Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/58695
SCT Editor in Chief EDMUND MANDER +1 646 728 3487 EDITORIAL Managing Editor BRANNON BOSWELL +1 646 728 3488 Copy Chief DAVID S. ORTIZ Copy Editor VALERIE DAVID Art Director JOHN D. LEWIS Contributing Editors STEVE BERGSMAN MARÍA BIRD PICÓ NICKY GODDING JOEL GROOVER MATT HUDGINS BETH MATTSON-TEIG STEVE McLINDEN MISTY MILIOTO DEES STRIBLING BENNETT VOYLES ADVERTISING & MARKETING AMIE LEIBOVITZ +1 773 360 1179 aleibovitz@icsc.org SUZANNE TANGUAY +1 646 728 3475 stanguay@icsc.org SALLY STEPHENSON +1 847 835 1617 sstephenson@icsc.org Production Coordinator DAVID STACKHOUSE +1 646 728 3482 dstackhouse@icsc.org ICSC OFFICERS Chair man DAVID B. HENRY President and CEO MICHAEL P. KERCHEVAL Vice Presidents LEE T. HANDLEY GAR HERRING, CDP DANIEL B. HURWITZ ADAM W. IFSHIN JOHN P. MORRISON Secretary-Treasurer KENNETH A. MCINTYRE JR. For article reprints, call (866) 879-9144 or contact sales@fostereprints.com SCT (ISSN 0885-9841) is pub lished monthly. VOLUME 33, ISSUE 4 © 2012, International Coun cil of Shop ping Cen ters, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020-1099; phone, +1 (646) 728 3800; fax, +1 732 694 1730. All rights reserved. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and ad di tion al mailing offices. Sub- scrip tions $70 per year; Canada and other foreign $99. Single-copy price $20 (May issue $30). For subscription information call +1 727 784 2000. POST MAS TER: Send address changes to Shopping Cen ters Today, Yizeth Vergara, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020-1099. Publications mail agreement No. 41482022, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to PO Box 503, RPO West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill ON L4B 4R6. SHOPPING CENTERS TODAY +1 646 728 3800 Fax: +1 732 694 1730 www.icsc.org Olympic performance WESTFIELD STRATFORD CITY IS READY FOR THE SPOTLIGHT By Bennett Voyles M OST MALLS ARE BUILT on the outskirts of a city, where land is cheaper. At 30 minutes from the center of London, Westfield Strat- ford City is no exception. But in August this shopping center will also be at the center of the universe, as it were. Located inside the Olympic Park, in London's East End, West- field Stratford City will be a key element of the 2012 Summer Olympics. In fact, specta- tors will actually have to pass through the park to get to many of the athletic events. "Seventy million people will walk through our main street," said John Barton, the cen- ter's director. Most centers would be over- whelmed by that much foot traffic, but at 1.9 million square feet, Westfield Stratford City is the biggest shopping mall in Europe. The $2.2 billion project was designed specially to accommodate all those pedestrians, with an extra-wide main thoroughfare, Barton says. Raising the stakes even higher: Anything good or bad that happens may be picked up by the 20,000 journalists covering the Olympics and televised to a global audience of 4 billion. Of course, none of this comes by surprise. Westfield has played an important role in the development of the 180-acre former rail yard almost from the moment the city won its Olympic bid in 2005. Unlike what happens with many Olympic sites, whose cities are left with huge white el- ephants, London's planners focused from the start on the games as an opportunity to develop the city's East End — the poorer, more industrial part of London that was badly bombed during World War II and never en- tirely rebuilt. The Westfield center will be the retail heart of the massive Stratford City rede- velopment with its roughly 6 million square feet of offices, hotels, homes and schools. Opened in September, the center's re- ception has been positive, despite economic anxieties. Westfield has released no traffic numbers yet, but the retailers evidently like what they see; by the time the games begin, the retail space will be almost fully leased, says Barton, and other design elements should make the center more conducive to the event. Another benefit the Olympic spectators will enjoy: food from home — wherever home might be. About 160 languages are spoken in the East End, and 70 food outlets celebrate that diver- sity. "You can get Mexican," Barton said, "you can get Greek, you can get Chinese, you can get kosher food, you can get halal." SCT CENTER STAGE 4 SCT / APRIL 2012