It’s busy here as we work to get the January issue of Retail Traffic out the door. So it’s been a quiet day on the blog front.
But there was an entertaining piece in the New York Times about Paramus, N.J., the unofficial mall capital.
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Archive for the ‘Quirky’ Category
Wal-Mart’s International Adventures
“Wal-Mart” and “Communist Party” are not institutions you would necessarily lump together. It illustrates just how different doing business in China really is for retailers and developers.
Why blog?
One of the inspirations for starting this blog was seeing that a community of bloggers has emerged all aiming to chart retail history.
We profiled some of these folks in our December issue. It’s an interesting read on a fascinating group of people who are combing through old photos, magazines, post cards and anything else they can get their hands on to illustrate the evolution of the mall industry. Their entries are often witty and very personal. You can tell it’s a real passion for these folks.
If you’d like to see what they’re up to, many of those blogs are linked in the blogroll in the left column on this page. That will change and grow over time, so keep checking for more links.
Also, I’m looking to add more sites to the list. So if you’d like to be added, or you know of an interesting site, leave a comment here or send me an email.
Shopping as a Sport
The Asian Games a sort-of localized version of the Olympics, are taking place in Doha, Qatar right now, but one of the biggest stories coming out of the event is how impressed everyone is with Qatar’s luxurious malls. One article even goes so far as to call shopping the Games’ “40th Sport”.
Shifting Soil?
Here’s a problem you don’t run into every day.
It seems that shifting soil is causing problem’s at Westcor’s FlatIron Crossing property in Boulder, Colo.
Floor-heaving of up to 6 inches, expensive repairs and difficulty with mall management about how to address the problems persuaded Italian restaurant Il Fornaio to close in October, said Jesse Witt, a lawyer who represented the restaurant in negotiations with the mall. Witt said the Corte Madera, Calif.-based chain wanted to remain in the location, but the ‘’soils problem” was the reason it closed.
It’s a similar case for Denver-based burrito chain Chipotle, which shutdown in August. Chipotle spokesman Chris Arnold said the restaurant left because the mall opted not to repair the building.
A New Approach to Mall Security: Robots!
Earlier this week, Japan-based Sohgo Security Services announced a new mall approach to policing malls combining traditional personnel with new robot security guards.
The first test of the Reborg-Q system will go live at the AquaCity mall in Tokyo later this month.
American mall security firms haven’t gone quite that far, but are increasingly putting mall security personnel on Segways.
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Weekend Reading
by David Bodamer December 18th, 2006
Some interesting stories in the papers this weekend.
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