By Michael Bradwell

Business editor

mbradwell@observer-reporter.com

MEADOW LANDS - For the past year, Jennifer Trottier and her friends, all residents of the Meadow Brook development in North Strabane Township, have been able to watch as the buildings for the new Tanger Outlet center rose up on top of the hill in neighboring South Strabane.

On Friday, just after 9 a.m., Trottier, Sue Duffey and Clare Cottrill made the short trip down Johnson Road to Racetrack Road and entered the 370,000-square-foot outlet center for the first time.

"We've been watching it grow, but you can't really see how big it is until you get up here," Trottier said around 9:30 a.m., just after the outlet opened for its first day, representing what some local officials described as "the next evolution" of Washington County's economy.

"We're probably going to spend a lot of time here," Trottier said.

Apparently, a lot of other people had the same idea.

By noon, Tanger's parking lots were filled to capacity, as thousands of people moved in and out of stores. The overflow traffic was parked along Tanger Boulevard, which carries cars from Racetrack Road to the outlet.

Like the Meadow Brook neighbors, Ronda Vandruff, her daughter, Ashlee, and son, Nicholas, had driven over from Houston about 9 a.m. and reported no problem getting up to the outlet and finding a parking spot.

The Vandruff children were shopping for back-to-school shoes, while their mother was planning to stop into the Coach factory store to look at purses.

During official grand opening ceremonies at 11 a.m., Tanger Chief Operating Officer Steven B. Tanger told the audience of about 200 people that the company began planning for its 37th store four years ago. He later told reporters that Tanger had sought a site in Southwestern Pennsylvania for the past decade.

"It's beyond our wildest dreams; it turned out just beautifully," Tanger said of the $105 million center, which houses 75 brand name and designer stores in colonial-style carriage house storefronts. The company projects the outlet will draw 4.5 million people a year.

"It's a must-see, must-shop regional outlet that will bring millions of bargain shoppers from Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia," said Tanger, whose father, Chief Executive Officer Stanley Tanger, founded the company in 1981.

Former Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis, who later signed autographs at the outlet, told the audience that the project was a team effort that included South Strabane Township, Washington County, the state of Pennsylvania and the Tanger family.

South Strabane Supervisor Robert Hollick praised previous supervisors Billy Bell, Tony Zelenka and Charles Kosey for supporting the project from the outset.

"They understood that the project would improve tax revenues," Hollick said. Tanger later said the outlet provided 300 construction jobs as well as 800 part-time and full-time positions and will return $11 million in tax revenue "for your schools, your township, your county and your state over the next 20 years."

Jeff Kotula, executive director of Washington County Chamber of Commerce, said Tanger's presence here represents "the next evolution of Washington County's economy.

"We started with coal and glass and steel and added advanced manufacturing and high-tech industries and now destination retail," Kotula said.

Others noted the big potential the outlet center will have on the local economy, noting its proximity to The Meadows Racetrack & Casino and other attractions such as the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in nearby Arden. Tanger said later that the outlet has developed a close relationship with The Meadows, designing marketing strategies to cross-sell to visitors at both sites.

"We all know in the retail business the big thing is location, location, location," said state Sen. J. Barry Stout, D-Bentleyville, alluding to the outlet's siting just off Interstate 79.

Just before the grand opening ceremonies, the Washington County Tourism Promotion Agency cut the ribbon on a booth in the outlet's food court that will operate during business hours and steer visitors to other local attractions, restaurants and hotels.

When asked whether the faltering economy, which has negatively impacted many retailers, will adversely affect his business, Tanger said the outlet stores, which are geared to bargains from name-brand manufacturers, are especially well-suited to downturns in the economy.

"It's an old adage, but in good times people like a bargain, and in bad times, they need a bargain, and that's still true today," he said. "Regardless of the economy, if you give consumers a real bargain, they'll come and support you."

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