When it comes to closings or just plain not opening because of weather, local shopping malls general managers are a lot like school superintendents – they talk among themselves before making their decisions.
Yet, unlike school systems and their all-powerful superintendents, mall management can’t force their major anchor stores to close. The anchor stores could stay open regardless of what the mall management decides – but it’s not likely to happen.
Kevin Keenan, general manager of Westfarms Mall, said, “They’re pretty independent of the mall. They could stay open, but how do you communicate to consumers you are open when the mall is closed? That complicates things.” Keenan, who has been at Westfarms for more than 30 years, said he can’t recall one of the anchor stores staying open when the mall was closed due to inclement weather.
Pam Wiles, director of marketing at Westfield Meriden mall, said the general managers of Westfield’s three malls in Connecticut (Meriden, Milford and Trumbull) will talk before making a closing or late-opening decision.
During the recent storm that dumped up to 24 inches of snow in 24 hours, the Westfield malls opened two hours late.
One issue is safety. Some people would probably shop regardless of conditions. But Wiles said if the mall can’t guarantee patrons’ safety either getting to or on mall property, the mall will close. “If we can’t do that, we don’t have a right to open,” she said.
Keenan said another factor to be weighed is the question of mall workers being able to get to and from work. At any one time, more than 1,000 people are usually working at Westfarms, which straddles the West Hartford and Farmington town lines.
He emphasized that shopping centers are businesses and they can’t close at the first sign of snow. “It is Connecticut and snow is a way of life. We try not to overreact to it,” Keenan said. “We prepare for the worst but we can’t overreact.”
About the only businesses that really feel the pinch during mall closings are the restaurants, Keenan said. People looking to buy a coat at Nordstrom’s will sit out the weather before making a purchase but the restaurants can’t recover lost business from mall employees, who are a large part of their customer base.
When posed the question about closings at Stew Leonard’s, Les Slater, director of support operations in Norwalk, said the store has never closed due to inclement weather since its opening in 1969.
“We have many team members who live close to each of our stores and there is always a group of people who can make it in despite the weather to open for business. Plus, we have many team members here around the clock working in our bakery and catering departments to prepare all of our freshly made food,” he said in an e-mail, speculating that the chain would only close if there was an order by the government to stay off the roads.
That did happen in 1978 when then-Gov. Ella T. Grasso closed state highways for three days during a massive blizzard that swamped the state.
Not surprisingly, Stew Leonard’s does see a run on the basics when foul weather is predicted, which offsets revenue lost during inclement weather. “Stew Leonard’s sees a significant bump in sales the day before any storm is predicted to hit; the basics like bread, milk, eggs, batteries and snow shovels are always the first to fly off the shelves,” he said.
Super Bowl Charity Auction
Speaking of Stew Leonard’s, Stew Leonard III Children’s Charities will put up for auction a travel package to next month’s Super Bowl XLV. Got to eBay.com and search for item 290524669366. In addition to two tickets (location TBA), the auction will include a three-night stay at Westin Park Central (check in Feb. 5 and check out Feb. 8), courtesy of friends of the Leonard family, as well as a $1,000 airfare credit courtesy of Pepsi.
Proceeds from the auction will be used for children’s programs throughout the country teaching water safety awareness and education. Super Bowl XLV will be played on Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
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Panel To Air Space Issue
The Connecticut International Council of Shopping Centers’ Next Generation Planning Committee will hold its winter program and reception on Feb. 16 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant, 155 Temple St., New Haven.
A panel discussion will be held on integrating medical office and retail space and what the short term solution is vs. long term trends. More information is available by contacting Meghan Donovan at medonovan@icsc.org.
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iGrill Wins CES Honor
iGrill, a product of Canton based iDevices that was featured in this column two weeks ago for its trip to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, walked away with a major award from the show.
iGrill, the world’s first wireless cooking thermometer for iPod touch, iPhone and iPad via a long-range Bluetooth and App-enabled connection, won the 6th annual Bluetooth SIG Best of CES Awards for best new product.Â
iGrill turns your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad into your own personal sous-chef, enabling you to multitask between your grill or oven and guests with the peace of mind that your food is perfectly cooked, at target temperature and safe for consumption.
