SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — Cars lined up as far as the eye could see waiting to get into the new Tanger Outlet Mall in Southaven.
If you want to shop, be prepared to wait.
Shuttles bused some people to and from the mall, while others battled for spaces in the parking lot.
There was a lot of traffic, but even more confusion.
Shopper Bill Bruce finally gave up waiting for the shuttle and walked to the mall from the Landers Center.
“They directed me through traffic,” he said. “So I went up two or three side streets and turned around back and forth. Then I got to one place to turn left and they said you can’t turn here!”
Tanger provided a shuttle from the Landers Center to the mall.
The problem was, many could not find it.
“Nobody seems to know,” one woman said with frustration.
Once they did realize it was on the other side of the center, a long line was waiting.
Some, like shopper Gail Hunter, did not mind the 30 minute wait.
“This is great, the shuttle service taking us over,” she said. “I just park and let them do the driving. It’s great for me!”
Others, including mall employees, said getting to the stores was too hectic.
“Is it making it kind of tricky to get to work?” Katie Rufener asked one employee.
“To make it on time for work, yes! Even leaving an hour prior or two hours prior,” one said.
As for people in this neighborhood right across from the mall like Michael Hearn, this is their new reality, but he hopes it will get better.
“We’ll just have to get used to it for the next few weeks until the newness wears off.”