Move over Minneapolis, Largest Mall in U.S. Planned for Miami
Sorry Minneapolis, but your Mall of America's status of “America's Largest Shopping mall” may be in jeopardy. UPI reported that plans are in the works to bring “American Dream Miami,” billed as America's largest mall, to Florida. It shouldn't come as much of surprise, since the company that owns Mall of America is the one planning to take their talents to South Beach. Triple Five is also the same company that is slated to open “American Dream Meadowlands” (we see a naming trend in the works here) in northern N.J. in the third quarter of 2016. The South Florida Business Journal reported that the 200-acre project, which is in the early planning stages (at least six to eight years away from completion), could include an indoor ski slope.
Meet the Overlooked Mansumers: Men are more than Wives' Pocketbook Carriers
We've lots of advice about how to use technology and social media to target shoppers, but that doesn't mean you should ignore different trends and preferences when it comes to gender. A study done recently by The Future of Commerce called “The Myth of the Mansumer,” there are many similarities and differences when it comes to approaching shopping and what men and women like or dislike about it. For example, as reported by SmallBizTrends.com, while both men and women say in-store service has improved over the last three years, both also agree that they would rather do self-checkout (55%). Both agree that there are security risks to be concerned about when it comes to online shopping (20%) but differ when it comes to buying products online but returning them in-store. According to the study, two-thirds of women care about that versus half of all men. “If you do offer online sales, make sure your salespeople know how to handle in-store returns without slowing customers down,” the report advises.
Cincinnati's Famous “Plummet Mall” Gag Marks 30th Anniversary
In the days before social media, malls were atop the retail mountain. Sometimes a creative radio commercial would – using modern day vernacular – go viral. It was 30 years ago that a clever radio ad campaign used a local mall as its hook. The catch: the mall was completely fake. It wasn't on Cincinnati's most well-known fake radio station, WKRP; it was on real radio station WEBN. Spurned by a large local advertiser that spent money everywhere else, two radio guys set out to prove how powerful radio advertising could be by creating a phony campaign for “Plummet Mall,” which, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, was “the world’s first vertical underground shopping mall.”
VISIT DMM AT ICSC'S RECON 2015
DMM will be at RECon 2015, the ICSC's convention that brings together retail real estate professionals from around the world. The show gets underway May 17th and runs through the 20th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Come visit us at our booth (#N1329) and learn more about our DMM Mapping tool, get a personal demonstration, find out what's in store for ShoppingCenters.com down the line, or just come by and say hi.
Spotlight Listing: The Summit, Birmingham, AL
