There was an extended conversation on this topic last week.

http://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/woodbury-commons-it-worth.cfm

If you want to do outlet shopping, then you have 2 choices. Woodbury Common is a full-day trip, but it has a lot to offer, particularly high-end designer goods that can't be found in such quantities anywhere else on the east coast.

If you want some outlet shopping but not a full day, then there are sufficient outlets in New Jersey, but they are difficult to visit without a car since they are so spread out.

If you want to pay full price, you will find everything from the outlet malls in Manhattan at the respective boutiques without any need to travel, and you may find a lot you can't find at the outlets.

Hard to say what you are looking for, so it's really up to you. But you won't find anything like the concentration of good buys in Manhattan that you'll find at Woodbury Common.

There are tons of places to shop in the city, including discounters like Filene's Basement and Century 21, regular department stores which are usually having sales and a ton of boutiques with one of a kind merchandise you won;t see anywhere else - from hand crafted anything to gently used designer clothing to vintage things from the 30s on.

Unless shopping is a major part of your trip (and I must admit I don;t get shopping except for specific things I really need) I would stay in the city and explore options here.

If you can afford the time, then I'd opt for the trip to Woodbury Common. There's no place that comes close to the advantage of having the wide variety of merchandise from 220 stores all in one place.

Aduchamp1,
Thanks for the link. I read the postings. So it would be ok for upscale bargains.

In fact, on our US trip last year, we went to the outlet just south of Las Vegas. It was a welcome moment of freshness in an airco environment. The kids bought some baseball caps. We were only halfway our trip, with the car already fully loaded, so we couldn't do any 'serious' shopping. But we saw some europeans, even a collegue from the university, who hoovered along frantically with a brand new 4-wheel trunk, followed by 3 kids and a husband, filling it up at every shop. A bit like dressing the family for 5 years to come...
I don't think we would shop in this way. At home, our cabinets are NOT, I repeat, NOT empty.
My wife could (would, in fact ) be tempted by the upscale shops (Bottega Veneta, Furla, and the likes), but without any buying fever. As some Bottega Veneta handbags cost about 2'500 $ over here, she would fall for one at a 1'000$ bargain. She dresses up for work, so she might be looking for some smarter 'business'like outfits.
My work dress code is 90% casual, or simply black as all architects... I got around well in the Vegas outlet at the Tommy Hilfiger store; some shirts, boxers, socks, pants.
My son, 15, likes the sports brands, but this doesn't mean he hasn't got anything nor would want to have everything. It would be some jeans, some funny t-shirts and a winterjacket.
My daughter, 13, dresses very soberly, nothing flashy, more the 'essentials'-way, three colours of a t-shirt to go with one dress.
Between the 4 of us, we would maybe, at the most, fill one standard suitcase.

I'm a bit partial in going to WC. It's some 1h40 by bus, one way. Do we have a nice countryside on the way up there? It is for us, tourists visiting Manhattan, maybe also an occasion to have a view of a beautiful countryside.
We don't mind spending one out of seven days there, but we don't want to waste days neither.

Even If it were my first visit , to new York I would still make it a point to go to wc for at least half a day, I know my kids that age would have appreciated a relief from straight sightseeing they would have liked stuff from nike and j. Crew outlet etc. The drive is nicer further out you go and the mall area itself is surrounded by nice trees as well. My husband picked up a windbreaker from north face and wears it all the time, outlet malls are the only shopping that he we comes along on. However, if I had to spend alot of money for transport to get there I would reconsider going.

There's a little nice scenery as you drive upstate, and if you are coming in October, you will see a little of the fall color up near Harriman, though I'm not sure since it's been so warm this year.

I am not a shopper and when we travel I would rather see the places we are visitng rather than the inside of stores, especially those that are part of chains.

We take our younger guests for a walk down Broadway from West 8th Street to Canal Street where there are more stores with jeans, shoes, etc than one would want and not waste 4 hours traveling to and from the mall.

There are also now a lot of mall shops on Fifth Ave from 22nd Street to 15th Street.

Personal preference.

Aduchamp1, in this particular thread, your key comment is "I am not a shopper..." That being the case--and taking nothing away from the fact that you are admittedly not a shopper--your advice is not as meaningful to the OP, who, apparently, IS a shopper!
There's got to be some reason why Woodbury Common continues to be the second most popular tourist destination in this state!

I was being honest Howard and let the OP decide.

Point well take, Aduchamp1. I hope you understand my point as well!
I really don't think the Woodbury Commons experience can be matched in the city......not that it's better, it's just different.....and an idyllic experience for a "real shopper"!

Where is Woodbury Common? (I would also never take time out from a trip to another city to shop at an outlet that isn't in the city, so I've never even considered WC -- although I'm happy to stop at an outlet mall if I'm on a road trip and see one passing by )

There are thousands of unique stores in NYC of all stripes and prices and then someone wants to go a mall of chain stores where they can buy the same stuff in Portland, Maine or Portland, Oregon, makes little sense to me.

Of course, they are not clustered together and the name brands do not offer hints as to quality and price, but the beauty remains discovering something by yourself, for yourself. And that, to me at least, is one of the reasons for travel.

Woodbury Common is about 2-1/2 hours north of NYC. It's one of the largest and best outlet malls in the country (with a particularly extensive and unique range of luxury goods stores) ... and for my money the best in the northeast. The reason why many tourists are attracted (particularly foreign tourists) is that their money goes very far here, and even farther at WC. So you come here from Ireland, and you can get a LV purse for $600 instead of $2000. That's a huge savings, and every time I go, I see dozens (hundreds, even) Brazilian, European, Japanese, and Australian tourists with their giant rolling bags going from store to store.

Woodbury Common is actually about one hour north of NYC --at least by car. I'm sure the bus takes longer.
It is in a very pretty area, and if you consider renting a car to get there, you might be able to do some other fun things with the whole group. Taking the bus with 4 people costs money too, so maybe it's worth the typically high cost of a car rental to be able to combine things on your trip. You could make a whole day at the outlets plus other sites, and it would be on your own schedule.

I do think it's best for higher end designer names that aren't readily discounted elesewhere. The medium to lower level names are often found elsewhere at the same or lower prices and the outlets for those brands typically carry a lot of merchandise made specifically for the outlet, not their regular lines. The other thing to remember is that Woodbury Common is huge, spread out, and all outdoors. If your kids aren't good with walking nonstop for 3-4 hours, or if the weather is bad, you all may be pretty unhappy there

Ok everyone, thanks for all the info.
We will most certainly be 'confronted' with shops from the moment we get in New York. If the kids are satisfied with shopping in the first 2 days in town, we will see if it is still 'necessary' to go to WC at the end of our stay...
Thanks for all the helpful info and considerations!!!

There was an article in the NY Times this week about who owns stores in NYC. About half of the 140,000 stores in NYC (all boroughs) are owned by immigrants. The article did not specify if restaurants are a separate category.

It is hard to believe that there is nothing to buy with so many choices and by buying in smaller stores it directly helps families rather than some corporation.

While it is certainly noble to support small businesses, and I applaud the attitude, I know my initial motivation for selecting a store in which to buy an item is simple: Does it have what I want at the best or at least a reasonable price?

Quote -
It is hard to believe that there is nothing to buy with so many choices and by buying in smaller stores it directly helps families rather than some corporation. - unquote

I wonder if it should be named noble to support local businesses, helping families instead of corporations. It should be our normal way of doing. We hear so much of local produce for food matters, but it should in my opinion also be true for shirts, socks or shoes.
We should all have the economical and social wellbeing of our community or country at heart. I fear however that we have lost the war against corporate business since some time...

Ohh, I know my question to go to corporate WC is hardly consistent with these thoughts...

Just a thought.

There is a great independent book store in NYC called The Strand. They actually have knowledgable adults and discounted prices. B & H is the largest independent camera store in New York (maybe the US) and it also has knowledgable adults and the prices are extremely competitive.

So besides the prices, you have people who know of what they speak. In my experience is that is rarely the case at chain stores.

I am not a clothes shopper, so they may be different.

Thanks, Aduchamp1
A visit to B+H is planned the first morning of arrival!

Unless you arrive on Saturday. They are closed on Saturday, though J&R is open and also has pretty good prices.

The people who work in the stores that are owned by "some corporation" are also local residents, who are earning a living by working in the "corporate" stores. I like independent stores because they often carry goods that aren't sold in chain stores.

B & H is also closed on Friday afternoons and on the major Jewish holidays.

I usually do not disagree with Doug, but I have had nothing but unpleasant dealings with J & R and I worked downtown for 30 yerars. I even went back after 9/11 as some sort of patriotic duty and things had not changed. They have a dismissive and arrogant staff especially in their computer department and an onerous return policy.
____

The chain stores that I see hire usually hire part time people, save the manager, while the profits go elsewhere.