0816_TOEFL-Test-and-Score-Manual-1997

Develop and Launch New Products and Services ● 137
If you are in New York City, visit my favorite indoor market. The
Chelsea Market features wonderful stores. Built in an old bakery, the architecture
retains the best features of the factory. It’s cool on a hot day and a
fun place to wander around. The market is located at 75 9th Avenue at 15th
Street. Go hungry and try the wonderful ice cream and pastries.
GREAT
Set Up a Cart in a Shopping Mall
Boston’s Quincy Market is credited with setting up the
IDEA
first kiosks and carts in 1976 as part of an effort by
local developers to rejuvenate the city’s ailing downtown area.
Today, about 80 percent of America’s 1,800 enclosed and regional shopping
malls and hundreds of airports have so-called “temporary tenants,”
according to industry experts.
Kiosks and carts have tremendous benefits for small business owners
and mall operators. Entrepreneurs selling everything from sunglasses to
colored rubber bands are able to display their wares in a prime, high-foottraffic
setting with a modest investment; malls benefit from a wider variety
of interesting merchandise and extra rent.
“The mall doesn’t have to take a risk on a long-term lease,” said a spokesman
for the International Council of Shopping Centers. “For the retailer,
there’s access to a lot of customers that they would not otherwise have.”
Major mall developers rely on carts to add color and variety, as well
as to generate income. Some cart operators move into a mall from May to
December to capitalize on the busy holiday gift-buying and back-to-school
shopping peaks, but many more remain year-round.
“The pushcarts act as incubators to test a potential market for a product,”
said Jennifer Ciotti, former manager of specialty retail for Boston’s
Faneuil Hall.
Unlike the rickety wooden pushcarts used at the turn of the century,
today’s carts, or retail merchandising units (RMUs), cost about $20,000
and feature phone lines, elaborate lighting, and computerized inventory
systems.