Forest City Makes Black Friday Easy
Black Friday is upon us, and waves of shoppers are about to start lining up. You’ve prepared the contests and marketing, your retailers have their sales ready to go, but there’s one thing you hopefully haven’t forgotten: the shoppers.
Shopping holidays can be exhausting ordeals, as exhilarating as the deep discounts might be. Forest City Enterprises centers like Victoria Gardens are out to help shoppers feel just a little more comfortable as they will their way through the big day.
First and foremost, the centers are focused on comfort. Lounge areas are being set up across the nation with seating space and free wi-fi. “You just see people so desperate to sit down, they’re leaning on walls,” said Jane Lisy, senior vice president of marketing at mall developer Forest City Enterprises. Not only will Forest City centers offer seating and wi-fi, they’ll also have free coffee, store coupons and always-precious device charging stations. After all, how will we know where to find the deals when our smartphones run down?
The Shops at Wiregrass is taking the convenience a little further: Monkey Business, one of its tenants, will offer shop-and-drop day-care service starting at 6am, complete with breakfast and activities. Little ones are often the first to get winded, after all.
Centers are also preparing to keep shoppers on the go as long as possible with “survival bags” filled with bottled water, energy bars, coffee gift cards, and—for the more resilient kids—toys and snacks.
Facebook fans of Forest City centers have had another opportunity to get rid of one of Black Friday’s big challenges: a contest for VIP parking. The winners were notified earlier this week that on the big day, they’ll be able to pull right into one of the best spots at their center.
Finally, while there are sure to be many great surprises throughout the day, shoppers can stack the odds a bit further in their favor. Shoppers that wear complementary “Pick me” stickers have a chance to be chosen for giveaways like Starbucks gift cards, snacks and other pick-me-ups.
