Is outlet shopping worth the trip?

Outlet shopping is hard to resist at this time of year...

At the outlets, everything is on sale every day – but is it really worth the trip? Consumer Reports put outlet shopping to the test for quality of merchandise and savings. They spent $2,000 on name brand apparel at retail stores - then bought the same or similar items at the outlet. They found the retail quality was usually a little bit better for the same brands – but in some cases, the outlet version was just as good or superior. There was no contest when it came to savings. The outlet shopping trip saved as much as 60%. If you’ve got more than one or two name brand items on your list – it’s worth the trip to the outlets.