As 2011 comes to a close, we reflect on a year gone by. It was one of upheaval and disruption, of great challenges and many disasters. The global economy stumbles onwards, and retail stumbles with it. But there is also much to celebrate, and a new year to come.

Let’s make 2012 the best year this century has seen. There is every reason to hope for better days, and to be glad for what we have. And we here at Shopping Center Weekly are glad we have you, loyal readers, opening our newsletters and visiting our websites every week. We’re looking forward to another great year ahead. 2012 is the 20th anniversary of our first print publication, Tactics Magazine, so it’s sure to be a big year for all of us.

So merry Christmas to those of you that celebrate, or happy holidays if you prefer. And to all of you, have a safe and happy New Year. Enjoy this, our last newsletter of 2011 – but know that there will be many more to come next year.

A quick note for you, our loyal readers: Shopping Center Weekly has its own Facebook page now.

It’s still a little fresh, but you can expect to see a lot showing up on our page. We’ll have information about upcoming events and awards, deals for our fans, polls and lots more. You’ll also be able to click to the newsletter directly from Facebook, if that’s easier for you.

We’d love to hear from you as well, whether you want to share stories from your center (we’re always taking submissions) or comments on our content. So check us out!

Fresh off the presses, we’ve got the newest issue of Marketing Trendz online this week.

The cover story in the April/May issue is The Cooperation Project, a look at three competing General Growth Properties malls in Vegas that teamed up to stretch their marketing budgets further. They saw great results, and you can see how they did it in the issue. You’ll also find, among many other great articles, analysis of survey results that could change the way you handle digital marketing. Want to see how U.K. centers handled the recent royal wedding? Marketing Trendz has that covered too.

There are four articles available for free on the website. If you’d like to see a sample of the digital edition, take a look here. Subscribers can access the whole issue here. If you’re not a subscriber yet and you’d like full access, you can subscribe right here.

If you haven’t swung by the Tactics Magazine site in a while, now’s the time – there’s a new issue online.

Subscribers can log in and hop straight to the digital edition. If you’re not a subscriber and you’d like to see a sample spread, take a look here. There are also four free articles up on the site.

This issue is our annual Holiday Guide, with ideas, tips and tactics for the holidays from shopping centers around the world. The cover story, Open Casting Call, is all about finding the right Santa for the season. We’ve also got a look at some of the cool technology malls are deploying to make the holidays even better.

This is also the issue that looks back at ICSC’s 2011 Fusion Conference, and at the winners of the 2011 U.S. MAXI Awards. Don’t miss out. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can still get access to all our digital editions to date by subscribing any time.

Attention subscribers – there’s a brand new issue of Marketing Trendz available online this week.

Hit the website to view the digital edition (make sure to log in). If you’re not a subscriber, there are several stories available for free on the site, and a sample of the digital edition in case you’d like to see more.

The cover story is all about Castle Towers, an Australian shopping center, and its efforts with a repositioning campaign that gave target consumers full license to enjoy every aspect of their lives. Sounds luxurious, doesn’t it?

You’ll also find out more about Challenge66, an amazing record breaking attempt that has the support of Kirkgate center, Boxpark, a pop-up shopping concept that offers low-cost, low-risk retail with great potential rewards, and quite a lot more.

This month’s issue also features industry expert Cheryl Swanson discussing the trends we can expect to take over the new decade. Think of it as a roadmap to the future.

So if you haven’t already, take a look online. If you’re not a subscriber yet, it’s not too late - new subscribers get full access to all our digital archives.