Outlet malls are well worth the time to visit.

As I walked around the mall in North Bend, I marveled at the variety of products offered by such stores as Banana Republic and Lane Bryant to Kitchen Collection and Pendleton.

Outlet malls feature scores of stores offering well-known consumer product brands, with the incentive of favorable pricing in comparison to traditional retail stores.

In other words, shopping for name brands wrapped up in bargains on top of bargains has made outlet malls popular worldwide.

What's not to like about saving money?

During the just-ended recession, well-located outlet malls thrived, and in some instances, outperformed traditional retail centers.

Large, colorful, staffed with friendly personnel and offering a top-drawer product line, the Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store at the Centralia Outlet Mall proved the point by offering a bargain-based bonanza of clothes.

This shopper's paradise is embedded in American history.

The first outlet store appeared during the 1930s when Harold Alfond, founder of the Dexter Shoe Company, opened a store near his factory. He did this in order to sell an excess of shoes that had small defects for a reduced price.

By the late 1930s, Anderson-Little (a men's clothing brand) opened the first independent store.

In the early to mid 1970s, outlet stores began to transform into outlet malls when Vanity Fair opened the first multi-store outlet center in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Since then, outlet malls have become the fastest-growing segment in American retail, with more than 400 outlet malls nationwide.

What follows is a list of the six outlet shopping malls in Washington.

Broadmoor Park Outlet Mall, 9250 Sandifur Parkway, Pasco; 509.544.6168.

Centralia Outlet Mall, 1342 Lum Road, Centralia; 360.736.3327

North Bend Premium Outlets, 461 South Fork Ave. SW, North Bend; 425.888.4505

Seattle Premium Outlets, 10600 Quil Ceda Blvd., Tulalip; 360.654.3000

SuperMall, 1101 SuperMall Way, Suite 1268, Auburn; 253.833.9500

The Outlet Shoppes at Burlington, 448 Fashion Way, Burlington; 877.746.7010

For more information, visit www.factoryoutletstores.nfo/all-outlet-stores-in-washington.html.