2012 100 - Networld Media Group

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RETAIL AT AIRPORTS
With malls sales stagnating during the recession,
many mass-market retailers began searching for
more fertile locations. Places where people might
have time on their hands — and nowhere else to
go. “Airports are becoming, really, a service facility,
like a shopping mall,” said Jose Gomez, senior vice
president for business development for fashion retailer
Mango which recently opened two stores at
San Francisco International and one in the Orlando
airport. Whether it’s because they are on vacation
or charging to expense accounts, “the experience of
traveling tends to put people in a mode that they’re
prepared to spend money,” says Paul McGinn, president of MarketPlace Development, which manages and leases retail space at
Philadelphia International Airport and LaGuardia. “It is also a venue where — and this is always a funny thing to talk about —
but there’s an awful lot of people that are motivated by guilt. That certainly inspires a lot of sales.”
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LACOSTE
French apparel retailer Lacoste, founded
in 1933, most famous for selling
tennis shirts emblazoned with its iconic
green alligator logo, is transitioning
into a mainstream brand that deals
with and produces high-end apparel.
The retailer’s new Lacoste L!ve” creates
its collections in association with musicians
and artists from across the world,
CAFÉS AND OTHER AMENITIES
Black Friday marketers and gamification
advocates please take note: There is
strong evidence that shoppers will actually
buy more — and even pay more
— when they are relaxed. A new study
in the Journal of Marketing Research
finds that a calm shopper might spend
up to 15 percent more than a stressed
with a plan to engage a guest artist
or designer for each season. Lacoste
launched its new brand range for
shopper would for the same item. So
how do retailers help their customers
relax? Some are offering soothing amenities
and pampering services such as
trays of complimentary cocktails and
finger food, private events before and
after regular store hours, and cushy
lounge areas with free Wi-Fi and flat
Spring/Summer 2011 with an interactive
campaign shot by renowned party
photographer Cobrasnake. The resulting
film documents a 24-hour party
with models in Paris offering a first
person perspective of the fun and the
opportunity to shop the collection live
with interactive features and personalized
messages popping up throughout.
screens that encourage shoppers to linger.
Department stores and boutiques
are adding in-store cafés, or breaking
up a large store into small rooms, says
Jim Bieri, principal at retail real estateconsulting
firm Stokas Bieri Real Estate
in Detroit. “They engineer it so that
some are almost empty, on purpose.”
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