Shoppes on the Parkway — Attraction in Blowing Rock

I have always enjoyed the intimacy of this smaller Tanger compared to others. It is a pretty setting and has enough stores that I like. Yesterday, due to some March snow, I called the Tanger office at this location to make sure they would be open and the nice woman said yes, opening a bit later and all stores closing at 5:00 (earlier than normal). I arrived at the mall around 4:00 and picked up my AAA coupon book from the center office which I usually do in case it saves me money which it often does. I specifically went to the mall this day to get something from the kitchen store, which would be a quick purchase. After getting drawn into a more exciting store first :), I arrived at the kitchen store at exactly 4:45, and it was closed. It was not like they had just closed and locked the doors and employees were still inside, but dark and no one inside. Obviously I was disappointed and will now have to return today if I can find the time on this short trip to Blowing Rock. I have experienced some inconstistency of stores being open vs closed or varying hours of stores in the past. It appears that mall management needs to police store hours better and provide more consistency, unless this is not in some stores' leases that they are required to be open consistent with center hours. Outside of this issue, the center is a pleasant, manageable shopping excursion where one can find a nice enough variety of stores without feeling overwhelmed. The parking is easy and accessible, and the retail employees are usually very nice (a reflection of the town and area). It's a nice destination as long as you're not expecting a big city mall experience and offerings. Keep up the good work there and just tweak the consistency of...

Sadly disappointed that this was a Tanger Outlet. Usually, these outlets are much larger with lots of stores where you can easily spend hours and a lot of money shopping. Not so at this one. I was done shopping in about 2 hours. I did spend enough money that when I tallied up my receipts at Guest Services, I got a nice tote bag and some coupons for future shopping. There is a snow board shop but that is the only store geared toward men other than the clothing stores. Sadly, this is true for all the Tanger Outlets that I have been to - nothing for the men. My husband is a good sport and goes with me. He would be happy if you had an electronics store or a real tool store (with DeWalt or similar tools) instead of the imitation ones that some outlets have. Succinctly, the Tanger Outlets at the Shoppes on the Parkway are okay but I seriously doubt that I will go...

The mall itself is starting to feel a little old and run down but the employees at the stores are very helpful, even on the busy Black Friday. However I ended up having a terrible experience at the Loft. The sweater in my size had a snag in it and they told me they would order it to be sent to me for free (because I have a Loft credit card) and apply the Black Friday and Tanger outlet (additional 15% off) discounts. Not only did they charge me for shipping, not apply the additional 15% off, charge me the higher TN sales tax but they won’t adjust the price without me going to the store. The nearest Loft store is 45 minutes from my house. Don’t trust the sales...