Region’s shopping malls brace for competition

Northern Colorado?s two regional shopping malls are gearing up to stay competitive when two big new shopping opportunities come on line in the region in 2005 in the form of lifestyle centers planned for Loveland and Fort Collins.
The Greeley Mall is just finishing redevelopment efforts that began in 2002. Foothills Mall in Fort Collins, meanwhile, is considering renovation and expansion options.
But mall and industry officials say these redos have more to do with the cyclical nature of enclosed shopping center development than announcements by developers that Northern Colorado could soon be home to two lifestyle centers, defined as upscale open-air shopping venues.
?It?s an industry kind of norm to look at your center and ask, ?What?s working right and what can we improve?? said Cynthia Eichler, Foothills Mall general manager.
The industry average for this cycle of scrutiny and resulting facility updates is about seven to 10 years, said Patrice Duker, manager of media relations for the International Council of Shopping Centers. Some developers update their mall properties sooner, some later, Duker said. ?It?s really making sure you know your market.?

Different shopping experiences
Duker said new lifestyle centers don?t necessarily have a dramatic effect on existing mall properties because the two types of centers offer different shopping venues and people go to them for different reasons.
Northern Colorado retailers will have the opportunity to experience the effects of lifestyle centers firsthand. Construction of infrastructure for the 665,000-square-foot Shops at Centerra in east Loveland is underway. Developer Poag & McEwen has said the lifestyle center could open by August 2005. Meanwhile, developer Bayer Properties is pursuing construction of a 450,000-square-foot lifestyle center dubbed The Summit in Fort Collins on East Harmony Road.
Indoor shopping centers such as the malls in Fort Collins and Greeley already face a variety of pressures. Competition from e-commerce, catalogue sales and an onslaught of discounters and big box retailers has changed the face of retailing.
In the midst of all that, however, malls nationwide have tended to fare well, Duker said. Occupancy rates across the country average about 92 percent, according to the ICSC, and sales are inching up. Annual dollar-sales-per-square-foot nationwide grew in the past year from $341 in 2002 to $345 in 2003.
?Not a tremendous increase, but they?re still up,? Duker said.
Shopping patterns have held steady, according to ICSC statistics. Consumers visit the traditional enclosed shopping center about three times a month and spend about 74 minutes per visit, Duker said.
The cyclical renovation and redesign efforts that indoor shopping centers regularly undergo are typically aimed at addressing changing design trends and consumer tastes.

Foothills still evaluating changes
Foothills Mall and its new owners, General Growth Properties, are still evaluating potential redevelopment plans, Eichler said. ?We?re still working on it. We?ve just passed the 120-day mark for ownership with General Growth.?
In Greeley, meanwhile, a facelift with a $10 million-plus price tag has shoppers commenting that the Greeley Mall looks like new again.
?We?ve had a tremendous response,? said Lain Adams, senior manager of property management for the mall?s owner, California-based Macerich Co. ?A lot of people say it looks like a brand new mall.?
The opening in mid-April of a 12-screen movie theater at the Greeley Mall capped redevelopment efforts that began in 2002.
Adams said renewal work at the mall came in response to an opportunity. ?It was the right time for us to provide these services,? he said.
?We got the Montgomery Wards building back, so we razed it and looked at what it was that we could add that would make the Greeley Mall even stronger going into the future.?
The Greeley Mall was originally built in 1970 and represents Northern Colorado?s first enclosed shopping center.
Adams said the recent redevelopment included completely changing the mall?s interior environment. New tile floors, improved lighting and new skylights, the addition of an indoor play area and food court with a fireplace and seating for 150 have dramatically updated the mall?s appearance, Adams said.
The mall renovation also includes the addition of new restaurants and outdoor shopping, he said. The project, which should be largely complete in May, brings the mall?s total indoor area to 570,000 square feet.
Adams said bringing the new state-of-the-art theater to the mall should attract people who perhaps hadn?t visited the center before or who may have been leaving town to attend movies.
?It adds a component of excitement,? he said. ?For years, if Greeley residents wanted to see a movie in a state-of-the-art theater, they were forced to drive down to Loveland. Now we can give them that same experience and actually even better because it?s a brand new theater and it?s in Greeley.?
Changes at the Greeley Mall reflect the evolution of enclosed shopping centers nationwide. Duker said as malls have moved to rejuvenate and reinvent themselves, entertainment has increasingly become an element of that.
Movie theaters, theme restaurants, play areas, carousels and skating rinks are more and more in evidence in these centers.
The mall is no longer just a place to shop for apparel, Duker said. ?Today, a family of four can go and each person can do something different at the enclosed mall.?

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