And they’re off … to find a parking space

"Midnight Madness" at Las Vegas Premium Outlets could pertain to today's opening of the holiday shopping season or it could be a warning to customers looking for a place to park.

The 120-store outlet center is expanding to 150 stores in the spring, though about a dozen retailers are hoping to open in time for Christmas, said Michele Rothstein, senior vice president of marketing for New Jersey-based Chelsea Property Group.

Among the new stores that could be opening in December or early January are Aldo, BCBG Max Azria, Burberry, David Yurman, Diesel, Etro, Gap Outlet, J. Crew, Kate Spade, Miss Sixty-Energie and Polo Ralph Lauren Children.

The store list is constantly changing as companies work through the inspection process and receive shipments of merchandise from overseas, Rothstein said.

"We'll have a better idea next week," she said. "This whole expansion is for spring 2008. Some stores wanted to open for Christmas. It's just a matter of when they can open."

Parking has been a problem at the outlet center since it opened in 2003.

It's worse now that construction of the $56 million, 104,000-square-foot expansion has taken away what little surface parking was available on the center's west side. Shoppers are shoehorned in and out of the recently completed south parking garage through one entrance on Grand Central Parkway.

Rothstein would not disclose daily foot traffic or the number of parking spaces available in the garage, but it's clear the difference is drastic.

Drivers can crawl around the garage looking for a parking spot, backed up 10 or 15 at a time while someone waits for another car to pull out. One woman said she spent 25 minutes driving around the garage.

Many shoppers, including four Australian tourists carrying bags from the center, avoid the hassle by parking across the street at the Clark County Government Center. A county security guard patrolled the lot earlier this week and sent a young couple back to their car after they started walking toward the mall.

"They're not supposed to park here. They can get towed," a county worker said as she returned from lunch at Premium Outlets. "You ought to be here on weekends. We block it off where the stop signs are. I work here on Sundays and I've had to park way at the end of the lot."

A second parking garage is under construction on the north side of the retail center and was expected to be open by today, Rothstein said.

Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally opens the holiday shopping season with retailers offering sales and promotions that have people lined up outside their doors in the morning.

According to the latest survey conducted by BIGresearch for the National Retail Federation, nearly 133 million Americans will start their holiday shopping this weekend.

Many shoppers will be young adults, 18 years old to 24 years old. Nearly half of them (47.2 percent) said they definitely plan to shop the weekend after Thanksgiving.

"Though some people incorporate holiday shopping into their Thanksgiving traditions, others wait to see how good the deals are before they set their alarm clocks for Friday morning," federation President and Chief Executive Officer Tracy Mullin said.

Chelsea, a wholly owned subsidiary of Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, also owns the 130-store Las Vegas Outlet Center on Las Vegas Boulevard South.

Although the company does not report sales figures for each of its 43 outlet centers, Rothstein said the latest 12-month cumulative total for the entire portfolio is about $500 per square foot. That's slightly higher than the $377 average for all shopping centers.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0491.