Aug. 28--Jones New York and Kasper sportswear. Easy Spirit and Nine West shoes.

Shoppers who associate those brands with department stores or mall specialty stores can see them in a new venue in the Pittsburgh region starting Friday, when the Tanger Outlet Center opens in South Strabane in Washington County.

Jones Apparel Group Inc. of New York City will give each of the four labels its own storefront in the Tanger center. Many big merchandisers, in fact, are putting more resources these days into their factory outlet stores as consumers become more frugal and national retailers such as Macy's and J.C. Penney put more emphasis on their own clothing, linens and cookware brands.

"Sales at outlet centers tend to be better in a down economy," Linda Humphers, editor in chief of Value Retail News, which tracks the outlet industry, said Wednesday.

Case in point: Women's clothing brand Ann Taylor plans to close 64 stores this year as part of a restructuring, but it just rolled out a new Loft Outlet concept for its casual line, opening 10 stores in recent months. "This was no easing into outlets. It was Ann Taylor saying, 'This is what we are doing,' " Humphers said.

The Tanger center across Racetrack Road from the bustling casino at The Meadows harness track won't have a Loft Outlet store, but it will feature a regular Ann Taylor Factory Store -- one of about 23 opening this year at outlet centers nationwide.

Tanger's lineup includes 75 brand name and designer outlet stores, with most opening at 9 a.m. Friday.

Stanley K. Tanger, CEO of the Greensboro, N.C.-based outlet center chain; his son Steven B. Tanger, the president and chief operating officer; ex-Steeler Jerome Bettis; and state and local officials will lead the official kickoff at 11 a.m., after a parade. A sidewalk sale, rides, games and other events run through Labor Day weekend.

Most of the names on the Tanger store directory should be well known to consumers in the region: Calvin Klein, Corningware, Coach, Guess, Hanes, Carter's, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike and Samsonite, to name a few.

Jones Apparel CEO Wesley Card said last month the company's outlet business, for clothing and shoes, historically has been its most profitable. The wholesale apparel business "remains challenged," he said.

The company's outlet store total as of December far surpasses its retail stores -- 638 value-priced outlets, almost a third of them Nine West, versus 393 specialty stores in malls and urban retail centers.