Weapon checks on Christmas shoppers in Blackburn

Lancashire Telegraph, UK

Shoppers and cinema goers are to be swiped with metal detectors in a Christmas crime crackdown on weapons. Police said their action in Blackburn this week would entice people into spending their money by reassuring them the town centre was safe. But the council leader, his opposition counterpart and some traders questioned the scheme, claiming it could actually deter people from visiting Blackburn …

Media and retailers both built Black Friday

New York Times, US

This weekend, news reports were full of finger-wagging over the death by trampling of a temporary worker, Jdimytai Damour, at a Wal-Mart store in Long Island on Friday. His death, the coverage suggested, was a symbol of a broken culture of consumerism in which people would do anything for a bargain …

Cheap is the new black for retail

CNN, US

Americans may be descending on the malls today to hunt for bargains. But this is still expected to be a blue Christmas for many retailers and a gloomy end to what’s turning out to be a dismal 2008. Nonetheless, some consumer stocks are actually thriving this year …

Woolies: let us grow

The Sydney Morning Herald, AU

Woolworths has attempted to use the looming economic downturn as leverage to ensure the Government does not pass laws which could hinder its expansion, by boasting about how many jobs it creates and its contribution to the nation’s economy …

Kiwi men challenge shopping stereotype at Christmas Time

Voxy, NZ

MasterCard survey shows men spend more than women and Kiwi’s are practicing ‘responsible retail’ Kiwi consumers are being more cautious with Christmas spending this year, however men are planning to spend 42 percent more than women in the post Christmas sales according to the MasterCard Worldwide Christmas Spend Survey released today …

Shopping center in Osaka tries out robot guides

The Japan Times, JP

Four types of robots designed to guide, aid and hand out coupons to shoppers were tested Monday at Universal Citywalk Osaka, the shopping and entertainment complex adjacent to Universal Studios Japan …

How to market to women during the economic upheaval

Ad Age

While President-elect Barack Obama is assembling his cabinet in Washington, moms across America are changing the ways they stock their own cabinets. As they function simultaneously as secretaries of transportation, interior, homeland security and, most important these days, commerce, women faced with new economic realities are rapidly shifting their priorities and shopping behaviors. Here are six changes in where they stand on consumption …

Retailers can’t wait for Black Friday

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, US

Predawn Black Friday shopping? Phhft.  Midnight’s where it’s at this year. Faced with a skittish consumer worried about the economy and still fearing the return of sky-high gas prices, some metro Atlanta malls and standalone retailers aren’t wasting a minute to entice reluctant Christmas shoppers through their doors …

Shopping centers think green

Philippine Daily Inquirer, PH

The sprawling malls and shopping centers in the Philippines have not been spared by the wave of increased consciousness over the environment that have engulfed shoppers and consumers the world over. More than ever, mall developers are investing in new architecture and construction concepts that promise to reduce the structures’ adverse impact on the environment …

Shopping center cameras up for debate

The Miami Herald, US

On Wednesday, Cutler Bay could become the first municipality in Florida to require shopping centers of a certain size to install security cameras in their parking lots. Town officials say the measure would help police solve crimes. But shopping center owners and other retail industry representatives say the law would unfairly target some businesses and cost too much for not enough of a crime-prevention benefit …

Top boutiques make podcast guides to shopping in Edinburgh

Scotsman, UK

THE Capital’s boutique stores are attempting to lure young shoppers by offering them the first podcast guide to shopping in Edinburgh. The off-the-beaten track stores feature prominently on the Christmas shopping guide targeted at the “iPod generation” …

First Carbon Neutral Zone created in the US

Global climate change is one of the most daunting challenges of the 21st century, but the recent growth and popularity of American eco-consciousness has created a new sense of urgency to address this problem. Today the green movement took a significant step forward as the first “Carbon Neutral Zone” in the United States was announced in Atlanta. By purchasing carbon offsets, an entire retail community, known as The Corner-Virginia Highland, effectively offset its residual greenhouse gas emissions …

Countdown to plastic bag ban

Victor Harbor Times, AU

Plastic bags are already on the way out on the South Coast – ahead of the state government’s transition towards a complete ban, which will start on the 1st of January. Target Country in Victor Harbor will stop giving out single use plastic bags at the end of this month and Lenards in the Victor Central Shopping Centre is already giving out paper bags in place of plastic carry bags …

While we here at Shopping Center Weekly have no plans to make this a long-term feature, tips and tricks for taking advantage of the credit crunch are threatening to overtake the rest of our Industry Headlines. So for this week, at least, enjoy some extra headlines.

Sears brings back layaway program

Ad Age, USA

Layaway, that Depression-era mainstay, is making a comeback. With retailers desperate for a way to lure cash-strapped customers this holiday season, several have begun promoting existing layaway programs. Now, however, a major retailer, Sears, is reviving its program after discontinuing it in 1989 …

Shoppers unfussed by warnings

The Age, AU

Christmas decorations are everywhere, but Stephanie Long isn’t thinking about filling stockings just yet. She has more immediate financial concerns. Taking a $1000-plus weekend’s break from life on the Gold Coast to go on a Melbourne shopping binge with friends, for example. It is just a warm-up for the coming festive splurge, which will be similar to last year: up to $5000 laid out for gifts, lunch and associated celebrations …

Shopping Centers determined not to let the Grinch steal this Christmas

Palm Beach Post, USA

It’s beginning to look a lot like a heavy-handed push to drive shoppers to the stores this holiday season. With Black Friday right around the corner, mall and store owners are bracing for thrifty spending by consumers tight on cash and even tighter on consumer optimism.To counteract what could be a dismal holiday spending season, look for special mall promotions and events, plus individual store discount programs, on a grand scale …

Outbreak of buyer’s remorse hits retail

American Public Radio, USA

As economic worries tighten consumer budgets, a new shopping trend has emerged — shoppers are returning merchandise to stores in record numbers. Beth Teitell says this buy-then-bring-back behavior is called “circle shopping” …

Unibail CEO sees 2008 mall revenue in line with 2007

Reuters

Sales at Unibail-Rodamco’s shopping malls in 2008 should be “in line” with those of 2007, the group’s CEO said, adding that traders in its large shopping centres in France had reported no slowdown. Guilllaume Poitrinal told Les Echos in an interview that sales in the group’s larger French shopping centres increased by 1.2 percent in the first 10 months of the year compared to the same period last year …

San Francisco ‘Twilight’ movie event turns rowdy

Danville Weekly, USA

Excited by the upcoming film, thousands of fans converged on the mall Monday, Nov. 10, for a chance to see Robert Pattinson, the actor tasked with portraying the charismatic Edward Cullen. The event, expected to generate positive buzz about the film, ended badly with a minor riot breaking out and at least one girl suffering minor injuries and leaving the scene in an ambulance…Accomazzo said she thinks the mall didn’t expect the size of the turnout, which directly led to the problems that ensued …

Malls in New Jersey plan to survive bad economy

New York Times, USA

In New Jersey — home to more malls per square mile than any other state — retail centers appear to be uniformly braced for a hard holiday season to come. But those in the midst of opening or upgrading are adopting a wide variety of survival postures. Xanadu, a $2 billion shopping and entertainment center rising in the Meadowlands, simply went to duck-and-cover mode; its planned opening this month was pushed back to next summer. But other malls are proceeding to open, or reintroduce themselves, as a recession unfolds  …

Three lives saved by heart technology at Touchwood Shopping Centre

Birmingham Mail, UK

Three people who literally shopped till they dropped met the workers who saved their lives. Quick thinking staff from Touchwood Centre in Solihull, used special heart equipment to revive men who collapsed while out shopping. In one case, Roy D’Brionne-Edwardes, aged 70, from Coventry, was enjoying a shopping trip with his wife Gian in August when he suffered a heart attack …

Tapping into Shoppers Psyches

Washington Post, USA

This holiday season, it’s hard to tell who is more terrified: retailers or their customers. The economic downturn is rattling U.S. shoppers as their wallets shrink and credit dries up. Retailers, who just reported their worst October in decades, fear disaster. The battle for customers — and survival — is on, and stores have little margin for error. With Wal-Mart dominating the race to rock-bottom prices, those who can’t compete must get creative …

Toronto demands retailers reduce in-store packaging

HazMat Management, CA

Reducing, more so than recycling, is the focus of a new report from the city of Toronto on how to cut back on retail in-store packaging. Under the report’s recommendations, more responsibility would fall on the retailer to cut reduce single-use hot drink cups, plastic retail shopping bags and plastic food packaging …

Stockland was shepherded to a safe pasture

The Age, AU

So far, this financial crisis has been hurting everyone, but it is separating the fit from the frail, and opening up astonishing opportunities for healthy companies. Stockland’s announcement that it has snapped up 12.7% of GPT at an average price of $1.07 a share fits that bill …

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” …