Huge Crowds Again Packing Malls
Big indoor shopping malls--which have struggled in recent years to compete with warehouse discounters, outdoor promenades and even the Internet--are seeing their fortunes revive this holiday season, thanks to strong consumer confidence and a blizzard of department store sales.
Malls in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys say it’s the most robust shopping season in recent memory, with traffic and sales up almost across the board. At Northridge Fashion Center, a super-regional mall with 1.5 million square feet and 150 retail tenants, huge crowds have been showing up since Thanksgiving weekend--when 123,225 customers filed through the mall, 30% above last year’s levels, according to Joey Char, marketing director.
Although Char does not have sales totals, he notes another indicator of a strong season--sales of photos with Santa Claus at the mall are running 15% to 20% above last year. “It’s says something about the season,” Char said.
Crowded parking lots and throngs of shoppers can also be seen at malls, including Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga in Woodland Hills and Burbank’s Media City Center.
“It’s as busy as I’ve ever seen it,” said Dan Millman, general manager of Media City Center.
To be sure, department stores are spending heavily on advertising and offering steep markdowns to lure shoppers. Even so, Richard Giss, partner in the retail services group of Deloitte & Touche in Los Angeles, said it’s shaping up as a great year for retailers in all sectors.
“The underlying economics of this season are outstanding,” he said. “You’ve got low unemployment, low interest rates, a surging stock market and high consumer confidence.”
“If you can’t do well this year as a retailer, you can’t do well,” he added. “You might as well fold your tent, because this is the year.”
For the malls, however, doing well is particularly important. With more shoppers hitting big-box discounters like Target and Costco, many malls are forsaking department stores as their main anchors and are putting their hopes on theaters, restaurants and other entertainment-oriented venues to lure crowds.
This season, however, a trip to the mall seems to be on everyone’s list.
At Valencia Town Center, senior marketing manager Kathleen Gill reports that many customers are walking out of shops with luxurious apparel made of cashmere, velvet and suede. At Glendale Galleria, pricey leather boots (in varying lengths and colors), are “must-have” items, according to Annette Bethers, the mall’s senior marketing director.
And evening wear--fancy ball skirts and beaded accessories--is a fast seller with a public intent on marking the turn of the century.
That’s so even though many Valley residents don’t intend to travel to an exotic destination to mark the occasion. “Shoppers are telling us that even if they’re staying home [for New Year’s Eve], they are going to dress up this year,” Bethers said.
A variety of new millennium-inspired items--from $3 pens to $500-$600 millennium clocks to an evening gown with the year 2000 spelled out in beads--are doing brisk business.
“What you’re really starting to see is some of the conspicuous consumption of the 1980s,” said Giss. “The upper end is moving very well. People are saying ‘I’ve got the money, I’m going to spend it,’ which is very different from recent years.”
Alisa Schwartz, manager of jeweler Ben Bridge in Northridge Fashion Center said diamonds and white metal of all types (platinum, gold and stainless steel) are very hot right now, as people shop with an eye to commemorate the landmark year 2000 date.
“With the millennium, this is a special event that not everyone lives through,” she said.
Toys, of course, the traditional holiday favorites, are moving off shelves. At FAO Schwarz in the Glendale Galleria, crowds have been coming in waves, particularly at lunch time and the evening, said Joyce Brady, operations manager.
Big sellers include Pokemon items, particularly an electronic index of Pokemon characters for about $30, which sold out in two hours after the store received its shipment.
At Fashion Square Sherman Oaks, new retailers, such as Sephora, the fragrance superstore, and Abercrombie & Fitch, have stimulated interest. A holiday store, Pajama Party, is earning its credentials as an only-in-Los Angeles retail outlet selling night-wear for dogs, in addition to pajamas for humans.
By adding such stores, Fashion Square aims to promote itself as the Valley’s destination for upscale shoppers older than 25. Fashion Square, not readily visible from the Ventura Freeway, is trying to overcome confusion between itself and Sherman Oaks Galleria, which has been shut down for months.
“We definitely want to capitalize on the fact that the Sherman Oaks Galleria is closed right now,” said Shana Yao, marketing director.
Fashion Square believes amenities make a difference. Patrolling its halls are “Fashion Square ambassadors,” tuxedo-sporting men and women holding baskets packed with premiums from mall retailers (soap from Bath & Body Works, perfume spray from Sephora, or candy from See’s, for example). Their mission: To provide direction, open elevators and tote shopping bags to cars--services designed to make shopping more pleasant, according to Yao.
“Customers have a lot of choices about where to shop in Los Angeles. We just want them to remember Fashion Square,” Yao said.
Likewise at Glendale Galleria, there’s a small battalion of tuxedo-wearing hunks assuming the identity of Mr. G, a superhero whose mission is to save patrons from holiday hassles. They were hand-picked by mall management for their outgoing personalities.
Their main responsibilities are to offer advice about gifts, provide directions, and distribute coupons and special gift offers. But the Saturday before Christmas, when the mall is expecting the largest crowds, their duties will expand: They will be available to rub the backs and shoulders of stressed out shoppers for a $3 donation, which will be given to charity (one Mr. G is actually a trained massage therapist.)
It’s the malls’ attempts to differentiate themselves from others, but it’s also an effort to overcome negative impressions some consumers have about shopping in the busy final holiday weeks. “They’re trying to erase the stigma that going to the mall at this time of year is agony,” Giss said.
Bethers of Glendale Galleria said the mall takes nothing for granted. “We realize that our shoppers are time-strapped and becoming more so all the time,” she said. “We find the majority of our shoppers come from two-income families. Both parents are working. They’re busy.”
There’s also a recognition of growing competition from big-box retailers and the Internet, she said. “It behooves us to be constantly improving our services.”
But while shoppers like the extras, many are also intent on value. Woodland Hills resident Maureen Portnoy, for example, has been trolling department stores from Northridge to Thousand Oaks for weeks, buying apparel and household items for herself, family members and friends.
Portnoy, a receptionist at Protection One in Northridge, said she’s probably going to spend 20% more than last year, but declined to say how much that will be. She used a $15-off coupon to buy more than $75 in apparel at Limited Express, and likewise savored discounts at Macy’s and Robinsons-May.
“I’ve gotten some fantastic buys,” she said. But discounts aren’t the only factor she considers when shopping: “I won’t buy something only because it’s a deal,” she said.
Other value-conscious shoppers are pouring into Fallbrook Mall in West Hills, with its array of discounters, including Mervyn’s, Burlington Coat Factory, Target and Ross, where people are grabbing everything from sweaters to leather jackets to home furnishings.
“We’ve seen huge, huge, huge increases,” said Lauren Navarro, marketing director.
And even though the retailers focus on value, that doesn’t mean mall management doesn’t need to stoke the fire. On the weekends, Fallbrook Mall has bands and choirs near the food court, in addition to offering premiums to shoppers who spend more than $100.
Likewise, the nearby Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga is in the throes of a promotion in which registered shoppers who keep a mall antennae ball on their cars can win gift certificates, complimentary gift wraps, valet parking passes and other items.
It all reflects the extreme competition for customers in a region that some suggest is “over-stored.” But at this time of well-being, with prosperity so widespread, it would be surprising if retailers didn’t clean up.
