reviews on the petaluma outlet center in CA?

Question

I'm visiting california, and am DEFINETELY visiting san francisco centre, but my family also wants to go to the petaluma outle center. I looked it up, and although there is no abercrombie or hollister (which saddens me), I saw that there is a coach outlet, and also a Saks 5th avenue outlet. Has anyone been to this outlet, and would you say that the coach outlet or saks outlet have good things?

If it helps, I especially like coach's shoes and juicy couture things from saks, and i plan on looking for those things.

please note i am definetely going to san francisco, and shopping there, but my family wants to go to this one so i was seeing if anyone knew about petaluma.


also, i've been to san francisco every year since i was 8, so i have done a ton of stuff there.

Answer 1

My wife loved it up there and spent a lot of time in Saks. To me it wasn't worth the one hour drive, but hey I'm just a guy, what do I know. ;)

UPDATE: My wife liked Petaluma much more than she liked the great mall in Milpitas. Guess it's a matter of taste.

Answer 2

My personal opinion is that you'll be disappointed by the Petaluma Outlets. (Not enough stores; not enough food; not enough people milling around; ugly architectural style.) However, the drive up to Petaluma is quite nice and includes a trip across the Golden Gate Bridge. Plus, as you say, it's got the Coach and Saks outlets.

If you head to the Great Mall of the Bay Area in Milpitas (head south towards San Jose on either 680 or 880) you will find Hollister and A & F outlets. You'll also find an Off 5th Saks outlet, a Neiman Marcus outlet, AE, Aeropostale, BCBG Max Azria, Bebe, Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, Demo, Ecko, Oakley Vault and many other outlets. The place is huge, and the atmosphere is lively. There's a food court, plus restaurants. It's enclosed and air conditioned (while the other SF area outlets are open-air.) On the other hand, there isn't a Coach outlet, and crowds are thick...especially on weekends.

Other good outlets include the Napa Premium Outlets, Vacaville Premium Outlets and Gilroy Premium Outlets. Each of these involve quite a drive from downtown SF, but hey---day trips are fun, right?

Unique non-outlet shopping that you may enjoy would be the hip 'n happening open-air "main street-style" mall in San Jose called Santana Row; plus, there's a conventional enclosed mall across the street. You could definitely spend an entire day between the two, plus find top-notch restaurants.

Another open-air shopping venue that's really fun is downtown Walnut Creek (on the eastern edge of the Bay Area.) The town has always had an older downtown shopping area; now there's also a newer downtown section, plus an open-air mall. The 3 of these areas blend together seamlessly, providing hours & hours of exploration. Between these 3 areas, you'll find one of the most comprehensive mix of stores around...from high-end to mid-range to locally-owned one of a kind stores. There's a Coach, but it's a "regular" retail store. No A & F nor Hollister, unfortunately. Plenty of restaurant choices, lots of parking structures "everywhere."

Answer 3

gilroy, vacaville and napa outlets are far better than the Petaluma one. I am more partial to Napa, because I live there. It always seems very vacant to me in Petaluma. The only store that makes me go there is gap outlet and brooks brothers. the Saks outlet is very chaotic and messy.

Answer 4

There are a lot of different malls and stuff near or in san francisco and I'm pretty sure they have hollister and abercrombie...since they're both VERY popular in the bay area
[edit]
hey i looked up the san francisco centre and they say that they had abercombie and hollister stores there...

Answer 5

There are harbors, museums, aquariums, etc to see. There are trolley cars to ride. Planning to go to the mall on your vacation really sounds like a waste of time. You can find these same stores all over the world. SF exists in only one place.