St. Louis Premium Outlets: Outdoor Shopping in Chesterfield
The St. Louis Metro area has no shortage of places to shop. Even with the decline of malls in recent decades, you can still find any number of locations with multiple stores to fit your needs. On the indoor front, you’ve got everything from the Galleria to West County Center to Mid Rivers Mall. Outside, you’ve got shopping districts like the Delmar Loop, Downtown Kirkwood, Old Town Florissant, and Historic Main Street St. Charles.
One newer development is the rise of compact, planned, walkable shopping districts, especially out west of the city. The District of St. Louis in Chesterfield and The Meadows in Lake St. Louis are two examples. Another sits between them.
Getting There
St. Louis Premium Outlets (Google Maps link) is just off I-64 just east of the Missouri River and St. Charles County beyond it. There are different ways to get there depending on which direction you’re coming from. In most cases, you’ll take Chesterfield Airport Road to Olive Street Road to Outlet Boulevard. The Outlets will be on your right.
Parking
There is parking in orbit around the mall. There are a couple of entry points on Outlet Boulevard along the west side of the mall, but you can circle around and find parking all around the shopping space. All parking is free.
Costs and Considerations
Like most malls, there are the mall operating hours and the individual store operating hours. Normal mall hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Those hours may be different on certain days, especially as a major holiday approaches. In addition, the mall is closed on some major holidays including Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can check out the mall’s hours page for the most up-to-date information.
In addition, the stores have their own hours, which may or may not be the same as the outlet’s hours. Some stores, for instance, may open later.
The store area of the mall is a walkable space. Because all of the parking orbits the outlet, shoppers can walk the store space without having to deal with car traffic. The downside is that some stores may be farther from parking than others. Also, while the walkways aren’t narrow, per say, they can get a little congested on busy days.
Things to Do
If you’re just wanting to get an outdoor walk in, this is a pretty nice space to get a walk, especially earlier on a weekday when it isn’t too crowded. If you’re looking to people watch, we found an assortment of benches and even some Adirondack-style chairs scattered all over the outlet.
For most people, though, St. Louis Premium Outlets is about shopping, and there is plenty of that.
Clothing dominates the shopping space here. Stores like Aerie, Columbia, Hollister, and Michael Kors can be found across the mall, many of them outlet stores with potential discounts. You can find hats at Lids, footwear at Crocs, and a little bit of everything at Nike. You can also shop for jewelry and accessories at the likes of Claire’s, Pandora, and Jared.
There are also a handful of retailers selling other things, including mattresses, luggage, and kitchenware. One trading card store maintains both a selection as well as space for players to play against each other.
The dining scene isn’t huge, but there are a handful of places to eat, including a few familiar mall restaurants located in an indoor food court. There are some outdoor food vendors, too.
Our Thoughts
We visited St. Louis Premium Outlets on a Saturday afternoon in mild weather and were surprised how busy it was. This place bustles compared to many other malls, including indoor ones. We think a big part of that is the fact that there are a generous number of stores here, especially clothing but also in other markets. You can find a lot here if you’re looking to shop.
It’s a fun place to walk, too. Yes, we had to maneuver around people sometimes, but it’s a pretty, walkable area that is clean and well-tended. It goes without saying that this isn’t an ideal spot in bad weather – and St. Louis has its share of that – but on a day when the weather is decent, it’s a nice spot for some air.
It’s hard for us not to compare St. Louis Premium Outlets to the two walkable outdoor spaces we mentioned earlier: The District of St. Louis about 4 miles east, and The Meadows out in Lake St. Louis about 13 miles west. The District is a relatively new location with some cool vibes but also a lot of unclaimed retail spaces; the Meadows is less walkable on account of streets that crisscross the shopping area.
St. Louis Premium Outlets wins out in most ways over both of them, and honestly many of the other planned walkable outdoor malls in the area. It’s reasonably large, well-stocked, and accessible. If you’re looking for a mall experience that’s outside and vibrant, this should definitely be up there on your priority list.
