Shopping Centers are brands also. Phipps Plaza, Atlanta’s highest end premium mall, has just committed a no-no. Phipps which is home to Saks and stores like Versace and Barneys of New York, as well as high end restaurants, has converted its food court into a Lego Land.
Once a quiet haven for adult shopping is now run over with screaming out-of-control kids. I know that I will never go there again, and I suspect that many of my friends won’t either. Every mass retailer has failed there, so now they are running out their high end customers, soon to run out the high end stores.
I wonder if that quiet haven has been a little “quieter” over the past few years. I know some high end shopping centers around Boston that have been ghost towns due to the economic downturn. Could it be that the owners are abandoning ship in favor of something potentially more profitable or stable? I can’t imagine anyone thinking Lego Land and Barneys could coexist, much less compliment each other.
Whatever the case, a good brand is ruined. How do you decide whether to jump ship or ride out the storm when major, unexpected factors threaten your brand (e.g. recession, oil spill, PR mess, etc.)?
Attracting customers to the mall that will never buy in your stores is helping no one and hurting many.
Far better to work on marketing programs that will draw the target users for your stores into the mall, no matter the cost, than to drive them out.
I found this article by Googling ‘Phipps Ruined’ because I shared the same sentiment. I have a couple of theories about what’s really happening –
Theory 1: Across 400 on Peachtree is a new shopping development touting high-end stores. I’m guessing that the managers of Phipps got a ‘heads up’ that their high-end tenants would be moving over en-masse.
Theory 2:
They looked at shopper demographics and discovered it was moms during the day and that they could increase ‘dwell time’ in the stores if junior was occupied for a few hours.
But you are right…in any case, it’s not a great shopping experience.