| Online service allows shoppers to reserve merchandise at Sunrise Mall
On Friday, Charlotte Russe had an order to reserve a blue dress. Laura Pedraza, associate manager at the store, found the dress and set it aside for the customer. It was the first reservation for Charlotte Ruse merchandise through Sunrise Mall’s online shopping service, Pedraza said. Mall retailers expect that as word spreads about the new online shopping service it will become a popular option for shoppers. "It was easy," Pedraza said. "I just got the order, found the dress and saved it for the customer." Facility is part of the appeal, according to Veronica Baca-Martinez, marketing director for Sunrise Mall. Last month Sunrise Mall became the first mall in the Rio Grande Valley to offer shoppers the opportunity to search and reserve items online. NearbyNow Inc., a California-based company that develops Internet and mobile search technology for shopping centers and retailers to steer in-store traffic, powers the service.
Nickelodeon to Open a Theme Park in Mall of America
NEW YORK/BLOOMINGTON, January 30: Nickelodeon and Mall of America, the largest shopping center in the U.S., have unveiled plans for the grand opening of Nickelodeon Universe, the first Nickelodeon theme park in the world, on March 15. Additionally, Nickelodeon will establish its largest retail presence in the world at Mall of America, with a brand-new Nick store occupying more than 4,000 square feet, offering consumers items such as branded tee-shirts, souvenirs, novelties and more. Several new Nickelodeon-themed rides are being added to the seven-acre indoor theme park. Among them are two new roller coasters, SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge and Avatar Airbender, which are the first of their kind to be built inside a mall and completely indoors.
Benaroya buys Everett office park for $4.45M
The Benaroya Co. said it's purchased the seven-building Park Place Plaza office park in Everett for $4.45 million. The complex is located at 111 S.E. Everett Mall Way and was bought from Winward Shopping Center of Hawaii. The 37,000-square-foot complex will be marketed as seven separate parcels, said officials at Seattle-based Benaroya. .
Fortunoff to open first county store
Fortunoff, one of the New York metropolitan area's high-end retailers, is opening its first location in the Atlantic County region with a target date of Feb. 15, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. The store will open at the Consumer Square shopping center across from the Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing. Fortunoff spokeswoman Arlene Putterman said the location will be a "satellite store," selling indoor furniture during the fall and winter, and outdoor furniture in late winter, spring and summer. At 31,000 square feet, the store will be one of the largest in the Long Island-based Fortunoff chain, which includes about 20 other stores throughout New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The flagship store is in Westbury, Long Island. Another southern New Jersey location is expected to open this year in Deptford Township, Gloucester County.
South Tulsa residents balk at retail plan
Residents of Ridge Pointe in south Tulsa have yet to be convinced that a shopping center proposed for 101st Street and Memorial Drive would benefit the area.
In fact, they're convinced that just the opposite is true.
When it comes to land-use compatibility, this is "literally squeezing a square peg into a round hole," said Brian Talkington, president of the Ridge Pointe Homeowners Association.
The developer of South Town Market, John Bumgarner, is scheduled to ask the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission on Wednesday to approve amended development standards for the 21-acre tract that would permit construction of a shopping center and four smaller structures.
Neither Bumgarner nor his attorney, Lou Reynolds, returned repeated calls for comment this week.
Lifestyle Centers Mix Best Elements of Strip Centers, Malls
The hottest trend in retail isn't a brand but rather a name for a type of shopping experience—the “lifestyle center, which is sprouting throughout suburban America as both an adjunct to traditional malls and a stand-alone complex. It is the shopping center industry's version of the “Back to the Future" movies where a professor and his associate travel back in time in a sports car. This 21st century version usually includes a streetscape ambience in an outdoor setting with the attraction of high-end retailers combined with the drive-up convenience of a strip shopping center to create the look of a old-fashioned town square. In addition to one approved shopping center expansion in Joliet and another also being considered in that city also (see related article on page 1), other locations in the western and southwestern suburban areas of planned or recent developments of this type include: Oak Brook Promenade, at Butterfield and Meyers Roads.
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