The vast Dillard’s clearance center in Ohio you have to see to believe

Deals and bargains at Dillard’s clearance store in Cincinnati

If you love Dillard’s clothing styles AND you love amazing markdowns, you need to high-tail it to the Dillard’s Clearance Center in Cincinnati. You won’t believe the savings you’ll find there on high-end brands of clothing and shoes.

What you’ll find at the Dillard’s Clearance Center

My daughters and I love bargains. We love shopping together, and we love Dillard’s. So it’s no surprise that we can spend hours — and I do mean hours! — wandering the aisles at the Dillard’s outlet store. And oh, the amazing things we’ve found!

One time I found a Johnny Was jacket for less than $100 — originally priced at more than $800. And I routinely find my favorite brand of jeans – Liverpool — for a fraction of their regular price. I’ve found so many deals on women’s and men’s clothes, it’s just incredible.

What you’ll find at the Dillard’s outlet in Cincinnati

The Dillard’s Clearance Center (often referred to as the “Dillard’s outlet” by locals) is located in the Eastgate Mall in Cincinnati. The mall has seen better days, for sure, but we never even venture beyond the confines of the vast Dillard’s outlet. In fact, you cannot get through to the mall from the outlet. You have to enter the outlet from outside the building.

Inside the outlet, you’ll find rows and rows and rows of Dillard’s merchandise. It’s mostly clothes and shoes, although there are a few home items.

Clothes are organized by gender, age, type and size. Most of the clothes are women’s and junior’s clothes, but there are a lot of men’s clothes, as well. The children’s area is much smaller and, from my perspective, doesn’t offer as many deals.

How it’s organized

Clothes are separated by type — long-sleeve blouses, short-sleeve blouses, dresses, pants, etc.

In an actual department store, you’d expect to find clothes separated by brand, but at the Dillard’s outlet, all the brands are mixed in together on the racks. They are separated by size, though, and to a certain degree, by color.

How low does it go?

So, what are these deals I keep talking about? How good are they? At the least, you can expect all items to be at least 65% off the store price.

But the outlet also provides one-off sales with significantly greater markdowns. When we visited over the President’s Day weekend, almost everything in the store was $9.99 — including items that I just saw in the regular Dillard’s a month ago for 90% more.

One time, we happened upon a Buy 3, Get 3 sale, in which you could get three free items for every three you bought.

And the store is legendary for its 99 cents sale — yes, that’s right, 99 cents! In these super secret sales, almost everything is marked 99 cents. These sales are so secret not even the employees know when they’re going to happen.

What to know before you go

• Grab a shopping basket. Big bucket-like rolling baskets are by each door. Be sure to grab one on your way into the store. It will make shopping much easier — because, I promise you, you will have a pile!
• You can only try on 10 items at a time. The dressing rooms are very nice and well kept, but you can only take in 10 items at a time. This is part of why it takes so long to shop. You have to keep going back to get 10 more of your items to try on.
• Everything is final sale. There are no returns, so be sure you try on what you buy and that it’s what you want.
• Dillard’s credit card and discounts do apply. You can use your Dillard’s credit card, if you have one, and if you happen to have a 10% off day with your credit card, you can use it at the outlet on top of the already discounted items.
• Check the hours before you go. The store has different hours than most Dillard’s store. In general, it’s typically open from noon to 7 p.m., but it is closed for some holidays. Be sure to check the hours online before you go.

Other Dillard’s outlet locations

If you don’t live close to Cincinnati, you can hit one of the other Dillard’s outlets across the country. This is not a complete list, so go to the Dillard’s website if you want more locations.

• Orlando, Fla.
• Jacksonville, Fla.
• Kenner, La.
• Montgomery, Ala.
• Irving, Texas
• Lewisville, Texas
• Houston, Texas
• Wichita, Kansas

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