NOTL outlet almost ready

Cross-border shoppers will notice something new on the way to the U.S. — as a new outlet mall just off the QEW is almost ready to open its doors.  An early tour of the Outlet Collection at Niagara was given to the media Tuesday.

There are more than 100 retailers and some of them are going to be the only outlet locations in the country. A few firsts include Bass Pro Shops and Pandora Jewellery. Invited guests were given a first look at what will soon be Canada’s largest outlet.

The Outlet Collection at Niagara is still under construction after losing over 100 days of work to bad winter weather. But the final product is almost complete. Ivanhoe Cambridge is the real estate company in charge of this 200 million dollar investment. They say over 85,000 cars drive by the site every day and know many of those people will stop in to shop.

David Baffa is a V.P. With Ivanhoe Cambridge: “We decided that this would be a great opporutnity to feed of some of that tourism traffic and build a better experience on this side of the border people shop Canadian.

The racetrack design features 8 single level buildings. The food building known as The Eatery will include local foods from the Niagara area. With so many stores to shop at, general manager Bri-Ann Stuart knows Canadian shoppers will want to stay on our side of the border: “There definitely is that draw to the U.S. — no doubt there is and we understand that, most definitely. But what we do offer is convenience because we are close there’s no border rates and there is a fantastic retail selection right here.”

The architectural inspiration came directly from Niagara’s wineries. Wine barrels will be on a massive wall display outside of the food building to pay tribute to the region.

Daivd said: “A lot of the materials that we used in the project with stone and natural wood we really were trying to create an outlet experience which has a better architectural feel and a better overall feel.”

Ivanhoe Cambridge says The Outlet Collection will be another tourism gateway in Niagara. Construction continues 24 hours a day to prepare for the grand opening on May 15th. The general manger says there is no alternate opening date and everything will be done on time.