Woodbury Common: Bargain Hunting In The Fashion Afterlife

They come by car and park in color-coded garages set along the perimeter of a cluster-model mall — stores arranged in Stepford neighborhood groupings: Niagara, Hudson Valley, Saratoga. The shops face inward around a series of walkways leading to open-air commons, framed by the pastoral backdrop of low wooded hills. They come by the millions, from most continents and dozens of countries and on daily buses from Canada or from Port Authority in Manhattan. That is where I set out on the ShortLine, boarding behind a clutch of millennial shoppers whose excitement about the trip ahead was unconstrained. “We’re going to Woodbury Common!” one announced in a hyperventilated tone you may associate with an 8-year-old headed for Disney World. Settling into seats near the rear of the bus, the small group excitedly shared their retail dreams. Read more at The New York Times.