I had to see the discounts at Elie Tahari.

The 425,000-square-foot village-style shopping center opened the first week in November, attracting thousands of shoppers hot for bargain-basement deals. There are more than 120 name-brand stores, including Neiman Marcus Last Call Clearance Center, Ann Taylor, BCBG Max Azria, Nine West, and Lane Bryant.

If you know your brands, the potential for savings is fabulous. But if not, you could get got.

"The Carter's [children's store] outlet had some really great deals," said Jessica Schneider, who drove to Limerick from neighboring Gilbertsville to start her holiday shopping.

"But some of the stuff was so high-end, the discounts didn't seem to matter that much anyway."

I agree.

I'm not a brand loyalist, but I definitely have my favorites: BCBG Max Azria and Nine West are high on the list. I've never met a Gap outlet I didn't like. I know the value of an Elie Tahari suit (although here one-third off a sharp $398 skirt was still $278). And when I can get a Theory-anything drastically reduced, I'll take it.

There were definitely some great buys, and, to my surprise, most of the merchandise was in season, meaning the stores weren't filled with summer apparel. The prices at the Coach outlet were a lot less than those at a Coach store. Miss Sixty Jeans, which are usually upward of $200, were only $85.

Now that I know I can get Nike Air Shoxx for $54, I'll never pay $120 again. Crocs, normally $30, are just $20 at the outlet. And I found a pair of $275 Nanette Lepore pants at Neiman Marcus for $96.

But there were some disappointments. Only half of the shoes in Aldo were actually reduced, and I kept picking up the pairs that weren't. And the Sean John store offered his women's cologne Unforgivable (I'm surprised I like it) with lip-gloss trio for $50. That's the same price it was at Macy's.

"I'm not that convinced," said Sherri Shayegan of Center City as she perused Miss Sixty with her daughter-in-law Paris Shamloo, 23. They'd already been to Michael Kors and BCBG, as well as Banana Republic.

"I work at Bloomingdale's and I don't see that much of a difference in prices here."

For a shopping center to be an outlet mall, more than 50 percent of its tenants must be manufacturers' outlets, according to Linda Humphers, editor in chief of Value Retail News, a Florida-based trade magazine for the International Council of Shopping Centers.