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OCTOBER
2002
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Cover
Story
 Retail
Innovators Rule
With a spate of retail bankruptcies, a weak economy and recent news that
apparel sales hit a four-year low, retailers and developers can be forgiven
for being in a bit of a funk. But innovation at many chains is making
the picture brighter. VRN checks in with some outlet chains that are living
proof that the byword of retail is change
- VF Factory Outlet, which helped create the outlet industry,
begins its most rapid expansion in years after a study underscores the
chain’s value to its parent company as the most profitable channel
for liquidating excess goods.
- Le Gourmet Chef, thwarted by a lack of capital and continuing
slow growth, hires a new CEO, revamps its management team and secures
new funding from joint-venture partners. Next up: Expansion that will
roughly double its store count by yearend 2003.
- Tommy Bahama, not even a decade old, begins opening stores
in outlet centers, giving the industry a new, hot entry.
- Hathaway Shirts, which was poised this summer to be sold to
an unusual buyer, opens its first outlet store in a market it left years
ago: Freeport, Maine.
- Dickies, the workwear giant, tests a new outlet store design
that takes industrial chic to new heights.
Features
 Jewelry’s
Allure
Despite the economic downturn and stock market collapse, consumer desire
to buy jewelry, a key product category in the luxury products mix, is
strong and growing, a new study concludes. In 2001, jewelry stores generated
54 percent of the market’s nearly $40 billion in sales and mass marketers
increased their share.
Planned Outlet Projects
While only one new outlet center will open in 2002, 10 industry developers
are standing by their plans to get 13 phase-1 projects up and running
by spring 2004. Of these 13 centers, 11 are holdovers from a list of 16
that ran in the February 2002 VRN.
Outlet Center Expansions
Two-dozen planned outlet-center expansions - totaling more than 1 million
sf of gross leasable area - are in the development hopper through 2004,
including 22 scheduled for next year.
 Fall
Programs
Crisp air after a long, hot summer just has a way of loosening a person’s
purse strings. It’s one of the more pleasant aspects of autumn, and
industry marketing directors do their best to give shoppers a reason to
choose their outlet centers over other retail venues.
Tanger Talks
The president and COO of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, the only developer
to open an outlet center this year, gives an interview with Wall Street
Transcripts, an online publication.
 Western
Wonder
Catalog retailer Sierra Trading Post, founded in 1986 in Reno, Nev., with
one employee in a 500-sf office, today operates a 150,000-sf facility
that includes corporate offices, flagship store, and phone and fulfillment
centers, plus three stores elsewhere.
Retail Biz
A look at the business doings of some of the industry’s chains: A
Levi’s licensee closes 40 units; Jones acquires Esprit; Ann Taylor
looking good.
Tenant Handbooks.com
Craig Realty Group publishes its tenant construction handbooks on its
Web site, putting a wealth of information about its projects at retailers’
fingertips.
Guest Column
Phyllis Pescosolido explains how mail targeting can be improved even without
turning to the power of a database.
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Global
Outlets
Growing Bags Etc
In less than a year, Bags Etc dominates its category in UK outlet
centers and makes more plans for growth.
Czech Mate
UK-based Freeport Plc sets a summer 2003 opening for a duty-free
outlet center sited on the Austrian/Czech border.
On the Waterfont
Late-night hours and a waterfront environment at Gunwarf Quays in
Portsmouth, England, give the mixed-use project an edge.
Busy Guinea
Scotland’s Guinea Group develops one center, redevelops another
and is named to manage two others it recently sold.
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 VRN’s
Fall Convention
The industry-planned VRN Fall Outlet Retail Convention that starts on
the last day of September is shaping up to be a magical, educational,
deal-making bonanza.
Giving Kids their Space
With a bang, Atlanta’s Discover Mills opens a new interactive play
and educational area for kids.
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