the outlets. I have a feeling I’m going to be expected to go too. I only like shopping in small doses, while the people who go to those outlets are *hardcore*. I bet it will be packed with Chinese tour buses. Isn’t it Golden Week, when everyone has vacation?
Oh yes, golden week. That will be interesting with the huge amount of chinese tourists.
I can take shopping in very tiny little doses, but everything more than one hour is deadly for me
People who love to shop must be descended from hunter-gatherers. We like to find the best berries. And after a day of searching for a deer, what a thrill it is when he finally steps out of the forest! That’s the way shopping seems to me–although I wouldn’t like to shoot the deer.
That’s a very interesting view and very well put into words ! But it really does appear that my mother in law is hunting down the newest fashion and other items with finally putting it down by purchasing it
Designer Outlet! Seems so American. My goodness does that take me back. Yeah, they are nice for window shopping, getting some walking done, people-watching, etc.
I’m glad to hear it was productive and I hope things start to come together and settle down for you all super soon. Having relocated to a new town just 6 months ago, I can relate in my own way. It’s been a tough transition, but that’s part of the adventure, right?
Relocating is really an adventure. It is both fun and hard work. Planning all the new furniture is great but unpacking later the moving boxes will be terrible.
These designer outlets are really weird for me. I never cared before about it but now I can see the benefits of having one here.
I love the relax look and feel of the place. It seems like shopping there would be quite the experience – no pushing because it is not crowded with people plus the buildings look so inviting. I have to admit that I am not much of a shopper and when I do want to buy something, I’ll usually look for a good bargain (my husband loves this!!!) and I will really compare the price and quality before making the purchase!!
My wife also usually checks first where to get some good offer on a product but once she smells blood/ is in an outlet center there is no holding back for her.
When I go shopping on the other hand I know already before I go in a store what I want thus my shopping experience is very very short each time 🙂