‘Real test’ starts now

My Small Business, AU

The Rudd Government’s handouts to stimulate the economy, cheaper petrol and interest rate cuts have combined to create an unprecedented boost in sales at the electrical and homewares retailer Harvey Norman. But the retailer, often seen as a barometer of discretionary spending, has warned that the “real test” for the economy will come after Christmas when shoppers come down from their spending binge …

Mall hungry for activity turns to the arts

Belleville News-Democrat, US

Erin Kelley and John Contini, actors who have performed on stages all over town, pace off a carpet in front of the dressing rooms in an empty Man Alive clothing store in a struggling mall. They’re figuring out the dimensions of Avalon Theatre’s new stage – a prospect that makes Kelley, the troupe’s managing artistic director, choke up with joy …

Falling retail rents give stores a lifeline

The Independent, UK

Retail rents fell for the first time in 15 years in 2008 and will not return to growth until 2013, handing struggling retailers a potential lifeline to stave off administration. The decline in annual rents will give retailers substantially more negotiating power over landlords, as they battle some of the toughest trading conditions on the high street for 30 years and as an extra 2.5 million sq ft of new UK shopping centre space opens in 2009 …

UK dubbed “crime capital of Europe”

Info4Security

The latest Global Retail Theft Barometer suggests that the UK has become the “crime capital of Europe”, with losses due to retail criminality now topping the £4.1 billion mark. The UK is now officially the worst nation in Europe when it comes to theft from retail outlets. Only the global powerhouses that are the USA and Japan can beat us when it comes to a worldwide league table …

Retailers claim plastic bag reduction campaign is working

The National Business Review, NZ

Major retail groups say their voluntary campaign to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags by a fifth is on target to reach the goal by July. Three of the country’s largest retail chains – The Warehouse, Progressive Enterprises/Woolworths and Foodstuffs – signed the Packaging Accord in 2004 to reduce the use of plastic shopping bags in a five-year initiative …

U.S. shopping mall vacancies reach 10-year high

Bloomberg, US

Vacancies at U.S. malls and shopping centers approached 10-year highs in the fourth quarter, and are set to rise further as declining retail sales put more stores out of business, research firm Reis Inc. said …

After sales, will shoppers pay full price again?

The Associated Press, US

Shoppers are getting used to those 75 percent off sale signs, and that’s bad news for merchants who worry they will also have to quickly slash prices on spring goods to attract customers.Anxieties about how rampant discounts have affected shoppers’ psyches and stores’ profits are running high ahead of expected dismal December sales figures on Thursday …

Retailers catch on the to buying power of immigrants

Los Angeles Times, US

Delfino Turan remembers his first trip to a Best Buy store, but not very fondly. Turan, at the time a recent immigrant from Mexico, said he could barely understand what salespeople were saying. What’s more, he couldn’t afford to pay for the purchases he wanted upfront, and the store didn’t offer to extend credit …

Malls, the future of housing?

Housing Wire

…The regional enclosed shopping mall was supposed to be a community center—a little bit of downtown and a car-free haven that would include day care facilities, offices, and, perhaps most importantly, residential living components a stone’s throw from the building; the mall was always supposed to have housing nearby …

The future of General Growth Properties has been very uncertain in recent weeks. The economic downturn has left the company struggling with a large debt load.

This article from the International Herald Tribune discusses the current situation that GGP is facing, and speculates about the company’s future:

“Shopping-mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. is getting a two-week extension on $900 million in debt that had been scheduled to come due last week as the company works to stave off bankruptcy and negotiate longer-term extensions with lenders.

…

General Growth’s struggles come amid growing concern about debt tied to commercial properties. Industrywide about $20 billion will be due next year, covering everything from office and condo complexes to hotels and malls.”

According to a Reuters article, Australia’s Macquarie Group Ltd may consider purchasing American REITs as early as next year. With Westfield’s recent confidence in the Australian market, this adds to evidence that  Australian business is weathering this economic downturn better than most.

From the article:

“I think in different segments of the markets, we’ll become active probably in the listed markets sooner than we do in the physical markets again,” he said. “We will see that 2009 will be a time to start dipping our toe into the water.”

Macquarie’s U.S. investments may take the form of takeovers of publicly traded company.

“We would only buy shares where we saw there was a strategic opportunity to privatize…to take it private and then restructure it such that we felt the value that we could get from restructuring it would be greater than the value we paid for it in the public market.”

The ICSC has called for entries for its 2009 MAXI Awards, so don’t miss out. The awards recognize shopping centers and shopping center companies for achievement in shopping center marketing. In addition to a hefty list of existing awards categories, the MAXI Awards include two new categories this year: Alternative Revenue and Visual Merchandising.

Start working on your entries, because the deadline is January 22, 2009. The Awards will be held on April 1st at the FUSION Conference.

Good luck! You can learn more about the awards, enter, and see previous winners here.

Dueling brands pick up where politicians leave off

New York Times, USA

Election Day will bring an end to the negative political advertising that has inundated the country. But it will not mean an end to negative advertising. That is because marketers of consumer products, borrowing a page from the electoral playbook, are becoming more willing to run aggressive ads in which brands attack their competitors by name. A major reason for the growing popularity of such ads is the faltering economy, on the theory that when times are hard, you should hit your opponent harder …

Eagles Meadow: Photographs banned as ‘possible terrorist threat’

Evening Leader, UK

Eagles Meadow operators have hit back at criticism after some visitors complained they had been prevented taking photographs of the new shopping development. Disgruntled visitors have told the Leader they are angry about the treatment they have received over attempts to take pictures of Eagles Meadow, but a spokesman for the centre has defended the management’s actions, saying they are entirely appropriate in the circumstances …

Urban Regeneration and Retail Therapy

Glass on Web, IT

Once upon a time, you went shopping because you had to. You needed a loaf of bread, a pint of milk or a new pair of trousers. You went shopping because you had essential needs to fulfil and, by and large, the retail sector was there to serve a simple and necessary purpose.  That purpose, based on needs rather than wants, was the economic basis for every town and village in the country: each with their butcher, baker and candle-stick maker and, in a world without widespread car ownership, all clustered in the centre of the communities they served …

Copenhagen gets radical new mega-mall

Ice News, IS

Copenhagen is planning to set another Nordic record by hosting Scandinavia’s largest shopping centre – despite the fact that Field’s is already in Copenhagen and already claims to be Scandinavia’s biggest. The new shopping concept will be built by Belgium’s Uplace development company. The Copenhagen Post says the new Uplace mall will encompass 190,000 sq. m., and focus on the experience of shopping more than the specific products on sale. The mall itself is something of a radical new concept, complete with a wooded park, kids’ play area, and ‘interactive shops’ …

De-malling Mississauga

Toronto Star, CA

The transformation of Mississauga may just begin with the central artifact of suburban sprawl: the mall.”De-malling,” a hot trend in urbanism, involves transforming ailing, aging malls – of which Mississauga has its share – into something completely different: denser, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly hubs with buildings where people “will linger, live, work and play,” according to one consultant …

Westfield fees anger retailers

New Zealand Herald, NZ

estfield has angered retailers at its new London shopping centre after raising service charges by up to 75 per cent. Hundreds of thousands of shoppers have streamed through the company’s £1.6 billion ($4.2billion) White City mall since it opened last week.But some of the centre’s retailers say they are preparing to launch a battle against Westfield after being told service fees to cover cleaning and marketing costs will nearly double …

Shopping Centre Council considering legal options

Inside Retailing, AU

The Shopping Centre Council of Australia may launch a landmark court challenge to Western Australia’s “archaic” retail trading laws.  According to Perth Now, which broke the story exclusively, the SCCA is seeking legal advice and is prepared to launch court action saying the Sunday trading rules were discriminatory. Only certain shops can trade in specific areas on Sundays – the majority are barred from opening …