Settlers Green — New Hampshire's First Outlet Center
Near North Conway, New Hampshire
In nineteen eighty-eight, a shopping center opened on the site of North Conway's old airport. It was called Settlers Green, and it was the first outlet shopping center in the state of New Hampshire. The timing was almost perfectly calculated.
New Hampshire levies no sales tax, which meant that shoppers from neighboring states, particularly Massachusetts, could save money on retail purchases in New Hampshire even before the outlet discounts applied. North Conway sits within easy driving distance of the Boston area, within reach of millions of potential shoppers. Settlers Green and the outlet stores that followed transformed North Conway's commercial landscape in ways that its skiing history had not.
What had been a mountain town with lodges and general stores became one of the densest concentrations of outlet and discount retail in New England. During the nineteen nineties, weekend afternoon traffic on the main highway through town became notorious throughout the region. The shopping district continues to draw visitors today, and it brings a different kind of traveler than the skiers and hikers who came before them.
For some families who arrive every autumn, the White Mountains are incidental scenery on the way to a bargain.
