Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/400168
10 S C T / N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 4 Shopping Block pop-up brings cool factor to Woodbury Commons Simon's first pop-up, called The Shopping Block drew a crowd to the company's Woodbury Common Premium Outlets, in Central Valley, N.Y., in October. The concept is part of a program set up with website Refinery29 to grab the atten- tion of younger shoppers and stir up shopping excitement. A slew of notable New Yorkers on the fashion scene showed up, including model and philanthropist Kyleigh Kuhn and blogger Rachel-Marie Iwanyszyn, of Jag Lever. The Shopping Block showcases local indie boutiques and national brands in a highly interactive setting. The Shopping Block was featured at six Simon properties across the U.S. S C T Founding father Williams-Sonoma reopened a retail location and cooking school in Sonoma, Calif., on Oct. 4 in the very spot where it opened its first store almost six decades ago. The timing also coincides with the 99th birthday of Chuck Williams, the company's founder. Williams' culinary legacy began in 1956, when he purchased a hardware store in the Northern California wine country town of Sonoma. An avid cook, Williams began introducing some of the cooking equipment he found in his travels through France. The merchandise was used by professional chefs but had never been available to home cooks. Williams converted the space into his first store. The new store uses the bay shelving and black-and- white floor tiles that became early trademarks of the brand. Select fixtures and materials were salvaged and incorporated to maintain the integrity of the architecture. Dollar stores draw traffic Dollar stores are one segment of the U.S. brick-and-mortar retail industry that is not seeing declines in traffic. Visits to such retailers in- creased 14 percent in the May – July time period, compared to the same period in 2013, reports market research firm NPD Group. Meanwhile, overall brick-and- mortar traffic dropped 4 percent year-on-year during the period, the firm says. While the rate of decline for brick-and-mortar shop- ping visits softened in the most recent quarter compared with the two previous quarters, the dollar-store channel continued to see the largest year-over-year share increase in shopping visits, probably driven in part by new-store openings, says Marshal Cohen, NPD's chief in- dustry analyst. "Not many other retailers are opening new stores, focused instead on taking advantage of those already in their stores and maximizing conversion to purchase, as well as expanding their online pres- ence," Cohen said, in a press release. Three-quarters of all shoppers in the dollar-store channel convert to purchase on each visit, and the amount they spend is up 3 percent on average since last year. In the past two years, the dollar-store-channel shopper has become younger, with 50 percent under 45 years of age, versus 42 percent two years ago, Cohen says. "Millennials are increasing their activity in the market," he said. "This omni-channel and omnipresent age group also seeks instant gratification and at the lowest price, which is why younger consumers are also increasing their dollar store visits." Founding father T H E C O M M O N A R E A