Vive L'Outlet Mall

A new French discount mall opened last month adjacent to Disneyland Paris, in the suburb of Serris. The 150,000-square-foot La Vallee Shopping Village contains 70 shops, including MaxMara, Herve Leger, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tommy Hilfiger and Anne Fountaine.

Scott Malkin, chairman of London-based Value Retail PLC (which runs outlet centers in Spain and the U.K.), says the concept is designed to resemble a quaint country village with cut-stone walkways — an open-air “village style” of architecture.

“The French have a long tradition of outlet shopping,” says Malkin, “but they are used to shopping out of a bin in the back of a factory. Bringing an upscale element in outlet shopping is new here.” The proximity to Disneyland produces not only a flow of tourist shopping but also the opportunity to remain open on Sundays. (Most stores in France must close on Sunday unless they qualify as tourist attractions.)

There are 400,000 predominantly wealthy professionals living within its primary trade area. Further afield, there are 11 million people living in the greater Paris area. And then, of course, there are the 5 million visitors in the theme park's hotels each year, staying an average of three days.

France has long discouraged outlet malls for fear they would drain traffic from city centers. But after navigating the red tape, Malkin expects full occupancy for La Vallee within the next two years. He then plans to expand his outlet concept throughout Europe. He will open a mall in Maastricht, Belgium, this fall, then locations in Milan and Frankfurt in 2003.