Retail spending hints return of confidence

There’s only one thing that upset Kevin Keenan, general manager of Westfarms Mall, about the recent holiday shopping season: no snow.

Well, not professionally it didn’t. After all, warm weather from Thanksgiving on means lots of people shopping. It’s just that he’s a skier and wants to get those golf clubs out of his car.

Snowflakes aside, as Keenan put it in the midst of the post-Christmas rush, “It’s been a good year all year.” Because Westfarms is owned by Taubman, a publicly traded company, he couldn’t go on the record with how December was shaping up in sales until official figures were released, but he did offer by way of generalities: “The National Retail Federation predicted 3 percent growth in holiday sales. I think we’re going to do better than that. I’m an eternal optimist.”

Keenan is also an eternal employee of Westfarms. He has been there since before its grand opening in October 1974. “It’s my 38th holiday season,” said Keenan, a West Hartford native who has worked his way up through the ranks.

He’s quick to point out he’s not an economist but with more than 37 years under his belt at Westfarms, Keenan does have an opinion about why the mall did so well this holiday season. “I can only base it off traffic at the mall and sales but I think consumer confidence is way back. People were spending money,” he said.

One of the successes of the season was the opening of a temporary Christmas Tree Shops Express at the site of the Borders Bookstore that closed suddenly when the chain went bankrupt. Most retailers won’t build a new store location during the third quarter for obvious reasons.

Christmas Tree Shops came calling at the right time. “[They] did phenomenal business,” said Keenan. “The last thing you want (as a mall operator) up in front of a store is a barricade during the holidays.”

It’s a mystery to Keenan but the strongest performer during the holiday season was jewelry. In fact, the eight jewelry stores in Westfarms have done well throughout the year, he added. Electronics stores like Apple also did well.

Keenan won’t identify which stores did better than others – no retail landlord would – but he did identify one weak segment: winter outerwear.

Temperatures really never dipped below freezing until the week after New Year’s. Retailers had to start offering outerwear at deep discounts before it would move off the shelves in apparently the only weakness at the mall.

Looking ahead, Keenan sees continued strong performance for the shopping center that straddles the West Hartford/Farmington line. He said several new stores would be opening in 2012 and 2013 with expectations that some will be unique to the Greater Hartford market. Average occupancy at the mall will also stay in the high 90th percentage.

“We’ll continue to have an exceptional assortment for customers. We’ve worked very hard to make sure the retailers are appropriate for the market. We’re optimistic about what we can offer the customer in the market,” he said.

One thing the mall won’t be doing is downgrading its upscale image anytime soon. Keenan said, “At the end of the day, it’s all about the merchants. You’re not going to see a water park or amusement park at Westfarms.”

Target expands fresh food sales

The 12 Target stores in Greater Hartford and New Haven now offer fresh produce, fresh packaged meat and pre-packaged baked goods. In time for the recent holidays, the offerings included spiral cut hams, frozen turkeys, cranberries, sweet potatoes, asparagus, pomegranates, holiday cookies and pies. 

Target introduced the expanded fresh food layout in response to research and feedback from shoppers that showed they wanted a fresh food selection in the convenience of their local store. Nationwide, nearly 900 Target stores now offer fresh foods.

Beyond the grocery aisles, most of Target’s expanded food layout stores also feature updates in other areas of the store to further enhance the shopping experience. In the beauty aisles, guests will experience a more visual environment, making it easier to browse a mix of everyday essentials and exclusive brands. The home department offers easier navigation with wider aisles and lower product displays. The shoe department is now more comfortable with additional seating and mirrors, and the baby department is easier to shop with broader visibility between baby gear, supplies and apparel.

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Home store opening

Parmida Home will hold a grand opening of its home lifestyle store in the Evergreen Walk Shopping Center in South Windsor in early February. This will be the 11th store nationwide for the Texas-based store that is a boutique focusing on upscale home living and entertaining merchandise. The store anticipates hiring five or more local staff from off state unemployment rolls. It said in a release that throughout the country it has a business practice of working with state unemployment agencies for hiring.