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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Tanger CEO says outlets have lots of room to grow

NEW YORK, SEPT. 13 - Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc (SKT.N) CEO thinks U.S. consumers can support 100 more outlet shopping centers over the next decade, saying the country is "many, many years away" from being saturated.

 The United States has about 150 outlet malls, with total square footage of 50 million to 55 million square feet, Steven Tanger told the Reuters Retail and Consumer Summit on Thursday.

That compares with 176 million square feet of retail space overall just in Chicago, he said.

 "So you can fit our entire industry three-and-a-half times into Chicago. We have a long runway of growth," Tanger said. "My guess is that the U.S. can support another 100 outlet centers over a 10-year build-out. That should still get us to about 80 to 90 million square feet, which is still a very, very small percentage of overall retail."

Tanger, whose company operates and owns, or has an ownership stake in, 39 outlet shopping centers in the United States and Canada, said that any sizeable growth from outlets would likely take market share from traditional retail stores.

Outlet stores usually sell merchandise for less than their full-priced counterparts.

SOURCE: REUTERS

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