Mother’s Day just passed in Australia and North America, and Chatswood Chase just wrapped up a lovely promotion to celebrate Mom—and other great women. Teaming up with a local community newspaper, the center gave shoppers a chance to say thanks to an inspirational woman. Customers and readers had the opportunity to nominate any woman that inspires them, whether it’s a mother, a wife, a friends or a relative, and to describe what makes them such an inspiration.

Finalists were selected from the entries, and to honor their strength they’ll be treated to a lunch and a style makeover. The overall winner, Gaye Clark, has also been presented with a $500 Chatswood Chase Gift Voucher.

One of the ways the center drove campaign awareness and engagement was with the Inspirational Woman Mother’s Day online app. Shoppers had the opportunity to surprise their inspirational woman by uploading a photo of her and adding it to a magazine mockup on the center’s Facebook page. Once they did, they were also given the option to email the cover to that inspiration as a nice surprise.

How do you spell summer fun? B-I-N-G-O? Those five little letters will be occupying Norwalk Town Square shoppers every Thursday for six weeks this summer. It’s the return of the center’s Bingo Madness event.

Now, I don’t know about you, but my favorite sort of gambling is the kind that I don’t have to pay for. So this sounds pretty perfect: anyone age 12 years and older can play for free, with prizes from merchants throughout the center at stake.

Younger kids won’t have to feel left out. While everyone else is busy marking off their Bingo cards, Norwalk Town Square will also be offering fun activities for younger children. There will be free carnival games and craft activities throughout.

When Norwalk Town Square held Bingo Madness last summer it drew more than 300 weekly players. With great prizes and good times on the line, this summer seems likely to be better than ever.

Here at the office we’re all in Christmas mode, preparing for Tactics Magazine’s annual Holiday Issue and getting ready for the start of our readers’ holiday season. And it seems as though a few of you are heading into full Christmas mode too. Like, for instance, The Potteries, which recognizes that shoppers might need to start thinking ahead, too. It’s just launched its Gift Club to help people start their holiday savings (and, of course, lock in to holiday shopping at The Potteries).

With a small minimum deposit, customers can open a Gift Club account at customer service. From then on, shoppers can drop by to top their accounts up as often as they like. As an extra little treat, the first 100 shoppers who open an account with £10 or more will receive a free Potteries Piggy Bank to keep track of their spare change too.

At the start of November, shoppers will be able to redeem the value of their Gift Club account on Potteries gift cards – one for shopping, or many for giving. 100 shoppers who manage to save up at least £200 by November 1st will get a bonus £10 top-up too.

Last weekend, Northumberland Mall hosted Malls of Science, a free Scientists in School community event. It was part of Science Rendezvous, a national day for the promotion of science.

“Northumberland Mall is excited to be selected to host the Malls of Science event this Saturday,” commented Northumberland Mall marketing manager Alexis Smith prior to the event. “There will be a lot of different interactive displays, exhibits and experiments throughout the day that are sure to pique the interest of shoppers of all ages. It’s always fun to bring events to Northumberland Mall that shoppers wouldn’t normally find at a shopping centre.”

The day was spent igniting a passion for science and technology in kids of all ages. They had opportunities to create chemical concoction, build hovercrafts to learn about air and flight, take a close look at the microscopic world, and more. The hope with the event, and every other event thrown by Scientists in School, is to make science accessible to thousands of people with engaging, informative and interactive events and to encourage a better public understanding of the tremendous impact science and technology has on our lives.

When Manchester Arndale saw an opportunity to celebrate the history of its city, it jumped onboard. The center partnered with Manchester Libraries to produce ‘Nostalgic Memories of Manchester,’ published by True North Books Ltd.

The book captures Manchester life from the early 1900s to more recent days. It brings together images that have been kept away in dusty archives and attics to paint a picture of Manchester as it has been.

Victorian scenes, celebrity concerts, transport, events, the war years, working life and leisure activities are all shown in large images throughout the book. In addition, scenes of the Manchester ship canal, Piccadilly Gardens, Moss Side and the Market are depicted showing the changes in and around Manchester over time. Each picture is brought to life with informative captions.

“We very much welcomed being a part of ‘Nostalgic Memories of Manchester’ as we often get asked about the history of our shopping centre and we felt it was a great opportunity to document our development over the years,” said David Allinson, centre director. “This includes descriptions of what was there before the centre existed, the early construction phases, the 1996 Manchester bomb and subsequent centre re-build to our current status as the UK’s largest inner-city shopping centre.”

The book came to life with the sponsorship of a number of local, longstanding Manchester companies. Part of the city’s history is their own histories, and those stories are told in the book.

People at the center hope the book will evoke memories for all its readers, whether they are parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents, and will stimulate interest in the city’s history with younger generations.

Pictured: David Allinson and Tony Lax, managing director at True North Books Ltd, take a leaf through the pages of the new book.