On November 1, 2011, six stores opened along a two-level shopping corridor built on the site of a former steel mill. Outside, the remains of one of the country's major industrial sites still stood. Blast furnaces, worn and rusted, rose over South Bethlehem.
Inside, people shopped for shoes at Nine West or bought coffee at a cafe while walking through a climate-controlled walkway that connected a casino floor to a newly opened hotel tower.
The Minsi Trail Bridge passed directly overhead. The entire site stood on land Bethlehem Steel had used for more than 100 years before its bankruptcy in 2001.
Turning a bankrupt steel plant into a working outlet mall took close to a decade. The process involved legal disputes, zoning fights, and even a full stop in construction.
The casino partially opened in May 2009 after long negotiations with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Work on the hotel tower and retail space started, stopped in November 2008 during the recession, and resumed in stages, with the hotel tower resuming in April 2010 and retail work beginning later.
Las Vegas Sands, which owned the property then, planned more than just a casino.
The goal was a full resort like its properties in Las Vegas and Macau, with gaming, hotel rooms, event spaces, and shopping all in one place.
The retail corridor was part of that plan from the start. Six stores opened on day one, with thirty-one expected by early 2012.
A Phased Opening and a Name That Changed Quickly
Talbots, Guess, and Nine West had already signed on before the center opened.
When the doors opened on November 1, 2011, the property was called The Shoppes at Sands Bethlehem, and six stores were operating.
Coach and Guess were expected to open soon, with a total of 31 stores planned by early 2012.
Another major group of stores opened on February 16, 2012. Coach Factory, Chico's, Peeps & Co., and Corningware Corelle & More all began operating that day.
By February 17, 24 of the planned 31 stores were open.
Additional spring openings were expected to include Van Heusen, Bass, Izod, Tommy Hilfiger, Dressbarn, Under Armour, and Art of Bread by Georges Perrier.
The name changed quickly, even as the stores were still opening. Las Vegas Sands listed the property as The Shoppes at Sands Bethlehem in its 2011 annual report.
In the company's 2012 annual report, the center appeared as The Outlets at Sands Bethlehem.
The shift from "Shoppes" to "Outlets" happened within about a year of opening. The layout did not change. It remained a two-level corridor that connected the casino to the hotel, rather than a separate suburban mall.
By the time the 2012 annual report listed key tenants like Coach, Lenox, DKNY, Nine West, Guess, Talbots, Ultra Diamonds, and Under Armour, the center had settled into its first stable identity.
Growing into the Leases: Performance in the Early Years
A third-quarter 2013 filing shows the outlet center bringing in $973,000 in mall revenue for the quarter, up from $411,000 in the same period the year before.
At that time, the property had 135,000 square feet of gross leasable area. Occupancy was 87.6 percent, and annual base rent averaged $24 per occupied square foot.
The same filing explains why performance started slowly. In 2012, the center was only partly filled, so certain co-tenancy requirements were not met.
Because of that, some leases could not be fully enforced until enough nearby stores were open.
The reported size of the retail space varied across documents. The 2011 annual report listed about 150,000 square feet.
The 2012 mall-operations table listed 129,000 square feet of gross leasable area and noted that about 15,700 square feet of undeveloped space was not included.
By 2015, the reported total had increased to 151,000 square feet. By 2013, the center employed around 350 people, not counting casino or event-center staff.
By mid-2016, occupancy had risen to 90.4 percent. Annual base rent averaged $21 per occupied square foot. Tenant sales reached $366 per square foot for the six months ending June 30.
The 2015 annual report listed major tenants as Coach, Lenox, Tommy Hilfiger, Nine West, Guess, Under Armour, and Puma. DKNY and Talbots were no longer on that list.
$1.3 Billion and a New Name on the Door
On March 8, 2018, Las Vegas Sands announced it would sell Sands Bethlehem to an affiliate of Wind Creek Hospitality for a total enterprise value of $1.3 billion.
The deal included the hotel tower, the event center, and a 150,000 square foot retail facility.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved the change in control, and the sale closed on May 31, 2019. By October 2019, the property had been renamed Wind Creek Bethlehem.
Wind Creek is owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, a federally recognized tribe based in Alabama. As part of the rebrand, the outlet center took on its current name, The Outlets at Wind Creek Bethlehem.
Wind Creek moved quickly to expand the non-gaming parts of the property. A $160 million expansion of the hotel and meeting space was completed in 2023.
At a Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board hearing on July 31, 2024, the company said the resort now includes more than 550 rooms, employs more than 1,600 people, and attracted over six million guests in the previous year.
The outlet center is one of several separate attractions on the site.
Shutdown, Reopening, and a Changing Tenant Mix
The property closed during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, from March through June 2020. It reopened on June 29, 2020.
Around that time, Buddy V Ristorante shut down. The space did not stay empty for long. It was converted into a sportsbook, which opened later in 2020.
The list of tenants kept shifting in the years that followed.
Carlo's Bake Shop, Charming Charlie, Dressbarn, G.H. Bass, Izod, Lenox, Limited Editions, Nine West, The Old Farmer's Almanac General Store, Under Armour, and Van Heusen all left at different times.
What came next was different. The space was still filled mainly by apparel stores, even as entertainment and dining options expanded.
Angry Jack's Axe Throwing Club opened inside the corridor. Twisted Tees added golf simulators.
A new restaurant followed. Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse, operated by Aramark Sports + Entertainment, opened on August 13, 2025. It took over a first-floor space that had once served as the casino hotel's front desk.
Wind Creek had announced the project on June 12, 2025, describing it as a pub-style spot focused on food and drinks, including whiskey, regional beer, and local spirits.
What the Outlet Center Looks Like Now
The live directory as of early 2026 lists 18 businesses and venues.
These are Angry Jack's Axe Throwing Club, Bethlehem Barrel & Drafthouse, Beef Jerky Experience, Chico's Outlet, Coach, Famous Footwear Outlet, Fragrance Outlet, General Store, and GUESS Factory Store.
They also include Hartstrings, Kay Jewelers Outlet, Kids Quest and Cyber Quest, Market Gourmet Express, Michael Kors, Sweet Revenge, Talbots Outlet, Tommy Hilfiger, and Twisted Tees.
Of the brands present at the 2011-2012 launch, Coach, Chico's, GUESS, Talbots, and Tommy Hilfiger remain. The center still covers about 130,000 square feet of retail space across two floors.
Wind Creek markets the outlets as a brand-name shopping destination and highlights Coach, Tommy Hilfiger, and Michael Kors on the resort's main promotional pages.
Parking totals 4,600 spaces across a garage and surface lots. Trans-Bridge runs a daily round-trip bus service from the Port Authority in New York City to the resort.
The outlet center that opened with six stores in 2011 on a former steel mill site is now one of several distinct demand generators inside a resort that draws over six million visitors a year.
Notable Milestones
November 2008 - Work on the retail, hotel, and event-center expansion at the Sands Bethlehem site was halted during the recession
April 2010 - Construction resumed on the unfinished expansion, with the hotel tower restarting while retail work resumed later
November 1, 2011 - The outlet center opened in phases as The Shoppes at Sands Bethlehem, with the first stores debuting
February 16, 2012 - A major second wave of stores opened, including Coach Factory, Chico's, Peeps & Co., and Corningware Corelle & More
End of 2014 - 28 of 29 available retail spaces were leased, showing the center had nearly filled out
March 8, 2018 - Las Vegas Sands announced the sale of Sands Bethlehem, including the outlet center, to Wind Creek Hospitality
May 31, 2019 - Wind Creek formally took control of the property, leading to the outlet center's current name
March to June 2020 - The outlets were affected by the temporary COVID-19 shutdown of Wind Creek Bethlehem
March 28, 2025 - Wind Creek opened its new dealer school on the second floor of the outlet center
August 13, 2025 - Bethlehem Barrel and Drafthouse opened in the outlets, adding a new restaurant tenant
