Gloucester Premium Outlets gets thumbs up from shoppers, officials {Photos]

Gloucester Premium Outlets officially opened Thursday morning, but grand opening festivities will continue through Sunday afternoon, with live entertainment on an outdoor concert stage. So far, 68 of the planned 80 stores are operating, along with a large food court. A Friendly’s is coming soon.  

The photo gallery above features nearly all of the 68 new stores at Gloucester Premium Outlet. More than 100 photos showing every part of the mall. 

Location: 100 Premium Outlets Drive, Blackwood, NJ,

It’s between the Black Horse Pike (pink line on the left) and Route 42 (pink line on the right).

Regular Hours:

Monday – Saturday: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.Sunday: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Full store directory

The mall is in Blackwood, an unincorporated section of Gloucester Township. Gloucester Twp. Mayor David Mayer said he fully expects Gloucester Premium Outlets, the largest economic development project in the history of his community, to help the town. The project has reportedly created 300 temporary construction jobs and will support 800 permanent full-time and part-time workers.

On its first full day of operations, shoppers seemed pleased with how the mall turned out. Domenic DiPietro, who has lived in Washington Township for more than 30 years, said it delivered on what he had hoped for. “It’s fantastic. It really is. I told my wife every store, top grade store, will be here and sure enough I wasn’t disappointed.”

Winslow Township resident Donna Leonard, who came with her husband, also liked what she saw.

“We like the mall. It’s very nice. I like that it’s on the inside and the parking is on the outside,” Leonard said. The Gloucester Premium Outlets has parking spaces on all sides of the center. You can also see the ‘racetrack’ design highlighted in yellow. It creates a simple way to browse all of the stores shown in green.

The new outlet mall could mean more bad news for Atlantic City, which is 45 miles from Gloucester Twp. For many South Jersey residents, the Tangier Outlets in AC were the closest outlet mall. Leonard, of Winslow Twp., said that’s where she went.

Tangier Outlets is part of Atlantic City’s its effort to diversify its attractions as its casinos face more competition from nearby states.

Other regional outlet malls include Philadelphia Mills (outlets & traditional) in Northeast Philadelphia and Philadelphia Premium Outlets in Limerick, Pa. Both of these are owned by the Simon Center, which also owns the new center in Gloucester.

Jennifer Yearick, of Mt. Royal, said wanted to see some stores that aren’t there. 

“I was actually hoping for a Disney Store or Bath and Body Works or White House Black Market because those are my favorite ones. But they don’t have them but I did ask someone and they said they might be coming soon.”

None of the three stores she’s hoping for are among the 12 stores listed as “Coming Soon.: Here is that list:

A/X Armani Exchange, American Eagle Outfitter, Brooks Brothers Factory Store, Gap Factory Store, Kenneth Cole, Mountain Warehouse, Old Navy Outlet, PacSun, Crocs, Zales Outlet, #makeup, ProImage Sports.

The outlet mall is a big boon for Gloucester Twp. a city with 64,000 that is also home to Camden County Community College. The opening of the outlet mall appears to be stimulating economic development nearby.

In May construction began next to the outlets on The Shoppes of Gloucester Township, which is on the site of the former Blackwood Plaza on the Black Horse Pike