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BIGGEST EVER!

More than 36,000 registrants at world’s largest retail real estate convention

If the Leasing Mall at the Spring Convention in Las Vegas seemed a busier place than usual this year (hardly imaginable after last year), it’s little wonder. A record number of professionals registered this year.

To be exact, 36,300 registered for this, the 47th annual Spring Convention, ICSC’s biggest ever. This is an increase of about 13 percent over last year’s 32,000.

“We come to learn, to exchange, to swap, to see and to assure ourselves and others that we’re in a viable business,” said John M. Ingram, an ICSC past chairman and vice chairman of The Mills Corp., as the show got going.

This year’s theme was “A Legacy of Excellence,” a focus on the many visions that created the various formats that comprise today’s industry.

ICSC figures that about 25 percent of the deals landlords make with retailers each year are initiated or sealed at the Spring Convention. An estimated 26,000 people went through the Leasing Mall each day of the convention, doing business with some of the 850 companies that were housed in 512 booths.

“It’s a relationship business, and this is a great way to maintain relationships,” said David J. Contis, CLS, the COO of The Macerich Co.

The growth in attendance and the increased importance of the Leasing Mall have been nearly a half century in the making. The first Spring Convention took place in 1957 at the Palmer House hotel in Chicago and drew about 100 retail real estate professionals.

This year there was plenty of activity away from the Convention Center too, with landlords, banks and other firms putting on lavish parties for clients. The Rouse Co. and Neiman Marcus hosted a fashion show by hot young designer Zac Posen at Fashion Show mall, on the Strip (page 52).

Next year’s event will be held May 22–25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Will this year’s record be broken then?