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March
2004
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Cover
Story
2004 Challenges Survey
While outlet retailers and developers agree that keeping up with
consumer buying trends is an important concern for the coming year, they
find much more to disagree about, notably center operating hours and traffic.
Features
VRN Spring Deal Making Nears
VRN's spring 2004 outlet deal -making venue - to be blended into the flourishing
Mid-Atlantic Idea Exchange -is just around the corner, on March 31-April
1 at the new Washington, D.C. Convention Center.
 Bombay
positive on outlets
Positive outlet-store sales at the home furnishings retailer have become
routine and the company tweaks its product mix and concepts to appeal
to its core shopper - a woman 30 to 50 years old.
Carter's goes public
Outlet industry veteran Carter's Childrenswear launches its initial public
offering to strong demand, and says it will add five new stores this year
and eight to 10 in future years.
Tuesday Morning aims to double
The close-out retailer, which operates nearly 600 off-price units, is
scouting for space to bring its chain size to 1,000 stores. The only catch?
Suitable rents are in the single digits.
It's not ALL bad news...
While store closings always trigger alarm bells, and while the loss of
200 P-VH stores is dramatic and shocking, other chain reductions are having
little effect on outlet centers.
 Global
Outlets
Outlets vs. Germany
Three German professors study why outlet retailing is so
difficult to accomplish in Germany, a country of affluent people
accustomed to factory stores.
Wertheim Village opens
Through patience and perseverance, London-based Value Retail
opens its first outlet project in Wertheim, perhaps the most romantic
and historic area in Germany. |
Focus on customers, not on boxes
Guest columnist Lynette Hawkins wants to stop all the madness –
the idea that stocked shelves are more important than shoppers in your
store; she outlines six rules to refocus sales associates.
Renaissance in Lake Park, Ga.
With a new owner, a new name and new capital improvements, the former
Lake Park (Ga.) Mill Store Plaza is now redoubling its leasing efforts.
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