“Simplicity is the peak of civilization.”

Jessie Sampter

(1883-1938)

The Brunswick used its natural assets to enhance a sales promotion.
Read about it in the current edition of Tactics Magazine.

Election mania turned into a low-budget promotion at one US shopping center.
Find out more in the upcoming edition of Marketing Trendz.

Friday, October 31st is the deadline to enter the British Council of Shopping Centres’ “Achieving Customer Excellence” awards. The ACE awards recognize shopping centers that distinguish themselves in customer care and customer service. If your shopping center goes the extra mile for your customers, get your application in today. The awards will be presented at the BCSC Shopping Centre Management Conference in March 2009.

From the BCSC press release:

Jonathan Doughty, chair of BCSC’s Customer Service Committee which oversees the ACE Awards, said: “There is a fast growing recognition within the retail property industry that customer service has a crucial part to play in attracting and retaining business – even more so in the current economic times. The ACE Awards represent a valuable source of information for shopping centre managers – providing essential feedback that can be used to continue to improve customer care, and shopping centre performance”.

Billings Bridge, an Ontario, Canada shopping center, is rewarding shoppers for doing their part to look after the environment.

Every month, the shopping center gives away a $100 gift certificate to one lucky shopper. Shoppers can enter the contest by filling out a form on the mall’s website, but there’s a catch. To be eligible for the contest, entrants must drive a fuel efficient vehicle.

Governments around the world are hard at work finding ways to support their citizens’ eco-friendly decisions, so it’s great to see businesses getting involved too. We’re all in this one together, after all.

Defying the crunch: shopping magnet opens in London

Agence France-Presse, FR

A shopping centre dubbed the largest in-town retail complex in Europe will defiantly open its doors in London on Thursday — just as most Britons start tightening their belts ahead of a looming recession. The undulating glass roof of the 1.7-billion-pound (2.1-billion-euro, 2.6-billion-dollar) Westfield London rises out of the redeveloped west of the capital, covering an area the size of Buckingham Palace and its gardens …

DJs spin music net for mall shoppers

Denver Post, USA

DJ ToxSick drew an audience one recent Saturday as his crew formed a circle around his turntables inside the Puma store at the Tysons Corner mall in northern Virginia. With hip-hop music blasting, each takes a turn in the middle, popping and locking as they hype each other and the crowd. “Oh, that’s hot,” Fat Rawk says, one hand twirling a washcloth in the air. Onlookers bob their heads to the pulsing bass, and most eventually make their way through the doors and into the store …

UK retailers boost their website usability

New Media Age, UK

Top UK high street retailers have improved their website usability with the average score reaching 68%, up from 57% last year. The annual report from usability specialist Webcredible found WHSmith has knocked HMV from pole position to joint third, with a score of 83% – up 33% from last year’s study …

Star attraction puts a new spin on Melbourne

Travel News Gazette, AU

The largest observation wheel in the southern hemisphere and the third largest observation wheel in the world is about to be launched in Australia.The Southern Star observation wheel will open to the public in November at Waterfront City in Docklands, Melbourne and is expected to attract 1.5 million guests in the first year. Standing 40-storeys high with a 120-metre orbit, the more than AU$100 million wheel is only 15 metres less in height than the London Eye …

Artists show their wares at 10th Annual Fall ArtWalk

Las Vegas Sun, USA

People making a regular trip to the grocery store Saturday and Sunday at the Trails Village Center in Summerlin also experienced a trip to Las Vegas’ largest juried art show during the 10th Annual Fall ArtWalk. White tents spanned the length of the shopping center, where more than 70 new and returning artists stood to display paintings, jewelry, sculptures and other art media to about 6,000 attendees …

Metro Vancouver pilot project on mall trash underway at Park Royal

News1130, CA

It’s ‘Waste Reduction Week’…so why is there a huge pile of trash sitting behind Park Royal in West Vancouver? It’s part of a Metro Vancouver pilot project to eventually reduce the amount of mall garbage going to landfills. The giant pile of garbage has been dumped at the mall’s back parking lot, and a team from Metro Vancouver is picking through it, taking inventory of what they find. Cindy Papa from Park Royal says they’ve been surpruised so far. “There’s cardboard in there that shouldn’t be there…we have recycling bins. There’s packaging and organics that we should be sorting out” …