Last Saturday, I had a market tour with Alissa. We choose multiple shopping centers and walked them while discussing the demographics of the environment around them. The three main shopping centers we visited were Tuttle Crossing, Polaris Fashion Place, and Easton Town Center. During this tour, I learned many new things about the way company’s display and place their products and stores.
The first thing I learned was the way that shopping centers are graded. They are graded from characteristics such as center sales, segments (high/low traffic, and high/low fashion), and their tier group (mall, specialty, strips, outlets, and streets). The Tuttle Crossing Mall was graded as a B. It is a B because the mall because of the demographics – it is in a middle class area that has outdated restaurants around it and many temporary or local tenants leasing space inside the mall. The mall itself is older and more outdated than most other shopping malls in Columbus. The mall has a large amount of temporary tenants to fill the open space and it is less populated than most other modern malls.
The next mall we visited was the Polaris Fashion Place, which was graded an A. Polaris is a much more modern shopping center. It is in a wealthier and more populated community. It also has more of the newer stores and fashions as well. It has shops inside and outside but most stores are not placed around stores that have the same target market. It is appealing to a family shopper as evident by the number of children playing in the central play area and the number of family friendly restaurants in the mall.
Easton Town Center was graded a A+. This is because it is in a higher class community where most people living near the center have much more money to spend. One way I could tell this was true was by the types of cars the shoppers at Easton drove compared to the cars at Tuttle. At Easton, there were much more elegant and expensive cars compared to the affordable, family cars at Tuttle. By the obvious demographics, Easton was a much more successful shopping center, which is why it had a better grade than the other shopping centers we visited. It also pulls from a larger radius. People from all over Ohio and other states come to Easton to Shop. It has several first to market tenants including Louis Vuitton, Tumi, American Girl, Kate Spade just to name a few.
When determining where to build a new shopping center, demographics hold a large importance in order to insure the centers success. Some characteristics that they must determine are things like the class of people that live around the area and the people that will be shopping in the new center. They must determine if they want the center to be a mall, outlet, strip, etc, because some types will be more successful than others in certain communities. They also need to determine if the area has high/ low traffic and how their customers can easily access the center. For example, if the center does not have easily accessible entrance and exit areas, they will not be very successful because the customers don’t have a way in. All of these characteristics and much more are thoroughly discussed before building a new shopping center.
During the tour, I also learned strategies that shopping centers use in order to market better and make more money. One strategy I learned was that malls put the escalators on the ends of their building. This forces customers to walk the entire mall in order to get up or down the stairs, which increases the chance of them stopping in a store they did not originally intend to.
Another strategy I learned was that companies merchandize tenants and cluster stores by category around stores that have similar target markets. For example, at Tuttle Crossing there are multiple stores that target to younger children placed around each other. These stores include the Gap Children's Place, Justice, Build-a-Bear, Fuzziwig’s Candy Factory, and Menchies Frozen Yogurt. Conveniently, these stores are also surrounding the children's play area because it’s where they will attract the most children. Another example is where they place the stores that target to young adults. These stores include Forever 21, H&M, Buckle, Charlotte Russe, American Eagle and Deb. These stores are all placed near each other but they are also on the second floor. I learned that the reason they may put these stores on the higher levels is because adolescents and younger adults are more likely to walk the extra distance for their stores compared to the older adults that don’t want to walk as far.
In malls, stores also tend to place their registers near the back of the stores. Similar to the escalator strategy, this forces customers to walk through the whole store, increasing the chances of them impulse shopping. Stores also place the new and most visually appealing items in the front of the stores which draws the customers into their store, leading to them buying the company’s products.
During this market tour, I learned a lot about marketing strategies as well as real estate strategy for store development. I learned about things I have never considered when shopping in different shopping centers. I am very surprised at how much thought goes into not only building shopping centers, but also where to place stores within the centers.
The first thing I learned was the way that shopping centers are graded. They are graded from characteristics such as center sales, segments (high/low traffic, and high/low fashion), and their tier group (mall, specialty, strips, outlets, and streets). The Tuttle Crossing Mall was graded as a B. It is a B because the mall because of the demographics – it is in a middle class area that has outdated restaurants around it and many temporary or local tenants leasing space inside the mall. The mall itself is older and more outdated than most other shopping malls in Columbus. The mall has a large amount of temporary tenants to fill the open space and it is less populated than most other modern malls.
The next mall we visited was the Polaris Fashion Place, which was graded an A. Polaris is a much more modern shopping center. It is in a wealthier and more populated community. It also has more of the newer stores and fashions as well. It has shops inside and outside but most stores are not placed around stores that have the same target market. It is appealing to a family shopper as evident by the number of children playing in the central play area and the number of family friendly restaurants in the mall.
Easton Town Center was graded a A+. This is because it is in a higher class community where most people living near the center have much more money to spend. One way I could tell this was true was by the types of cars the shoppers at Easton drove compared to the cars at Tuttle. At Easton, there were much more elegant and expensive cars compared to the affordable, family cars at Tuttle. By the obvious demographics, Easton was a much more successful shopping center, which is why it had a better grade than the other shopping centers we visited. It also pulls from a larger radius. People from all over Ohio and other states come to Easton to Shop. It has several first to market tenants including Louis Vuitton, Tumi, American Girl, Kate Spade just to name a few.
When determining where to build a new shopping center, demographics hold a large importance in order to insure the centers success. Some characteristics that they must determine are things like the class of people that live around the area and the people that will be shopping in the new center. They must determine if they want the center to be a mall, outlet, strip, etc, because some types will be more successful than others in certain communities. They also need to determine if the area has high/ low traffic and how their customers can easily access the center. For example, if the center does not have easily accessible entrance and exit areas, they will not be very successful because the customers don’t have a way in. All of these characteristics and much more are thoroughly discussed before building a new shopping center.
During the tour, I also learned strategies that shopping centers use in order to market better and make more money. One strategy I learned was that malls put the escalators on the ends of their building. This forces customers to walk the entire mall in order to get up or down the stairs, which increases the chance of them stopping in a store they did not originally intend to.
Another strategy I learned was that companies merchandize tenants and cluster stores by category around stores that have similar target markets. For example, at Tuttle Crossing there are multiple stores that target to younger children placed around each other. These stores include the Gap Children's Place, Justice, Build-a-Bear, Fuzziwig’s Candy Factory, and Menchies Frozen Yogurt. Conveniently, these stores are also surrounding the children's play area because it’s where they will attract the most children. Another example is where they place the stores that target to young adults. These stores include Forever 21, H&M, Buckle, Charlotte Russe, American Eagle and Deb. These stores are all placed near each other but they are also on the second floor. I learned that the reason they may put these stores on the higher levels is because adolescents and younger adults are more likely to walk the extra distance for their stores compared to the older adults that don’t want to walk as far.
In malls, stores also tend to place their registers near the back of the stores. Similar to the escalator strategy, this forces customers to walk through the whole store, increasing the chances of them impulse shopping. Stores also place the new and most visually appealing items in the front of the stores which draws the customers into their store, leading to them buying the company’s products.
During this market tour, I learned a lot about marketing strategies as well as real estate strategy for store development. I learned about things I have never considered when shopping in different shopping centers. I am very surprised at how much thought goes into not only building shopping centers, but also where to place stores within the centers.