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Tanger aiding local tourism efforts
Business editor
mbradwell@observer-reporter.com
When Tanger Factory Outlets Inc. opens its Washington center Friday morning, offering 75 national retailers to tempt shoppers from Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, it also will offer its visitors an opportunity to see what else the area has to offer.
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According to director J.R. Shaw, this is a golden opportunity for his agency and something that's never been tried in another Tanger outlet.
The tourism agency's physical piece of Tanger's 370,000-square-foot center may be a small slice, but it could also be a potent one.
With Tanger anticipating 4.5 million visitors a year at the local outlet, Shaw said the area's cross-selling opportunities are limitless, meaning additional dollars being pumped into the local economy.
"With us being out there, we'll have an opportunity we've never had before to influence these folks," he said. In addition to a full-time person he's already hired, he said the agency is seeking two part-timers to cover all of the shifts at the booth, which will be a branch of the Washington-based agency.
Shaw said he first approached Tanger about the possibility of setting up a booth late last year and said the company was immediately receptive to the idea and agreed to give the agency the space.
"The folks at Tanger have been absolutely perfect to work with," he said. "It's a huge step for the agency."
While acknowledging that the space will provide a lot of face-to-face interaction and furnish immediate answers to travelers' questions, Shaw added that the booth, which will be equipped with a computer, will also collect valuable information about people's demands and expectations of what they're looking for after they shop at the outlet.
The setup will enable the agency to gather "many hard numbers" about who is coming here, he said.
"We want to know, are we talking to the right people and how we can better serve them," he said, adding that the agency also is talking with the tourism research study program at California University of Pennsylvania to help it with the data it collects.
While Shaw is bullish on the impact Tanger will have on other attractions in the area, "there's no way to really know" how wide or deep its ripple effect will be for some time.
"It will be through the end of 2009 before we know the level and what will be normal here" for tourism and hospitality, he said. The potential outcome will receive another push in the first quarter when The Meadows Racetrack & Casino opens its permanent casino, which will add more slot machines as well as several restaurants to its mix.
Carole DeAngelo, general manager of Washington Crown Center in North Franklin Township, believes that the outlet center will be beneficial for the entire area, despite the fact that the mall is losing its Old Navy store to Tanger's operation.
"There's such an element of enthusiasm happening in Washington County, it's up to us as a community to spread the word to other areas," she said, adding that while Tanger draws outlet shoppers, there are those who shop at both outlets and malls. She said she believes most shoppers who live here will remain loyal to all of the local shopping venues, including hers.
"They really do want to live, work and play here," she said.
One area that Shaw does expect to blossom as a result of the presence of the outlet and casino is group and motorcoach tours.
He said the agency is sending a representative this week to "Travel Expo New York" in Buffalo, which draws tour and motorcoach operators from New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. He added that the local agency will participate in the National Tourism Association's annual convention in Pittsburgh this fall, an event that attracts more than 2,000 travel industry executives. It also will attend the "Heartland Travel Showcase" in February, which draws tour operators from the Midwest.
With the outlet, casino, hotels, restaurants and other attractions like the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum just a short distance away, Shaw believes the area presents an easy sell to groups planning overnight stays, especially when his agency gets in front of the industry's decision-makers.
"We've got the right product at the right time," he said.
Carole DeAngelo : 8/26/2008
Your mall is already turning into a ghosttown. Except for on Friday night when the teen locusts invade. Once the oulet opens, I am afraid you will be joining Washington Mall.
