Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/513366
ow important is quality signage to malls and cities? when mg Herring, the new owner of the 35-year-old golden triangle mall, in Denton, texas, north of Dallas, demolished the shopping cen- ter's eyesore of a brick sign in favor of a digital replacement, then-mayor mark Burroughs took a mighty swing at the ugly old standard with a sledgehammer. not surprisingly, the new mall sign sailed through approvals and became a traffic generator. one rub, though: By city statute, the digital portion could display only one message per day, according to ian pierce, a spokesman for the Dallas-based weitzman group Cencor realty services, which manages and leases the mall. H signs oF progress sign innovations abound, offering landlords and retailers new ways to communicate with shoppers By Steve McLinden J u n e 2 0 1 5 / S C T 41 such are the benefits and the barriers confronting developers and retailers as they incorporate digital sign technology, ranging from modest crawl screens to brightly lit leDs and giant 3-D signs. "we're just scraping the surface of what can be done with technology available today for signage, messaging and graphics," said michael greeby, Ceo of lake Bluff, ill.–based greeby work.shop and owner's representative for several greeby Cos. shopping centers. But often standing in the way are obsolete city ordinances "that still tend to be fundamentally flawed because they rarely strike a balance between too much signage and too little." in paramus, n.J., a zoning battle between the city and general growth properties' paramus park mall over more signs with more colors was settled when the municipality acknowledged that more abundant and attractive signage was necessary for its signature mall to align with tenants' brand- identification needs. in part to address shifting shopper habits and escalating local vacancies, the board granted variances that allowed more signs per wall than normal and up to seven colors per