A brand name Empire.

Tyler Watts is spending a little newfound free Lime since graduating high school last week browsing through the Burbank Empire Center.

"It's great," says the 18-year-old. "You've got everything from shoes to food. In the morning, you can have Starbucks coffee. There are cheao clothes, more expensive clothes," he says, pointing out the stores and restaurants like a tour guide.

Watts is not the only shopper singing the praises of the Burbank Empire Center. Since developers transformed a long vacant, 103-acre stretch along the I-5, it has become a destination for shoppers both in and outside the city limits.

"It's a good shopping center. We warned to drive out," said Sylmar resident George Van Dyl, who was pushing a shopping cart back to his car along with his daughter Sarah one recent afternoon. They paid visits to Target, Marshalls and Michaels.

"They're big," said 13-year-old Sarah of the Empire Center stores. "They're really big. They're new, so they're cleaner than the stores where we live."

New, outdoor shopping centers the size of Empire Center are rarely seen in urban areas where it's difficult, if not impossible, to find the large tracts of land needed to build them. But sprawling Empire Center, built on an abandoned Lockheed site, can accommodate the newest -- and largest -- big box prototypes, including a 142,000-square-foot superstore, The Great Indoors.

"It's not common that you can assemble that much land, especially in the densities of Southern California," said Bill Legier, associate vice president at Colliers Seeley who markets Empire Center.

Most big box retailers that locate in densely populated, urban areas have to settle for a freestanding site or one where they serve as the anchor to smaller stores. With about 600,000 square feet of retail space, Empire Center houses retailers from virtually every category of merchandise: Costco, Best Buy, Tilly's, Men's Wearhouse, Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, Staples and Aaron Bros., in addition to Target, Marshalls, Michaels, The Great Indoors and a selection of restaurants that ranges from Wendy's and Krispy Kreme to Hometown Buffet and Outback Steakhouse.

"It's been a good draw for us because of the other retailers," said Mark Kawate, store manager at Michaels. "When you're in with Lowe's and Target and Best Buy, our company doesn't usually get to have this type of location.

Men's Wearhouse has been running an ad campaign to promote its new location at Empire Center, but it has not been as effective as the location itself.

"We're our busiest around 6 o'clock," said Justine Herrera, Men's Wearhouse manager. "We have customers come in and tell us, 'I didn't even know you were here.' So we're definitely getting a lot of business from the stores."

Ben Reiling, CEO of Zelman Development Co., which built the center, said he jumped at the opportunity to acquire the site because of its size and location.

"It's a real no-brainer," Reiling said. "It's a large site. It's on one of the most heavily traveled freeways in the system. It is surrounded by very, very dense residential and it has very solid incomes."

About 417,000 people with an average household income of $57,500 live within a five-mile radius of the center. Another 100,000 people work in Burbank, the vast majority of them at relatively high-paying studio jobs.

Though there were some initial reservations by retailers who wondered if the market could justify another store so close to neighboring locations in North Hollywood or Glendale, they were ultimately persuaded by the demographics.

So far, no one seems disappointed.

"Our anecdotal information is that (the stores) are far exceeding any projections," said Sue Georgino, community development director at the city of Burbank.

Although it is too soon to tell (some of the stores, including Great Indoors, only opened in the past few months) Burbank is expected to reach its initial annual sales tax revenue projections of $1.5 million from the center (minus revenue from businesses lost because of the center), Georgino said.

"From what we can see from the fourth quarter, the center looks like it's right on target, if not beating the target," she said.

Sales at Linens 'n Things have made the Empire Center store the best in the chain, said Robb Bande, operations manager.

"We're beating them by a lot."

Sunday is the busiest day for Linens 'n Things, but at Michaels, it's Saturday and at Shoe Pavilion, the crowds converge all weekend.

"This is going to be busy for a while," said Will Delaney, a salesman at Shoe Pavilion. "The mall is closed in. Here you have customers come into the store and when they leave they go outside. That's the main reason it generates a lot of business, because it's open."

The open and ample parking means shoppers can easily stow their purchases in the car and go back for another round of shopping or take a meal break.

"We bought a lot of things," said Valentina Ayvazova who was making her second trip back to the car with her husband Nicolai.

Nicolai, a taxi driver, came upon the center one day while working and suggested they make the trip from West Hollywood to buy gifts for family they will be visiting in Russia next month.

"My husband said it's a good plaza," Valentina said.

On a mid-day afternoon, there was plenty of parking available, but visitors jam the lots at peak hours.

"Sometimes you come and you have to park far away," said Angela Young, a Burbank resident who was shopping one recent afternoon. "My husband and I came for dinner at Outback and we had to drive around and around for a spot."