LIFTOFF: GLENDALE MALL A LAUNCHING POINT FOR ENTERTAINMENT-THEME RETAILERS.Byline: Eric Wahlgren Daily News Staff Writer If it sells in Glendale, then it's gotta sell in Peoria. Or that's the logic, anyway. Before Disney Store Inc. opened hundreds of outlets across the country, it launched its first store at the Glendale Galleria The Glendale Galleria is a large 3 story regional shopping mall located in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. It is the second largest mall in Los Angeles County. It is located in Downtown Glendale. a decade ago. When a company linked to public television considered getting into the retail biz in 1994, it too premiered at the Galleria. The result? The KCET KCET Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo (Japan) KCET Kamaraj College of Engineering and Technology Store of Knowledge, now a string of 50 shops across America. This year alone, three retailers have picked the rambling, red-brick Galleria as the place to test-market new ventures: ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network : The Store, a Dr. Seuss Noun 1. Dr. Seuss - United States writer of children's books (1904-1991) Geisel, Theodor Seuss Geisel boutique and The Knuckleheads Store, a Three Stooges Three Stooges U.S. comedy team. It was originally formed as a vaudeville team in 1923 by brothers Moe and Shemp Howard (1897–1975, 1900–55), who performed with “Ted Healy and His Stooges. memorabilia store that opened this weekend. The rather ordinary mall has developed a rather extraordinary reputation as a launching pad for entertainment industry cross-merchandising outlets. No matter that this 34-1/2-acre, 21-year-old suburban center doesn't have the cachet cachet /ca·chet/ (ka-sha´) a disk-shaped wafer or capsule enclosing a dose of medicine. ca·chet n. An edible wafer capsule used for enclosing an unpleasant-tasting drug. of the ultra-upscale South Coast Plaza South Coast Plaza is an upscale shopping mall in Costa Mesa, California, USA, in Orange County, and one of the most notable shopping centers in the United States. In 2004, Women's Wear Daily in Costa Mesa Costa Mesa (kŏs`tə mā`sə), city (1990 pop. 96,357), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific south of Santa Ana; inc. 1953. It is a transportation, residential, and light industrial center. or a magnet effect on urban scene-sters like the modish Beverly Center The Beverly Center is a shopping center in Los Angeles, California, United States. Description The Beverly Center is a monolithic eight-story structure located at the edge of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, California, between La Cienega and San Vicente boulevards. in West Los Angeles
The Galleria has something else, something better, say marketing wizards. To put it simply, the Galleria has great shoppers. Compared with other area malls, the Galleria draws the widest ethnic and socioeconomic mix of shoppers, these retailers say, enabling them to study just how well a Cat in the Hat T-shirt, let's say, might go over in Anywhere, U.S.A. ``You find a range of shoppers at the Galleria that you don't find at any other shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into ,'' said Ed Kelloff, real estate manager for Esprit de Corp, the San Francisco-based clothing retailer that opened the Dr. Seuss shop at the mall earlier this month. ``If you choose the Stanford (Shopping Center in Palo Alto), you usually get just the more affluent customer,'' Kelloff said. ``Glendale gets that, but you also get a more middle-of-the-road, average-income customer. That means we get a better read of who is that Dr. Seuss customer.'' Located near where the Golden State and Ventura freeways cross, the Galleria draws 22 million shoppers a year from suburban Pasadena to urban East Los Angeles East Los Angeles, uninc. city (1990 pop. 126,379), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles, in an industrial area. It has a large Mexican-American population. There is a performing arts center and a cultural center. A junior college is there. to more rural Santa Clarita. On any given day, the mainly two-story mall is abuzz with customers speaking a cornucopia cornucopia (kôr'ny  kō`pēə), in Greek mythology, magnificent horn that filled itself with whatever meat or drink its owner requested. of foreign languages, including Spanish, Tagalog,
Mandarin and Armenian.
According to mall estimates, 56 percent of its customers are white, 23 percent are Latino, 18 percent are Asian-American and 3 percent are African-American - statistics that reflect the increasing diversity of America. The typical Galleria shopper lives in a household with an annual income of $60,000. ``The Glendale Galleria is just a really good test market,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles County. ``It sort of hits a cross section of all the demographics. If the store works in Glendale, retailers figure they can pretty much plunk plunk also plonk v. plunked also plonked, plunk·ing also plonk·ing, plunks also plonks v.tr. 1. it down in an upscale mall or they can plunk it down in a more popular mall.'' Kyser offers one other, more practical reason that the Galleria has emerged as the incubator of choice for many entertainment-themed retailers: location. KCET's studio is on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, not far from the first Store of Knowledge. The Walt Disney Co., which owns both The Disney Store Inc. and ESPN: The Store, is based in Burbank, just up the Ventura Freeway. Closer still is Comedy III Productions, which opened The Knuckleheads Store, featuring the Three Stooges and other merchandise. That company is in Glendale. ``These stores are in the retailer's back yard,'' Kyser said. ``They can hit them frequently. They can go in on their lunch hour and watch customer traffic patterns.'' Speaking for both The Disney Store and ESPN: The Store, a Disney spokeswoman said the company selected the Galleria mainly because the mall is minutes away from the entertainment giant's home base. ``The proximity makes it very attractive to manage and refine the business,'' Sondra Haley said. Although Haley would not reveal sales figures for The Disney Store, she said the outlet has exceeded expectations for the Glendale location - a performance that has influenced the chain's growth to 649 stores worldwide. Haley also cited a strong relationship with the mall's developer, Orange County-based Donahue Schriber, as another reason for Disney choosing Glendale. Proximity to headquarters was a big factor in deciding to lease the Galleria space, said Doreen Imperial, director of consumer product development and retail sales for Comedy III Productions. But also important was finding a shopping center where customers weren't made self-conscious by brigades of hipper-than-thou urbanites or loads of stores with trendy Italian names. ``To be honest, we weren't looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. the prestige factor of a Beverly Center,'' Imperial said. ``Our clientele is mainstream America. We didn't want to go to a mall that is going to scare our real customer away. We were looking for a mall that the general public would be comfortable with.'' That logic jibes with the comments of the Galleria faithful. Rafael Mendez, for one, is very comfortable at the mall. The 21-year-old student from Highland Park is a frequent Galleria shopper and says it compares favorably to the swankier Beverly Center. ``I feel a lot more comfortable with the crowd,'' Mendez said of the Galleria. ``Everybody looks normal.'' But even though it may not have all the panache of the area's ritzier malls, it's no slouch slouch v. slouched, slouch·ing, slouch·es v.intr. 1. To sit, stand, or walk with an awkward, drooping, excessively relaxed posture. 2. To droop or hang carelessly, as a hat. v. in the sales department. The Galleria averages $405 in sales per square foot, according to figures compiled by the mall, putting it third in gross sales Gross Sales A measure of overall sales that isn't adjusted for customer discounts or returns, calculated simply by adding all sales invoices, and not including operating expenses, cost of goods sold, payment of taxes, or any other charge. volume among malls in Southern California. No doubt about it, being known as a springboard for entertainment industry retailers has been a boon for the Galleria. ``We have a lot of sales activity and frequent media attention,'' said Deborah Blackford, the Galleria's marketing director. The mall's popularity comes as Glendale's downtown is booming and the city continues to attract new media and entertainment companies. DreamWorks SKG SKG Stichting Kwaliteit Gevelbouw (Dutch) SKG Spielberg, Katzenberg,and Geffen (DreamWorks Studios) SKG Thessaloniki, Greece - Thessaloniki (Airport Code) SKG Smith and Kraus Global is building an animation complex in the city, while KABC-TV (Channel 7) recently announced plans to move to Glendale from Hollywood. Blackford, however, remained tight-lipped tight·lipped also tight-lipped adj. 1. Having the lips pressed together. 2. Loath to speak; close-mouthed. See Synonyms at silent. about whether still more entertainment companies have plans to give retail a try at the mall. ``There's nothing I can say before any deal is signed,'' she said. TESTING THE GALLERIA WATERS STORE: The Disney Store CONCEPT: All things Disney, from Mickey Mouse ears to Little Mermaid beach chairs to Disneyland tickets. FACTOID fac·toid n. 1. A piece of unverified or inaccurate information that is presented in the press as factual, often as part of a publicity effort, and that is then accepted as true because of frequent repetition: : The first entertainment-themed retail store to go big. There are now hundreds of Disney Stores across the globe. STORE: ESPN: The Store CONCEPT: Cable TV's most popular sports channel sells mugs FACTOID: Disney's second venture into entertainment-themed retailing, the nation's first opened in the Galleria earlier this year. STORE: KCET Store of Knowledge CONCEPT: Toys R Us meets ``Masterpiece Theater'' FACTOID: It premiered three years ago in the Galleria; now there are 50 across the country. STORE: Knuckleheads CONCEPT: The Three Stooges sell mugs FACTOID: Grand opening this weekend STORE: Dr. Seuss CONCEPT: Cat in the Hat, and stuff like that. FACTOID: The first in the nation opened in the Galleria earlier this year. CAPTION(S): 6 Photos, Box PHOTO (1--color) The Disney Store at the Glendale Galleria typifies how the mall has become a launching pad for entertainment industry merchandising. There are now hundreds of Disney Stores worldwide. Terri Thuente/Daily News (2--color) The Disney Store logo (3--color) KCET logo (4--color) KnucKleHeads logo (5--color) ESPN logo (6--color) Dr. Seuss logo Box: TESTING THE GALLERIA WATERS (See Text) |
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