Indiana's Outlet Mall Economy: Why Edinburgh Is Thriving, Michigan City Has a Fight on Its Hands, and Fremont Faces a Crossroads

Lighthouse Premium Outlets in Michigan City, Indiana near the shore of Lake Michigan and Washington Park Public Beach

With the back-to-school shopping season over, the American shopping mall was supposedly dying, Amazon, let's take a look at the Hoosier state's Outlet Malls that COVID nearly ended.

Many millions of Americans still drive miles out of their way, park in enormous parking lots and walk from Nike to Coach to Ralph Lauren, looking for a discontinued bargain.

Indiana provides a fascinating laboratory for whether that behavior has a future in a world without mass immigration and invading consumers as was once the case.

The state has three genuine outlet-shopping centers remaining: Indiana Premium Outlets at Edinburgh, Lighthouse Place Premium Outlets at Michigan City and the considerably smaller Outlet Shoppes at Fremont. A fourth important property, the former outlet center at Seymour, demonstrates just how badly the formula can unravel when a center loses critical mass.

And the numbers reveal something important: outlet malls aren't simply dying. Rather, the successful ones appear to be separating dramatically from the weak ones.

The surprising national numbers

Start with the company that matters most to Indiana's outlet industry: Indianapolis-based .

Simon owns both Indiana Premium Outlets and Lighthouse Place.

Its 2025 results hardly resemble a company presiding over a dying retail format. Across Simon's U.S. malls and Premium Outlets, occupancy finished 2025 at 96.4%. Average base rent increased 4.7%, while reported retailer sales reached $799 per square foot, up 8.1%.

The numbers have become even stronger in 2026.

At the end of this year's second quarter, Simon's U.S. malls and Premium Outlets were approximately 96% occupied, while trailing retailer sales had climbed to approximately $838 per square foot, up 13.9% from a year earlier.

That doesn't mean every outlet center is healthy.

National foot-traffic data provide the warning. Placer.ai found visits to outlet malls down about 2.8% year-over-year during the third quarter of 2025, somewhat worse than enclosed and conventional open-air centers. Its analysis points toward an uncomfortable irony: outlet centers traditionally target value-conscious shoppers, but those consumers increasingly have cheaper and more convenient alternatives such as TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Burlington, Ross and HomeGoods.

That competition matters enormously in Indiana.

Driving 40 miles to save $25 becomes less attractive when gasoline, restaurant meals and the value of someone's time are included in the calculation.

No. 1: Edinburgh remains Indiana's outlet powerhouse

The strongest outlet property in Indiana is unquestionably .

Simon reported the 378,389-square-foot center 97.5% leased at the end of 2025. Major tenants included Adidas, Calvin Klein, Coach, Columbia, Gap, Guess, J.Crew, Kate Spade, Michael Kors, Nike, Polo Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Under Armour.

That tenant roster is extraordinarily important.

An outlet mall doesn't merely need stores. It needs enough stores that cannot easily be duplicated during a normal suburban shopping trip to justify driving there.

Edinburgh passes that test. Its other enormous advantage is geography. The center sits immediately beside I-65 roughly 35 minutes south of Indianapolis, placing it on the Indianapolis-Columbus-Louisville travel corridor. Simon describes it as central Indiana's only outlet shopping center and markets roughly 60 stores there.

Greater Columbus Indiana Economic Development says as many as 3 million shoppers annually travel to the Exit 76 retail area. That changes the economics dramatically.

A mall dependent entirely upon residents within 10 miles has a finite customer base. Edinburgh can capture Indianapolis shoppers, Columbus-area consumers, Louisville-bound travelers, interstate motorists, tourists and people who deliberately make the mall their destination.

It also benefits from the larger Columbus tourism economy. Bartholomew County recorded approximately $226 million in visitor spending during 2024, supporting an estimated 2,690 jobs.

Viability rating: A

Unless there is a major deterioration in consumer spending or Simon makes a strategic decision to dispose of the property, Edinburgh appears highly sustainable.

A 97.5% leased rate is the key number. That's not a mall waiting to die. It indicates landlords continue finding tenants willing to pay for space.

Its future opportunity is actually to become more than an outlet mall: restaurants, entertainment, hotels, EV charging, children's activities and other uses that turn a two-hour shopping stop into a half-day destination.

Michigan City: bigger mall, bigger opportunity — but more empty space

"Prime Outlets" or "Lighthouse Place" as local call it may possess Indiana's most interesting outlet-mall economics.

The FIPS, that is or isn't Friendly Illinois Peoples invade at Christmas and during the summers.

It is larger than Edinburgh at approximately 444,045 square feet, but Simon reported only 87.4% leased at year-end 2025.

That means roughly 12.6% wasn't leased at that measurement date—far more vacancy than Edinburgh and significantly below Simon's portfolio-wide 96%-plus occupancy.

That deserves attention.

But writing off Lighthouse Place would be a serious mistake.

It still has more than 70 stores and an unusually formidable collection of recognizable outlet brands, including Nike, Adidas, Coach, Michael Kors, Polo Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, Under Armour, North Face, J.Crew, Gap and others.

More importantly, Michigan City has something Edinburgh cannot duplicate:

Lake Michigan and Chicago.

Lighthouse Place sits roughly a mile from Lake Michigan and can draw from Northwest Indiana, South Bend and metropolitan Chicago. Its location near downtown Michigan City also makes it easier to combine shopping with restaurants, beaches, casinos, hotels and tourism rather than treating the mall as an isolated highway stop.

The local tourism organization reported new retail, food and entertainment concepts at the center entering 2026, including expanded JD Sports operations, Travel Treasures and an arcade/gallery/museum concept.

That's exactly the direction an outlet center needs to move.

Viability rating: B+

Lighthouse's biggest danger isn't extinction tomorrow. It is gradual erosion.

An 87.4% occupancy level can become 92% again with successful leasing—or 80% if several important tenants depart.

Outlet centers operate partly on critical mass. Lose one obscure store and virtually nobody changes travel plans. Lose Nike, Coach, Ralph Lauren and several other destination tenants, however, and the consumer begins asking why the trip is worthwhile.

Simon therefore has a powerful economic incentive to protect Lighthouse's major brands.

The nearby Riverboat Casino, Blue Chip by Boyd Gaming, provideds some visitors as well.

Fremont: Indiana's outlet mall at greatest risk

The economic story becomes considerably less comfortable at Fremont has one spectacular advantage: location.

The property sits near the intersection of I-69 and the Indiana Toll Road, giving it access to interstate travelers and consumers moving between Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Fremont's 2026 comprehensive plan specifically identifies the interchange as providing access to the outlet property as well as hotels, gasoline stations, convenience stores and restaurants.

Steuben County also has a legitimate tourism economy built around more than 100 lakes and Pokagon State Park.

But the outlet's current scale is troubling. Lake communities seem to not provide the visitors and the near constant road construciton keeps passer-bys driving past it. This part of the state seems to be neglected as potental tourist destination in this state for a long time.

The county tourism bureau currently lists stores including American Eagle, Bath & Body Works, Carter's, Famous Footwear, Jockey, Maurices and Under Armour, along with several local/specialty businesses.

That's useful retail.

It isn't remotely the destination-brand concentration found at Edinburgh or Michigan City.

And that produces the outlet industry's vicious circle:

Fewer destination stores → fewer destination shoppers → weaker tenant sales → difficulty recruiting major brands → fewer destination stores.

Fremont must break that cycle.

Viability rating: C

The property probably has a future but needs work and perhaps tax incentives or some new taxation system for these and all tourist assets in Indiana, i.e., golf courses, ski hills, concert halls and venues, and non-professional sports facilities. Taxpayers already subsidize the richest pro team owners far too much in the opinion of other business people.

The more difficult question is whether that future is primarily as a traditional outlet mall.

Fremont could ultimately work better as a hybrid interstate destination containing outlet stores, conventional retail, restaurants, entertainment, locally owned businesses, recreational businesses and services catering to lake visitors.

Interestingly, local residents appear receptive to precisely that kind of evolution. In Fremont's 2025 community survey, 50% said the area needs more business or industrial growth, while 75% wanted locally owned restaurants and 64% viewed locally owned retail positively.

Trying to recreate a 1990s outlet mall may therefore be less sensible than building a 2030 interstate commercial destination.

Seymour: the warning Indiana shouldn't ignore

Then there is Seymour.

The former outlet property off I-65 illustrates what happens when the outlet formula collapses.

Local planning documents described the outlet mall as nearly vacant and specifically discussed finding ways to reactivate the property. Residents reported traveling to Columbus or Indianapolis for shopping and entertainment.

Today the former outlet center is being marketed much differently.

The 165,000-square-foot property contains an eight-screen movie theater and an eclectic collection of tenants, including churches, treatment and service businesses, dance and other nontraditional mall uses. Ownership markets space not merely for retail but also office, light-industrial, distribution and build-to-suit uses. More than 76,000 square feet was recently being offered as available.

That is not necessarily failure from a real-estate perspective.

It's adaptive reuse.

But it effectively represents the failure of the property's original outlet-shopping economic model.

And that should make Fremont pay attention.

The seasonal problem nobody should overlook

Indiana's surviving outlet centers are predominantly open-air properties.

That creates dramatically different economics by season.

Spring can be excellent. Tax refunds, spring wardrobes, Easter, Mother's Day, Memorial Day and improving weather bring shoppers outdoors.

Summer should be particularly valuable to Michigan City and Fremont because their tourism markets explode with lake, beach, boating and vacation traffic. Edinburgh benefits from road trips, summer vacations and interstate traffic.

But extreme heat works against open-air outlets. Placer.ai's 2025 research found enclosed malls outperforming outlets during a hot July, suggesting climate-controlled malls can regain an advantage during uncomfortable weather.

August provides the critical back-to-school period, particularly for Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, American Eagle, Old Navy, Gap, Levi's and children's retailers.

September and October bring fall clothing, football traffic and pleasant outdoor shopping weather.

Then comes the season that can make an outlet center's year:

November and December.

Black Friday, Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas play directly into the outlet proposition: recognizable gifts at perceived discounts.

But Indiana weather becomes the enemy.

Snow, freezing rain, high winds and 20-degree temperatures are fundamentally more disruptive to a center where consumers must repeatedly walk outside than to an enclosed suburban mall.

That makes weather itself an economic variable for Indiana's outlet industry.

The bigger threat: Is an outlet actually a bargain anymore?

There is also a psychological challenge. Will young mothers still find a need and are the states affluence going to drive 2 working families to forget about bargain shopping, like they have have forgotten about collecting antiques. Trends are changing faster and faster.

Consumers once understood an outlet as the place where manufacturers sold excess merchandise, discontinued inventory and imperfect goods cheaply.

Modern factory stores are different.

Many brands manufacture merchandise specifically for outlet channels. That isn't inherently deceptive, but sophisticated consumers increasingly understand that the $100 "factory" item may not necessarily be the same $200 item they saw in a full-line store.

Meanwhile, shoppers can stand inside an outlet and instantly compare prices with the brand's website, Amazon and competitors.

That means outlet malls can no longer survive merely on the appearance of savings.

The bargain has to feel real.

Simon itself is leaning heavily into promotions and loyalty. Its 2026 National Outlet Shopping Day involved thousands of special offers from hundreds of brands, illustrating how central events and promotional urgency have become to the outlet business.

2026's consumer problem

There is another warning flashing right now.

American consumers are increasingly divided between households that can continue spending freely and households becoming intensely price sensitive.

This week Dollar General and Dollar Tree reported strong results as consumers sought cheaper products, while warning that fuel costs remain important to household budgets.

That's particularly relevant to outlet malls.

An outlet center asks consumers to spend money traveling in order to save money shopping.

At $3 gasoline, perhaps that's easy.

At significantly higher fuel prices, a family considering an 80-mile round trip starts calculating whether the outlet bargain is really a bargain.

Meanwhile, July 2026 retail sales declined 0.6%, although clothing-store spending has recently shown considerably more resilience.

That makes 2026's holiday season especially important.

Indiana tourism may ultimately save the outlet format but only if that becomes a state goal

Indiana welcomed approximately 83 million visitors in 2024, generating about $16.9 billion in visitor spending. Tourism supported more than 210,000 full- and part-time jobs.

That matters because Indiana's three outlet centers share one characteristic:

They are all positioned to capture people who don't live immediately beside them.

Edinburgh captures I-65.

Michigan City captures Lake Michigan, Northwest Indiana and Chicago.

Fremont captures I-69, the Toll Road and lake country.

That's not accidental. Simon describes Premium Outlets generally as properties situated close to metropolitan areas and/or tourist destinations.

The future of Indiana outlet shopping may consequently be intertwined with tourism more than conventional retail.

What the next decade probably looks like

I don't expect Indiana to suddenly start building numerous traditional outlet malls. The economics argue against it.

Instead, expect a winner-take-more market.

Edinburgh should remain the state's dominant outlet center and could become stronger.

Michigan City should remain a major outlet destination, but its vacancy rate deserves watching. Its tremendous tourism geography gives Simon a compelling reason to reinvest and recruit tenants.

Fremont needs reinvention rather than nostalgia. It requires enough attractions, restaurants and retail reasons to turn interstate traffic into stopping traffic.

And Seymour demonstrates the alternative: once destination retail loses enough destination tenants, the underlying real estate may survive, but the outlet mall does not.

HE Outlook

Indiana Premium Outlets — 5-year outlook: STRONG

97.5% leased, major brands, I-65, Indianapolis/Columbus access and millions of potential travelers make Edinburgh Indiana's safest outlet property.

Lighthouse Place — 5-year outlook: POSITIVE, WITH RISK

The location and brands are excellent. The 87.4% year-end 2025 occupancy figure is the metric to watch. A rebound above 90% would substantially strengthen the case.

Fremont — 5-year outlook: UNCERTAIN

Its highway location is valuable enough that the real estate should remain commercially useful. Whether it can remain a true destination outlet mall is another question.

Seymour — outlet outlook: OVER

The property can find productive new uses, but its history shows Indiana communities shouldn't assume that yesterday's outlet mall can survive indefinitely on highway visibility alone.

The broader conclusion is counterintuitive. Indiana's outlet malls aren't all dying. The strongest one is remarkably healthy.

But the middle of the market is disappearing.

In the outlet business of the future, being located beside an interstate won't be enough. Having cheap merchandise won't be enough. And merely calling something an "outlet" certainly won't be enough.

The survivors will be the places that give a Hoosier family a convincing answer to one increasingly important question:

Why should we drive there? And will the end of the gas tax holiday have an impact, too?