The Iowa Louisiana Outlet Mall was opened in 1988 as a Factory Stores of America outlet mall. The mall is located near Lake Charles Louisiana in Iowa LA off of I-10. In the late 1980's and early 1990's several of these small town outlet malls were built as tourist destinations. The Mills and Tanger Outlet centers are the preferred outlet malls that are larger and closer to larger cities than many of these smaller outlet centers. Many of these outlet centers did not live up to the expectations and have struggled to compete.
Here is an outdated listing of the stores in this mall. Most of the current stores are local businesses.
This is the main entrance to the mall; there is also an open entrance facing I-10.
This is the entrance to the closed off portion of the mall.
An entrance facing the ramp to I-10 which is part of the closed section of the mall.
This is the North-South corridor of the mall and contains the VF outlet store which is the main anchor to the mall.
Located next to the I-10 entrance and next to the VF outlet anchor.
The entrance to the VF factory store.
A Burke's Outlet labelscar.
The back of the mall facing the VF outlet store.
As you can see the mall comes to an abrupt end. Several stores remain in this section of the mall despite the dead end corridor. About 40% of the available mall space was cut off by the wall at the end of this hallway. When I last visited this mall several years ago there was only one store in the section of the mall that is now closed off.
Kinda trippy how that entrance is in from of a grassy field.
ReplyDeleteThis has been I-10 Outlet Mall for at least a couple of years (2008 at least).
ReplyDeleteIt looks really spooky from the highway. Not at all inviting.
The entrance isn't actually in front of a field; there's a parking lot in front of it, just slightly sunken.
ReplyDeleteThe Story City VF Outlet and Factory Stores of America is almost in the same boat! It features only VF Outlet and Kitchen Collection...nothing else. The exterior looks like it has seen better days, and the interior looks identical to Iowa, LA's, only Kitchen Collection is in the main corridor, instead of next to VF Outlet. Unlike this one, the Story City mall is completely accessible, and nothing is blocked off. I took a leak in the men's room, and besides a stall being out of order, it didn't look TOO horrible (there was an updated sensored soap dispenser on one of the sinks, so they at least keep up with the times, LOL!
ReplyDeleteOn a side note, I swear they must pay Kitchen Collection to stay...that or offer them EXTREMELY cheap rent...like, $100 a month with free electricity?
I am surprised that they blocked off part of this mall. The now closed off area had stores not too long before these photos were taken. These outlet malls continue to survive somehow, but it seems like the 2 stores you mentioned are keeping the properties going. In many of the small towns where these outlet malls are located, there are not any better locations to move these stores.
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ReplyDeletehttps://imgur.com/a/F2WbYvv
Pictures of the mall in March, 2019.
Thanks for the photos, I really enjoyed the festive Mardi Gras decorations. Sadly I missed all of Mardi Gras this year. Looks like the Kitchen Collection and VF Outlet are still doing well.
DeleteWow! My first job was at VF, this mall was once thriving! It has Danskin, Bass, Van Husen, Fieldcrest Cannon (I also worked here) Libby Glass, Levi’s outlet etc. It is depressing to see what it has become, thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteI have been through there a few times since the VF closed. It looks like the property has since completely closed. Thanks for sharing your story and giving us some of the store names that once thrived there. In the mid 90's we stopped here a few times to take a break on our road trips and shop a bit. It was definitely thriving in those days.
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