Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/390025
8 S C T / O c t O b e r 2 0 1 4 T H E C O M M O N A R E A NYC gets first new mall in 40 years The Mall at Bay Plaza, New York City's first enclosed mall to open in more than 40 years, officially opened to the public in August. Locally based developer Prestige Proper- ties & Development Co. calls the 780,000-square-foot, three-level cen- ter the largest enclosed mall in New York City. Prestige Properties has in- vested over $300 million in the mall's construction and development. Mall at Bay Plaza includes a new, ground-up 160,000-square-foot Macy's, the first time the retailer is opening a new store within New York City in 15 years, and an existing JCPenney as the anchor tenants. Ten- ants include about 100 shops, many of which are new to the Bronx. "I am so happy that the Bronx now has its first enclosed fashion mall ever, and the first built in the New York City area in almost 40 years," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., at the open- ing ceremony. "This mall will bring new jobs and new business to the Bronx and I welcome with open arms a new Macy's to our borough." The mall is adjacent to the Bay Plaza Shopping Center, which features an ad- ditional 1.2 million square feet of retail. America supports e-fairness legislation Seven in ten Americans support legislation requiring sales-tax collection at the time of purchase, according to a poll of 1,016 U.S. consumers conducted for ICSC. This represents an increase of six percentage points since the poll was taken in 2013 and eleven percentage points since it was taken in 2012. "A significant majority of Americans support federal legisla- tion and with precious few legislative days left in 2014 it is time for Congress to make Marketplace Fairness a reality this year," said Michael P. Kercheval, president and CEO of ICSC. Eighty-two percent of respondents said they think col- lecting sales tax from online-only vendors at the time of pur- chase is easier, up by four percentage points since 2013 (78 percent) and seven percentage points in 2012 (75 percent). This is the only national poll that has tracked attitudes among Americans on these two issues for three consecutive years. In addition, 56 percent said they believe that collecting sales tax from online-only vendors at the time of pur- chase is fairer to local retailers. Addi- tionally, 93 percent said local retailers are vital to their communities' health. Seamless channels: A goal for retailers Seamless omni-channel selling is at the forefront of retailers' minds, suggests a survey by tax-advisory firm KPMG. A major- ity of the 100 U.S. retail executives who responded to the sur- vey said their companies have adopted an omni-channel strat- egy to link shoppers' in-store experience with the company's website, mobile-device applications and social-media platforms. About half the respondents see their company as be- ing ahead of its peers when it comes to omni-channel adoption. They cite increased spending this year for the company website (67 respondents,) physical/permanent stores (47 respondents) and social-media platforms (46 respondents) as the most important areas. Adopting an omni-channel business strategy may be costly. About half of those surveyed said the cost and complexity of technology upgrades are some of the main challenges they face. Cybersecurity is a rising issue. Seventy-seven respondents said their companies share customers' personal and payment infor- mation across channels to provide a more seamless shopping experience. Growing cybersecurity concerns may lead companies to reevaluate customer data-sharing, the survey said.