Shopping Centers Today

MAR 2015

Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

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nearly 3,000 workers in total, and posts upwards of $450 mil- lion in annual sales each at the Omaha and Kansas City stores. In fact, the company caught Warren Buffet's eye several years ago; Berkshire Hathaway bought a 90 percent stake in 1983. "They are one of the best-kept secrets in the retail business," said Steve Graham, principal of Leawood, Kan.–based Stellar Development, which is helping with the leasing of the Grand- scape retail project. Nebraska Furniture Mart stores already attract custom- ers from hundreds of miles around, and the stores ship to 48 states. The Texas store is expected to attract 8 million to 10 million visitors each year, thanks in part to its prime location adjacent to the Sam Rayburn Tollway. The company has stayed true to Rose Blumkin's original vision: to sell a lot of goods cheap. Today, its stores use an elec- tronic price-tag system on the sales floor and monitor competi- tors' advertised prices daily by Internet, with the intent of drop- ping below any rival price. The efficiencies generated by large sales volume help keep prices low as well. Distribution centers are on the same sites to give shoppers easy access for pickup. The Omaha store has 45 loading bays and six pickup lanes; the Texas store will have nearly three times as many loading bays and twice as many pickup lanes. Several years ago the company recognized that it could not control the quality of product from manufacturers, so manage- ment introduced an on-site carpentry and repair shop at the stores. Now every package is opened and inspected before it is shipped to the customer. "That speaks volumes to the level they go to to hit high customer-satisfaction ratings, and I don't know anyone in the industry who does that," said Graham. There is no specific time frame on the Grandscape project at this point, says Lind. But construction is under way on Grand- scape West, a 25-acre section directly west of the furniture store. Four restaurants are set to open later this summer. Two hotels — a Hampton Inn & Suites and a Homewood Suites — are in the permitting process and likely to open in early 2016. Over the next 18 months, Lind says, the company expects to move forward with development plans for the Boardwalk, a project that is to contain six pad restaurants along a lake and which will eventually encompass a shopping center, a movie theater and a resort-spa. "We want to create a very special place to be, from the physical standpoint and from the merchandising standpoint," he said. "And we will take whatever time that it takes to get that done." S C T 26 S C T / M a r c h 2 0 1 5 r e T a i l i n g T o d a y

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