STORES Convention Daily - 2018 Big Show Day 3 - 16

2018 TUESDAY

Lifestyle Centers Augment
Traffic and Goodwill Through
Outdoor Exercise Classes

n recent years, upscale destination
shopping has added a variety of elements to encourage consumers to
"stay and play." Most recently, those shoppers are giving more than just their wallets
a workout: Free group fitness classes offer
community, tie-ins and promotions with
onsite retailers, and an infusion of fun into
the shopping experience.
"I love seeing this community we're
building," says Sherri D'Alessandro, director of field marketing for WS Development, whose dynamic mixed-use properties draw the likes of Lululemon Athletica,
Warby Parker, Shake Shack, Bluemercury,
SoulCycle, Sweetgreen, Equinox, Barry's
Bootcamp and Legal Sea Foods.
"When I see people coming back week
after week, making new friends and getting
together after class, that makes me happy."

Building brand awareness

The recent rise of boutique fitness
facilities like SoulCycle and Pure Barre
- places where a sense of belonging and
community is as essential to the mix as
the exercise - led WS Development to
start thinking harder about the potential
use of its common spaces a few years
back, D'Alessandro says. Over time, a
single event here or there has turned into
weekly classes that range from Oh Baby!
stroller fitness classes to yoga, kickboxing
and boot camp.
At WS Development's Boston Seaport property - the largest single real
estate project in city history, with 1.1
million of 6.3 million square feet devoted
to retail - some 260 classes were offered
from the summer through early fall. Some
even raised money for charities.
"It's pretty incredible," D'Alessandro
says. "This formula of community and
partnership with retailers and charitable
organizations really is a wonderful mix.
And we love that our visitors are enjoying
it so much."
Count the retailers among the happy.
Two of Juice Press's five Boston stores are
at WS Development properties: Seaport
and The Street, located at Chestnut Hill.
In the summer of 2016, Juice Press supported the outdoor fitness classes at The
Street with samplings of its organic vegan
juices, smoothies and snacks. After opening at Seaport this year, Juice Press took
part in the "Seaport Sweat" summer series.
"They're super fun," says Sophie
Bikofsky, Boston brand manager for
Juice Press. "It's the perfect way to enjoy
the summer weather and take advantage
of the fitness offerings with well-known
instructors such as 'Kick It by Eliza.'
There is always a very positive, upbeat,
energetic vibe."
Along with that vibe, Bikofsky says
the events have helped bring in new customers, as well as spread awareness about

the brand. The health aspects are a natural
tie-in with the audience.
"It is fun to see familiar faces come
in after class," she says. On nice nights,
it also adds energy to outdoor seating
See "Exercise" on page 17

Outdoor exercise within the retail
environment encourages shoppers to "stay
and play."

The Case for Modern Learning in R
From new online competitors to an employee engagement crisis, many challenges are forcing

engagement b

retailers to rethink their business models and their approach to staff learning and development.

they need to ad

By shifting to a more modern workplace learning experience retailers can improve employee

service experie

Total retail sales in the US hit $4.846

36% of consumers

trillion in 20161

provide their main

Ecommerce sales in the US grew more than

only 1% of well-est

15% in 2016, reaching more than $341 billion 2

agree that they en

to experiment with

68%

of consumers say it's
absolutely critical or very
important to interact with
a salesperson who
understands their
preferences or needs7

78%

of consumers rate "sales
associates with a deep
knowledge of the product
range" as the most important
factor for the in-store
shopping experience8

35%

60%

The retail industry
suffers from a turnover
rate of 35%11

of Millennials perceive
work in retail as
engaging12

Customer experience
leaders have 60% more
engaged employees. 13

1. https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2017/02/17/us-e-commerce-sales-grow-156-2016/
2. Ibid.
3. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/assets/total-retail-2017.pdf
4. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/us-retail-talent-disrupted-pov.pdf
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.

80%

Organizations
over 50% em
engagement
over 80% o
custome

7. https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2017/05/14-retail-customer-experience-stats.html
8. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/assets/total-retail-2017.pdf
9. https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2017/05/14-retail-customer-experience-stats.html
10. http://www.workforcesoftware.com/infographic/keys-to-successful-retail-workforce-m
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.

The D2L family of companies includes D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, and D2L Brasil Soluçõe

https://www.bostonseaport.xyz/ https://www.bostonseaport.xyz/ https://www.juicepress.com/ https://www.thestreetchestnuthill.com/ https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2017/05/14-retail-customer-experience-stats.html https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2017/02/17/us-e-commerce-sales-grow-156-2016/ https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/assets/total-retail-2017.pdf https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/assets/total-retail-2017.pdf https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2017/05/14-retail-customer-experience-stats.html http://www.workforcesoftware.com/infographic/keys-to-successful-retail-workforce-management https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/us-retail-talent-disrupted-pov.pdf

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of STORES Convention Daily - 2018 Big Show Day 3