The largest mall owner in the world, The Simon Property Group, had been thinking about creating an annual sales event that they hope to rival other large brands’ dedicated discount days such as Amazon Prime Day. The company said that the idea had been in the works since 2019 but the pandemic forced them to shelve it.
Simon Property thinks this Saturday was a perfect time for the event as more consumers are looking to discount retailers to help combat the high prices they are seeing thanks to inflation and supply chain issues. Set for the second Saturday in June, this date was strategically chosen, “We’ve timed it between the traditional promotional windows, so Memorial Day is over and back-to-school hasn’t started,” said Mikael Thygesen, chief marketing officer.
When times get difficult economically consumers generally flock to discount retailers. Now more and more brands are expanding their retail strategy to include factory outlet retail. Simon currently has 300 brands in their outlet store and hopes to have 1,000 by next year. If the National Outlet Shopping Day draws the attention that Simon Property hopes even more retailers will be vying for space in their discount outlets.
