Memorandum, News Articles. ' ~ 1
Boulder Urban Renewal Authority
1300 Canyon Boulevard
PO Box 791
Boulder, CO 80306
303•441 •3276
303-441-4070
www.ci.bou Ider.co.us/bura
MEMORANDUM
July 10, 2003
TO: BLJRA Board of Commissioners
FROM: Brad Power, Executive Director
SUBJECT: News Articles
Two recent news articles are attached for your mformahon
A New York Times piece on the attempt (m some mstances, humorous) to
remvent the regional mall. Former Boulder Plannmg Director Will Fleissig is
quoted
A Wall Street Journal article on how Federated Department stores has coped with
customer service issues as they have ad~usted how their stores operate. This
theme and issue is very common among all of the ma~ar department stores. Many
are reportmg consistently decltnmg sales.
_.., .+..,,v . v¢~ i idic~, b ~Nll? Y, JL_~E S, ?G07
~~~~ping 1~ro~and
~'~r Second Lives
Can Old Malls Be Taught New Tricks?
By SRG1V LIBBY
Los ~~caies
HE Valley Plaza \7a1: ~2 Aotth
: ollywood, Cffid, was once the
prem er s~ooomg center m Rus
regon Bwlt m 1957, rt was only
.:_.^~ second mall ~n greater Los Acigeles, and
.t Mas amorg the tirst malls m Ne nat~n to
ae desgied as a um:ied enllty
3ut mtlay Valley Plaza ~5 suffermg Ap-
~r_v;~2.e1} 30 of ~ts 12~ =_torefroots are
~~eanL 3ecadse i[ doesn [ have a smgle
cx:er, L'~e cer.ter nas had d~fficulry tormu-
::~:~.g ti:e re:aodehng and eYOa25~on cmnai
~.,'s mntsumg hea7th W.LS b~gger v~aYls
s~c~unne all ~Ze nme L~ Southern CaLfor-
..,=_ i~s S~ Fernando Dalley landmazk
cm_~d face oucr~gnt ctosure
'-iz. s wm the archi[e<t Pieire De Ange-
!i_ ?9, aia ms par',ner, C2rmen Suero, 2fi,
ct ~sz ~ azley Ptaza as [he~r suo7ect when
ev e~+e-ed tbe Dezd Mal~s Comoet~tmq
~~a here recenL'y by the Los ~ingzles cor-
~ `cr ~remtecmre and Lrban Design.'-bir
~e ~ngeis and ]IS Suero s subn~ssicn ~as
zv~n3 5 wuv~ers crosen out of i5 enmes
:~ rhe Lmted S[ates and a few offier
co~tnes mcludmg Engiand, Israel and
~~tra~a, m a comnetmon m venerare new
~c~~ about how the shoppmg c~nter chat
s ~ 301 0* Amencan consumensm can oe
s:s`o:r.ied altSoug3 none of 1ie desg~s
~-a ebroec[ed m be bud[, LSe Forum mIl
ou~~sh a boo6 on the compennoa and the
~a.~er ssues beh~nd rt m ?u~us[
'-Se rnall represenss a oomt m nme m
~ra evoluton of xetz~hng;' said W~ll Fleiuig
o; [,~e Cong*ess for the Ve~e Lrbamsm a
ia= Fr2nasco ar~anaa[ion devo[ed co pro-
~+~sneurbanplannm~ tiowwe'rereach-
__he erd of chat erz 2nd enteru~g soma
.h. ~ new \ir Ple~ssig waz on the compe-
-+[ m s.~r, aF ame arcn.[zcts de~e~o9ers
1GC 3C1f.CP11L5
=ecacse malls gather a~ anen o; goods
are serv~ces mto a cen[ral cl~sier, new
;~L^~ism aCwcares Iike 1fr Fieissig me
3r_:n Lnby lnes m Portlcnd Ore crd has
-en a'~oux ntthitetL~re for 4rchIIec'ur¢l
R~.r4 Ve:roFO4s m~d Salon
Lhem as potennally benefiual pubhc spaces,
6ut only d the nalls can resmnd better ro
(lI21t SpiTOllI1~iN°e ¢IIVSOriIDEIltS
'I don't thuik there's anythmg wrong Per
se uieh the mside of malls;' sa~d anot4er
7uror, JuLe E¢encerg af Kon.ng E~zenberg
Archrtecmre m Los?vigeles "The pmblem
i5 wRh Lhes tIansrt~on to the autside '
Although ffiere ~s not one formula for
makmg the maR a heaktuer w'ban space,
there !s a consevsus that °to have an ortgo-
mg hfe realls need to take on more uses
sonffi services, housmg, ret~gious ~astrtu-
Lons; sa~d Warren iecrientm, who organ-
rzetl ffie compennon He cned the Psseo
Colorado mall m Pasadena as a good model,
wi[h apartments on top of tramnonal mall
re[azlers Iffie Macy's and Sam Goody Eae
Paseo Colorado a]so has an undergmund
parlung lot, whsn mte~rates the mall w~th
the pedesirtanronented shops of downTawn
Pasadena better [han a tradmonal surface
pazkmg lot wou:d have done
Mast envies,
however, d~d not -,-,---.-L-~--.-,.-n....
mclnde such a -
mixmre ox ten- _ _ -
antz arid uses In- ---_ - _ __ _
stead, ma2y sub
m~ss~ons soughi f~
part~al or mtal 1-
remvenuan of t _~ -
the existmg ~-~-.~--~- -
space 6ae of the
21 fmal~sts envi-
smned a wom-
en's mm~mum-
secunty pnson ,e
anather pro-
posed a ~rouo of fac~hnes wuh arrs themes
A w~nning entry for ffie Vatle)o Plaza Mall
m Valle]o CaIlf, offered by Stoner Meek
Archnecture & Urban Des~gn ot San Fran-
nscq imagmed the res.oranon of near6y
wetlands and an esmary while consoLdating
snllropen srores mro a defuna Kmart
Perhaps the most controversal entry,
Mr Techentm sa~d, rvas a wmnng proposal
for the Eagle Rock ~Iall m Eaate RocK
CaUf by Ehzabe[h vieyer and Aon Rosen-
oerg. +vha were architecmre students when
:he compenllon be~an Pu:posefully chal-
.:?dT~`~ARi ~: . = v5~':~_
-""'"-"""""'"""°-:~ TwonnaLsts
_ . = _ - ~ _ Py in the
~'~ ~" - _ ~ DeadMalls
'~_ - s ~ compehSon
~~g sfioppmgnext
" ~`-' door to a
--~--'_-
~ - metlands,
~-' ' ~ above,andtAe
ma11 as
~ ^~v-," women's
"'^tr pnson, lef:.
LeRenS trmeCSMgantlBrt~tSTy4e~
lengmg New Uroanism stcateg~es. ihe~r pro-
posal ]ooked back w the mall s suburban
ong~ns, w~ffi cul de sacs and n~zaggmg
streets, ro creare a"~ifesryle park" of shops
Ilie di~erscy of design amona the wm-
ners may stem from confusmg stansncs on
the healffi of the Amencan matl In :960
rhere were 3,000 shoppmg centers m the
Lnrted States, w~th four square feet of reCml
space per shopper I'oday [here are nearly
40,000 shoppu~g centers m[M nahon, wah 19
square fee[ of snace per shopper Houever,
accordmg to the booA ^Greyf~e7ds Into Gold-
fields Dead Malls Become Livmn Ne~gh-
borhoods,^ publsshetl by r5e Con~ess for
the hew L'r6amsm m 200i, neazly one-flfLS
of Amenca's rea onal malls, wh.ch average
about ~00,000 square feet are d}~ng or de-
cLnm~ Meanwhile, lazger malls a~eragmg
abou[ 9C00~~ square feet oRen [a~,e ihe~r
place
The dupanty su~ests a kmd of retail
sonal Darwimsm to avoid tlea[h, malls
must contmually aec biaaer, admng movie
[hearers and ott~er amemt es m ai eEfort to
outpare theiY compenmrs ThaPS why
smatler reg~onal malls are o:ten me ones eo
go wtvle behemoths l~Lce the :~Sazl oi 4mer-
ica m Bloomme on, bLnn, st.ll flour~sh
But Teffrey [naba, a 7uror and one of the
authors wiN Rem Koolhaas and others of
LSe ' Harvard Des>>n Gmde m Shopqm„
said "My t~me ffiere s a plan ID 7us[ e~-
hance and eYOand thac s the smell of Ceath
You m~3ht add 12 years of hfe Sut [hat
shauldn t be ~aad enough for ou~ pm[es-
sion ° To survrve m the 7ong mn ~Ir Inaba
sa~d, malls need to embrace rem~ennon
What the irve wmmng Ges~s shared u as
an acknowled~ment tha[ the t}pical "dumo-
bell' malt shape vnth four or more bin box
anchor ter.ants connected by sma]ler retail
shaos, is becommg obsolete
The De ange W-SUero plan for Valley Pia-
za for exan4~e, eLmmated anchor ieuants
wfuch aze less profitable on a per-sqcare-
foot basu than smallec siores The plan also
ehr~mateo duphcat~on of retail types, even
though dunucanon nzd bee^ a pwneenng
asnect of Valley Plaza °OUr idea was ffiat
L4e on:y way to undo it was m pmpose an
e~en more neu[ral and s~mole diagram"
Str De Angelis sa~d
The~r prooosal is a sharo comrast ro uSe
acmal retlevelopmznt plan oem~ offered for
the plaza by the J H Snyder development
compan} of Los ~ingeles, wnich allocates
S70 miLlwn m add more ihan 3DO,W0 squaze
feet of spac= 'IPS a hodgenodge of old
bu~ldm~s, „Sr Sn}der sa~d o1 :he ma1L Tne
develoner aclmowled~ed ihat housmg and
other amenmes ou~nt ta be mcluded m
fumre shoppmg ceniers although rhe} are
not planned tor bffiIe~ Plaza
14r De dn~eLs hooes ms proposal can at
1eas~ ~;luence thmkmg about how fumre
mal;s are bu~It The real problem with
dead malls s~'[ that [hey re dpng, he sazd
"IYS [hat they re cemg built' ~
~[.r r' '~
xt;1- _~~ ~"°-g"'~=""`__ - - - -- - - - -_ _ =_ _ ~---~-.~,, ~-:
'~-~ -"' - ~ ~= -
;r _ .~~.~~-`'_ _. _ - ~ ._
~'~~~~-~ `~/~~~ ~ ~~~.~ ~~~.~.~~
I'ecle~ntecl~eparlment SCo+'e.s
Pets 7'licit Gr-ec~ter Eft'ieie~te~,
Coni~elaience Trt~mp Cterks
By Siar,~ti Bitancn
0 TLRRY Limd;ren ~ chs,i m, [h~~
~ ~obots d~dn t pan out,
1'lie he,~d ut I'~~dr~.it~~d Dep,ut-
mrnf Stoioti (ne had envis~oned thc
thiev Nut hr;h, muCiott sensit~ve
hnmanmci~ ,is ;~eetoia ~it Che ~ompxm s ~e-
v.imprd sto~es Costm; [ouhlily S2U,i100
ap~ece Ihey ~veie suppused to say thm;s h~.e
"Hcllo" and "See you later" to cusiomCis ~t
,~[acy s, F~ciYs, La~dius and othe~ 6ede~atcd
stoies But ti~e tliones h~id too many km},s,
6e~~omm; the u~st ot seveial c~su~lCies ot a
5.'~i millwo Eedeiated plan, dubbed 'Pein-
veni." to mal,e ~ts dep~utment stores more
conventent, usei-fr~endly and uutomated
TUe new icleas seecn to h~ve ane thing m
comman RaUier than relym; on a live s=Ues
rlei h to chnch a customer sale, they ti y to wm
ooei consameis ~vith amamttes like sott stded
shopum; ca;ts, be~ei~ge vei~din, m~rhines
and ~ lect~omc sc.inneis that ieHect the letest
sales and mat~dotvns
Tt~at cuuld mean b~, savmqs foi the scoees
m[he Ion; tetm ,~nd i chan;e fiom the days
ivhen customei coddli~g by knowledeeabte
s~tlespeonla ditfeient~ated department stores
hom their In~ver-pnced compeuto~ s Once sm-
a'e destm~hon meecas Foi clothmg, appli
~inces and toys, department stoies hnve cedeci
ni erious ai~rket share to rheapei, iumbie~ tor-
,iats >uct~ as ~9iscouilteis iTarg~~t CoiP ) and
;aec~al[y shops (.1Ue~cromb~e & Fitch Co )
B~e ohams lihe Pe[lei ated accowrt for ~ust ll~~
o[ the natimYS ~etflil sales, do~vn tiom about
_'0'~ m t~~;, ~icroidm; tu tlie VPD ~tunp On
`,4aq ~tieet, the deau tmenl slore sectm hov
~~is at tlte bnttont ot Che ~et.iil perl.m~
adei ~oi[h companics 5uch as Feder ~
,itad SaLs Inc and ~Wy Dupa~tment
Sto~es Co pastin; month att~r m~nth ~
„t disappomhn, ,ales
Pede~ute~ h~~aan its mo5t recent
~~ut ~zt soul scaich~~~; th~ec ycaia
:o when mant n[hei ~rt,ui ~ectntti,
-nn ,ium de~~l~~i~, to t~ist-tuod mei-
~„u~h mc~c h~ny ie es,~lu.ihnq thai
~Ilu,~, m~~ihud, lun dun t nerd .t
r'~r~isr' {unt i~ Ynqr' lit, ('nttmui ,i
~ r~-, t
4 ~ ~Y'~.IL ~' - ~ ~ L~~ ~ ~ -
I)FPan,TMi=ni7 CYnoc
~ %,~ ` ~y/~'
u
Don't Expect `May I Help You~'
Continued From Pnqe B(
salesperson to sell you a car when pou c~in
buy one on eBay," says Fedeiated V~ce
Ct~airman Tom Cole "The store has a bur
den of changmg,' he adds "The feehng
was, ~f we don't change, we'll dte '
Federated recrmted ~ts best buyeis,
sto~e mana,eis and v~ce presidents to
come up with new ideas Usmg stop-
wafches, customer surveys and other
fact-fmdmg taols, they h~t the road, laok-
mg not anly at their own stores, but at
everythmg from hot pew video arcades
to Las Vegas's Forum Shops
They were surprised at what they
learned Upscale shoppers-not ~ust bar-
gam-hunteis-craved the convemence of
dence in "Ime busteis"-anythmg th~it
might speed customecs thraugh the store,
thus reducm, the munberof hi¢nan mterac
hons ieywied to make a sale
Federated is now teshng holster sryle
checkout dences that can be [oted on the
hips of roummg attendtnts ~Ir Cole ee-
pects Federated and other department
srores ro"gmge~ly" move [o some torm
aF self checkout m hva to tliree yeais
Some af the new beils and whistles
grease putchases m subtler ways Vend-
mg muchmes, once unthml.able m a do-
partment store conteet, may dissuade
thirsty customers from leav~n; the staie-
and takmg theu wallets elsewhere Sleek
customer-contmtled TV momtois mahe
shoppeis less ea;er to ;et back home to
theu own sets Soft-suled shoppmg carts
permit customers to tote numerous
goods, sparm; the need for a salesperson
to "hold" var~ous items
The retailer's latest imhahves are be-
mg mtroduced one market at a Gme, to
permit the company to eramme the~r
strengths 2nd weaknesses m microcosm-
and mana,e [he results accordmgly
One of the bi;gest lessons came at a
Rich's-b(acy's at [he Town Cen[er mall m
Atlanta, ~vhere some veteran salesderhs
had been reass~;ned to worh at a bank of
new, grocery-style chechout stands
Store devotees complamed that their old
haunt no lon;er felt 1~6e a department
store Federated pertormed a6ou[ 100
"customer rescue5." telephonmg uate
shoppeis to erplam the changes and m-
vite them back Eventually, customers
got used to the chan;e
One 6~t of technolo;y has ote~i enc[ed
after fa~hng to eain rts keep Internet
wosks were mtended to connect with young
mnsiuners But when Federated d~scov-
ered that its o~~m empioyees were smfm;
the Web more than the shoppers, it decided
to remove the computers Cieahve stare
managets have ati eady salva;ed the metal-
and-wood In[ernet stahons as d~splays foi
f~ist-selhn; imputse purchases such as cos-
metics I.its and ~eweh y"You vet himibled
so otten hy mts[akes," says ~t~ Cote, bu[ he
remmns undaim[ed "You've got to push [or-
waid ~md say, `OIC, what's neet'' "
Customers were
unhappy about
jammed aisles and
confusing prices.
fast, m-and-out shoppmg Customers no
lon;er complamed so much a6out short-
ages of sales help, but they were un-
happy about 7ammed aisles and canfus-
mg sales and prices
Nearly a quarter of the respondents m
one Federated poll said they vtsited de-
pdrtment stores less than they used to
because of the onerous, pay-as-you-go
checkout pracess "The ptoblem ~sn't
that no one is m our stores," says ~Ir
Lundgren, who assumed the role of chief
eeecutive m Fe6ruary "Ne have plenty
of traffic The key ~s hav~ng the right
product at the r~ght puce pomt m an
env~ronment thaPs different and easy."
rederated eeecuhves say they got a heG
ter feel for chan~nng shopper needs m 2001,
when the mmpany opened am m~ova4ve
La7m us srore m Colwnbus, Ohio 4Vith auch
leatmes as centrally located checkouts,
plasma-scieen TVs, pncechecl. s[at~om
.~nd even a chitdc~i e center, the atoi e was a
Iocal hrt It helped ~ve the mmpany conto-