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Lemon aid for victims

A small fund-raising idea carried out by a diminutive entrepreneur and his family is aiding the Katrina relief effort. Moved by images of the storm’s destruction in the Gulf Coast region, Cameron Frueh, 4, began raising funds by selling lemonade to passersby in front of his home in Hyde Park, Ohio. He has raised $4,136 so far, said his father, Douglas Frueh, creative director of Cincinnati-based Marketing Developments, an urban planning consulting firm and ICSC member. The refreshment stand, dubbed Lemon Aid, hails passersby with balloons but sets no prices for the drink. Instead, customers give what they can toward the effort. Some have handed over $100 bills for a cup of lemonade, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. In the spirit of benefiting evacuees from New Orleans, Cameron and his siblings — Grania, 16, Isabella, 14, and Clayton, 2 — and cousin Taylour McMullen, 6, have donned Mardi Gras beads and masks while peddling drinks.

 

ICSC steps up ...

On behalf of FEMA, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, ICSC organized an effort to identify and catalog empty shopping center and retail space in storm-damaged areas that could be used to house the victims of the storm. FEMA estimated that more than 500,000 people would need housing before it was all over. ICSC has worked with the Department of Homeland Security on several projects since the agency was established just after the Sept. 11 attacks. “The fact that [the government] has come to rely upon ICSC for assistance in the time of a crisis is a testament to the strength of our organization and our industry,” said Michael P. Kercheval, ICSC’s president and CEO. The American Red Cross, which has received help from ICSC and its members during past disasters, has also contacted ICSC about coordinating industry relief efforts. During September, ICSC’s Educational Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, accepted and matched cash contributions to the American Red Cross. All tax-deductible donations went directly to the relief effort. To donate to the ICSC Hurricane Katrina Fund, visit www.icsc.org. Kercheval says ICSC has more than 5,000 members in the affected states. To facilitate communications, ICSC also created a database with contact information for members in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

 

... and so does Wal-Mart

Eighty-nine of Wal-Mart’s stores sustained damage from Hurricane Katrina. Of those, nine incurred major damage. CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. described a store in Pax Christiana, La., that was leveled by Katrina’s winds. “All that’s left is half of a wall and the safe,” he said. With more than 15,000 associates affected, Wal-Mart is offering displaced employees three day’s pay, $1,000 and a job in a different Wal-Mart store, Scott said. About 10 displaced associates walk across the street every day from Houston’s Astrodome to new jobs at a Wal-Mart and a Sam’s Club, Scott said. Wal-Mart has donated $20 million so far to relief efforts. The retailer’s founding family, the Waltons, have donated an additional $15 million.

Unlucky timing

When Katrina struck, the ink was barely dry on Belk’s deal to buy 22 Proffitt’s stores and 25 McRae’s stores in the Southeast. Now the Charlotte, N.C.-based chain must shoulder major renovation expenses for at least 19 of those stores. One store, in Biloxi, Miss., was completely destroyed, the company says. Belk, which operates about 275 units, agreed to pay Saks Inc. $622 million for the stores in May. In another case of bad timing, Greensboro, N.C.-based Fresh Markets, which operates about 50 stores in the South and Midwest, opened its first Louisiana store in Mandeville just days before Katrina’s landfall. The damaged store is now closed indefinitely, the company says.

 

 

Selling shut-eye

Most retailers want to keep shoppers awake in their stores, but not MinneNAPolis, a new tenant at Mall of America, outside Minneapolis. The concept charges 70 cents a minute for some shut-eye in one of six rooms that use such themes as Tropical Isle and Deep Space. The store also sells high-end sleep accessories such as neck pillows. There is no risk of hanky-panky, because only one person is allowed in at a time, says Steev RamsDell, who founded the concept’s parent company, Boca Raton, Fla.-based PowerNap Sleep Centers.

 

Nurturing new leaders

Developers are growing their own new executives through internship and cultivation programs. Developers Diversified Realty Corp. says its six-year-old Management Training Program, which targets recent college grads, is an unqualified success. Alums of the company’s 18-month program now hold titles ranging from development director in charge of expansions and redevelopments to director of leasing for Caribbean Properties. Meanwhile, General Growth Properties is getting its recruits at an even younger age through the GGP Prodigies internship program, which gives students college credit outside the classroom. General Growth has hired 48 of the 441 interns that have participated since the program’s inception in 2001.

 

Magic makeover

Thirty Disney Stores in North America will convert to a new prototype called “The Mickey” during the next year. The first store to reflect the new design is the 5,000-square-foot unit at Westfield Trumbull (Conn.) Mall. Other malls scheduled to get Mickey makeovers include Mall of America, in Minneapolis; West Edmonton Mall, in Edmonton, Alberta; Orland Square, in Orland Park, Ill.; Northridge (Calif.) Fashion Center; Staten Island (N.Y.) Mall; and Danbury (Conn.) Fair. St. Louis-based Kiku Obata Co. served as designer of the new concept.

 

United States of Uniqlo

Uniqlo, which some say is Japan’s answer to Gap because of its trendy, low-priced casual apparel, arrived in the U.S. in August. The Tokyo-based retailer seems to have taken Gap’s global expansion example to heart, with new stores opening in London, Shanghai and South Korea over the past few years. The chain, which operates 670 stores in Japan, opened three stores in New Jersey malls. To create a buzz, the chain also opened a temporary “pop up” store in New York City’s SoHo district for the month of September.

 

Mysterious marketing

Taubman Centers used “guerrilla” marketing tactics to promote its Northlake Mall, in Charlotte, N.C. Around town the Web address www.makeroom91505.com appeared on randomly distributed T-shirts, emery boards and nail salons — and even on baby wipes at day-care centers. The 200,000 teasers were meant to remind Charlotte residents to make room in their lives and closets for the 1.1 million-square-foot center, which at press time was scheduled for a Sept. 15 opening. The Web address provides a sneak peek at the center’s stores and grand-opening events.

 

Vicious cycle

Many of Wal-Mart’s customers live paycheck to paycheck. And now that gasoline prices are eating away at those paychecks, sales at Wal-Mart’s stores are developing a consistent monthly pattern, CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. said at an investor conference in Boston. “We’re seeing more differentiation between the first and the last of the month,” he said. “When they have money in their pockets, they buy things they don’t have to have, like DVDs,” said Scott. “When you hit the 15th and the pay cycle kicks in, it goes up and then … slows, slows,” he said. Consumables still sell at the end of the month, but apparel, electronics, jewelry and other frills stay on the shelves, according to Scott. “It’s growing more dramatic.”

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