Great Holiday Shopping Awaits Visitors
at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO --With the holiday season fast approaching, a shopping getaway to Central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks is a timely idea.  Whether you’re interested in outlet, antique, big-box, specialty or souvenir shopping (or all of the above), the Lake is the place to be.

    According to the Shop America Alliance, almost all travelers shop.  What’s more, an increasing number of people travel primarily to go shopping, and more than half do some holiday shopping on vacation.  It’s no surprise that the Lake of the Ozarks lures travelers looking for a one-stop shopping getaway.  This time of year, you’ll find smaller crowds and special savings.  In fact, many Lake-area hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts and condos offer money-saving stay-and-shop packages.

    A top destination on every shopper’s list is the 110-store Osage Beach Premium Outlets on Highway 54.  It’s Missouri’s largest outlet center with 110 stores in one village setting.  “Being centrally located, we welcome shoppers from all eight states surrounding Missouri in addition to our international shoppers from as far away as Japan and Korea,” says Candy Wilson, assistant general manager.  

    The outlet center’s appeal grows from stores like Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, BCBG Max Azria, Coach, Gap Outlet, Tommy Hilfiger, Adidas, Gymboree Outlet, J. Crew, Liz Claiborne and more offering savings of 25-65 percent every day.  “Savvy outlet shoppers start their holiday shopping early,” Wilson says.  “We are seeing more and more holiday shoppers in the early fall and interest builds through December.”

    To make the season extra bright, Wilson says Osage Beach Premium Outlets will open at midnight as soon as Thanksgiving ends. “We’ll offer 22 hours of incredible holiday shopping as we kick off our after-Thanksgiving sale which runs through Nov. 25,” she says.  

    The outlet center also holds frequent special promotions.  Members of its VIP Shopper Club receive additional discounts.  Shoppers age 50 and above save more every Tuesday.  The center also offers casual dining and snacks, and has a five-screen cinema.  Several Lake-area lodging facilities offer packages that combine discount accommodations and special outlet center coupons.  For more information, visit www.premiumoutlets.com/osage.

     At Stone Crest Mall on Highway 54, several of its 38 tenants celebrate Christmas in July with special sales, says General Manager Robin Evers.  “But the holiday season officially starts Nov. 1,” she says.  “That’s when all of our new decorations go up, based on the 12 Days of Christmas.” The day after Thanksgiving, several stores will open at 7:00 a.m. and offer holiday savings.  “Of course, Santa will start his yearly visit here that day, too,” Evers says.  And on Dec. 1, the mall will sponsor its annual holiday open house complete with cookies, prizes and mall-wide specials.

    Evers agrees that people shop for the holidays year-round at the Lake of the Ozarks.  “Especially women,” she says.  “They come in groups of friends or Red Hat members, just to shop and relax at the Lake.”  However, she notes, husbands who accompany wives who want to shop at Stone Crest Mall are welcome to enjoy a cigar and talk golf at Pars & Cigars, featuring the Lake area’s largest humidor.  Other Stone Crest retailers include ladies’ apparel and shoes, a dollar store, Christian books and gifts, framing and art supplies, nautical gifts, books and toys, scrapbooking and computers, as well as Sears, Hallmark and Levi’s.  “Everyone just needs to come shop the whole Lake of the Ozarks for the holidays,” Evers says.

    Another popular Lake-area shopping center is The Landing on Main Street, also on Highway 54.  Built in 1987, The Landing recreates a quaint Victorian village complete with wooden sidewalks, a waterwheel and wishing well.  Among its 20-plus shops and services is Blair’s Landing, offering fine apparel and shoes for men and women since 1974, plus framing and home accessories, a Brighton store, resort wear, pet boutique, flowers, baked treats, silver jewelry, art and antiques and more.  Also in The Landing are a tea room and Blair & Co. Confectionery, selling Ozark Maid Candies (a visitor favorite for more than 50 years).  The Main Street Music Hall is located at the back of the center.

    Just before Thanksgiving, The Landing gets decorated in a lovely Victorian holiday theme. However, notes Evelyn Hunter, a 27-year employee at Blair’s Landing, “We have Christmas shoppers throughout the year and I’m seeing more lately.” Hunter says Blair’s Landing has a big pre-season sale in November and an even bigger sale on New Year’s Day.  “At the New Year’s Day sale, a lot of people tell me they’re starting their Christmas shopping,” she says.

    The store and shopping center attract shoppers “from all over,” Hunter says.  “We have a lot of regular shoppers and groups of women who come to the Lake and to The Landing on a shopping spree.  I know a lot of them shop for the holidays even if it’s summertime.”

    The Lake area’s 25-plus antique shops and flea markets also are big draws for year-round and holiday shoppers.  At Countryside Antiques & Collectibles in Camdenton, owner Vida McEndollar says her busiest time of year is fall, not summer. “We’re starting to see more and more people looking for holiday gifts now, especially women enjoying a girlfriends’ getaway and empty nesters who come to the Lake mainly for shopping,” she says.  “But a lot of people buy Christmas presents at the Lake all through the year.”

    McEndollar has owned the 53-booth Countryside antique mall since May, 2006.  “We have a very wide variety of merchandise, from glass to coins to furniture and rugs,” she says.  “You can find things here from a dollar to $1,000 and more.” She lavishly decorates the store for every season, inside and out.

    Of course no shopping trip to the Lake of the Ozarks is complete without a stop on Historic Bagnell Dam Boulevard in Lake Ozark.  At the peak of summer, this famous “strip” is a lively haven of flea markets, motels, motorcycle shops, restaurants, candle shops, tattoo parlors, snack bars, T-shirt and swimwear shops, Indian jewelry stores, arcades, psychics, batting cages, a merry-go-round and Miss Angie’s 1891 Haunted Hotel – plus an increasing number of upscale gift shops and boutiques, including a store just for pampered pooches.

    Undoubtedly the best-known store on the strip is the Dogpatch Store, opened by Walter Tietmeyer in 1947. Baby Boomers by the thousands will recall Dogpatch for its long-gone tic-tac-toe-playing chickens and an outhouse complete with a hillbilly screaming “Shut that door!”

    Today, as always, the huge Dogpatch Store is known for its friendly atmosphere and quirky features like an antique fortune-telling machine.  Owner Mike Page notes, “We try to keep the old flavor and nostalgia.”  The most popular items, he says, are “anything with nostalgic appeal, like an old-time toy mom and dad remember from when they were kids.”  The shop also sells a lot of old-fashioned candy and native cedar products from the Blair Cedar Company in Camdenton.

    When the holidays roll around, “We decorate and try to make it festive,” Page says.  “On weekends we serve cookies and hot chocolate, if it’s cold outside.”  A busy day for Dogpatch will be Nov. 17 when Santa arrives and the Lake Lights Holiday Caravan rolls down the strip.  “A surprising number of out-of-towners come to the Lake right around Christmas, so we stay geared up for that,” Page says.  But people shop for the holidays throughout the year, he notes.  “I own the Leatherman Shop, too, and I frequently see people buy something they say will be perfect for their friend who has a motorcycle, even though Christmas may be months away,” he says.  He believes many people come to the Lake just to shop. “Osage Beach Premium Outlets is the big draw,” Page says, “but so are all the other specialty stores and shops along the strip.”

    The Dogpatch Store is open year-round, “except when it’s really cold in January.  That’s when we may close for inventory and remodeling,” says Page, who also owns Grandma’s Candy Kitchen, home of 20 flavors of fudge and 40 flavors of saltwater taffy.

    At the Lake of the Ozarks, shoppers also will find major retailers including Target, Marshall’s, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Wal-Mart and others.  The Lake also is the place to shop for European and Mexican imports, silk trees and plants, hardware and housewares, pottery, cards and stationery, specialty foods, wine and liquor, outdoors and sports equipment, books, candles, flags, boats, motorcycles and more.  The area’s larger resorts all have inviting gift shops, and crafts and fine art frequently are for sale at the Lake area’s numerous festivals and fairs.

    Shopping is one activity you can indulge in year-round at the Lake of the Ozarks.  For holiday or anytime shopping, you’ll find what you’re looking for – or what you didn’t know you needed – at the Lake.  For more information on Lake-area shopping, lodging, dining, events and attractions, contact the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitor Bureau at 800-FUN-LAKE (386-5253), or visit www.funlake.com.

# # #

NOTE TO NEWS MEDIA: For your convenience, you may download an electronic
version of this article at www.funlake.com/press_releases/current_releases.