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Shop-a-holics head to Williamsburg

By Mary Burnham

Question: Why do tour buses have so much storage space underneath?

Answer: So there's always enough room for the shopping bags from the outlet malls.

Shop-a-holics can appreciate this punch line, but to those whose livelihood is built on Williamsburg's shopping industry, it's no joke. Not when the number of visitors to their stores and outlets rival those heading to America's largest living history museum, Colonial Williamsburg.

A healthy supply of tourists and a convenient location midway between the metropolitan centers of Richmond and Hampton Roads are two big reasons for its popularity. But the major draw is the variety of shopping experiences. Shoppers can easily find bargain-priced kitsch, designer label apparel, and authentic Colonial reproductions.

Prime Outlets
Featured stores: Bose, Royal Doulton, Waterford, Le Creuset, Jones of NY, Tommy Hilfiger, Liz Claiborne, L.L. Bean, Coach, Eddie Bauer, Nike and the only Lladro outlet in the country.
Patriot Plaza Premium Outlets
Featured stores: Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, Lenox and Ben & Jerry's
Williamsburg Outlet Mall
Featured stores: Levi's, Dockers, Dexter, Jockey, Bass and Farberware.

Route 60 West, also known as Richmond Road, is the corridor for outlet shopping in Williamsburg. Name-dropping is what brings well over a million shoppers a year to Prime Outlets at Williamsburg, the most profitable of the 42 Prime Outlets nationwide, said marketing director Lisa Bates. Brands like Jones of NY, Tommy Hilfiger, Liz Claiborne, L.L. Bean and Eddie Bauer occupy 80 outlet stores where back-to-school shoppers (several outlets carry school uniform items) rub elbows with those seeking fine porcelain figures.

Also on Route 60, Williamsburg Antique Mall features more than 400 dealers. Watch the making of exquisite Lady Anne dolls at The Williamsburg Doll Factory, or see the White House Presidential china in the museum at the Lenox Factory Outlet.

The Williamsburg Pottery Factory in Lightfoot, which literally put Williamsburg on the shopping map, must be seen at least once by any serious shopper.

Downtown is the other extreme from factory outlets. In the Colonial-themed shops at Merchants Square and Colonial Williamsburg, you can purchase one-of-a-kind handcrafted 18th-century reproductions, along with Colonial trinkets, tri-cornered hats and hand-dipped candles.

Here's a bonus:
Shops will deliver purchases to your Colonial Williamsburg hotel room or to the visitor center.

Shops within the Colonial Williamsburg Historic Area itself allow visitors to take home artifacts of 18th-century life. There are penny whistles and mouth harps, reproduction antique furniture and pewter, handmade candy, candles and Colonial costumes, teas, spices and baked goods, and even herbs and flowers. The Greenhow Store, for instance, offers goods listed in an 18-century advertisement, and the Colonial Post Office sells supplies for the dying art of letter writing. Each hotel and museum also has its own gift shop.

Just steps beyond the Historic Area are Merchants Square's 41 shops and restaurants. Brick walks connect an array of unique shops offerings specialty foods, toys, jewelry, apparel, arts and crafts, porcelain, shoes and Christmas items. Can't find that 17th-century tune anywhere on CD? Squires Music in Merchants Square is the place to look.

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