STORES Magazine - January 2009 - (Page 26)

EXECUTIVE SUITE / COVER STORY BY SUSAN REDA, EXECUTIVE EDITOR O n a typical weekend, millions of Americans visit the nation’s shopping malls. Some are there to browse; others are hunting for a specific item. All want to have an enjoyable experience. They arrive with high expectations – that they’ll find the perfect outfit, buy the anti-wrinkle cream that will make them look 10 years younger or enjoy a relaxing bite to eat with friends. But it turns out a majority of those shoppers are not having as much fun as they’d anticipated. They complain that there is nothing new or unique at the mall, and they gripe about the limited variety of restaurants. Other gripes ranking near the top of the list, according to a study conducted by the Baker Retailing Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Toronto-based market research consultancy Verde Group, include too many stores carrying the same products and difficulty finding a parking space. Overall, it reveals an undercurrent of dissatisfaction among shoppers that overshadows problems they may have with individual stores. “What we refer to as discovery – or the ‘what’s around the corner’ factor – seems to be missing,” says Stephen J. Hoch, faculty director of Wharton’s Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative. “Roughly half of the problems we heard about can be summed up by saying that malls are becoming mundane. “In this economic climate, malls can’t afford to be mundane,” he says. “A real opportunity exists for developers to be more creative and to ramp up the level of discovery for shoppers.” Verde Group president Paula Courtney acknowledges that telling mall developers that “In a down market there they need to make changes are always opportunities when finances are tight, vafor those who are willing cancy rates are climbing and to take chances. There are traffic has slowed is a tough plenty of centers sitting sell. But, she asks, “What’s the alternative? Everyone is with vacancies. Now is fighting for traffic. Malls the time to be creative.” continue to attract shop— Michael Brown, pers, but they have to find Kurt Salmon Associates 26 STORES / JANUARY 2009 WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - January 2009

STORES Magazine - Jauary 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Mechanical Marvel P&G Invests in Ocado Now I Remember What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Breaking the Monotony Multi-Channel Concept2Watch E-Commerce Analytics Category Management IT Systems In-Store Technology IT Systems Communications Website Strategy Communications SOA Energy Video Surveillance Employee Theft Online Fraud Industry Perspective Loeb Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword End Cap

STORES Magazine - January 2009

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