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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Regional Focus: June 2006
Very Fair Indeed
Strong sales and community ties make Arden Fair one of the nation’s top malls
Story by J.E. Statham
Sacramento has changed with the times, and that progress is clearly visible at the Arden Fair mall.
Constructed in 1957 as an outdoor shopping strip in the outlying environs of North Sacramento, Arden Fair has grown into a chic, airy enclosed mall in the middle of a dynamic commercial and business zone. In 1990, a second level was added to the structure; four years later, JCPenney joined Nordstrom, Macy’s and Sears as an anchor.
Now holding more than 165 specialty stores and eateries within nearly 1.2 million square feet of floor space, the mall is a retail hub for local consumers, suburban commuters and visitors. The Macerich Co., which manages Arden Fair and is one of the largest owner-operators of regional malls in the U.S., estimates close to 20 million customers visited the mall in 2005. And during that time, according to Laurie Koike, senior property manager for Arden Fair, the mall’s retail sales topped a whopping $468 million.
Sacramento receives 1 percent of the sales tax generated by the mall. The city’s Department of Finance reports that the most recent four-quarter data shows Arden Fair contributed nearly $4.2 million in sales tax during that period, making the mall an important part of the city’s fiscal foundation. The impressive sales figures mean a windfall for the city and increased interest from the mall’s potential tenants.
“Retailers are looking for sales performance and strong traffic,” Koike explains. “Arden Fair is especially attractive to new-to-market retailers because our sales-dollar-per-square-foot figure — an indicator of what stores are generating in sales — is double the national average. That tells them a lot about the strength of our stores’ sales and performance.”
Holiday-season sales, another critical industry gauge, increased by more than three times the national average of 3 percent in 2005, says Jennifer Prouhet, senior marketing manager for the mall. “It was a strong year for Arden Fair. We’re doing very well in this market, but we need to continually evolve by improving our selection and variety of stores.”
Although there are no plans for further expansion of the skylight-punctured structure, several new-to-market retailers are expected to join the Arden Fair lineup in the coming year, including athletic-gear giant Puma; Apple Computer; Ann Taylor Loft; Solstice sunglasses; Teavana, a purveyor of teas from around the world; and Janie and Jack, a shop for children’s apparel.
In addition to the millions of shoppers who open their wallets at Arden Fair, the mall has more than 1,500 employees circulating their pay throughout the community. Mall management encourages the use of local vendors and nurtures philanthropic tie-ins. The mall is the registration point for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and hosts the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s radiothon fundraiser. There is even a team of management staff working as tutors in kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms.
The KCRA 3 Experience broadcasts live from Arden Fair mall each weekday noon hour, offering a behind-the-scenes view of the popular news program. Celebrity chefs come to cook up something special while the cameras roll, leaving the aroma of specialty dishes — like Lina Fat’s asparagus egg foo young — wafting through the mall.
“Arden Fair’s sales per square feet are double the national average.
That tells a lot about the strength of our stores.”
— Laurie Koike, senior property manager, Arden Fair
With the Point West business district, California Exposition Center and an assortment of resort hotels in the vicinity, Arden Fair is well-positioned to take advantage of synergistic relationships.
During the holidays, Cal Expo buses ferry shoppers from Cal Expo’s vast parking lot to the mall entrance and back for free. Consumers enjoy a no-hassle parking experience; Arden Fair solves the parking puzzle for shoppers; and Cal Expo optimizes the use of its parking facilities while welcoming an additional source of revenue during the Christmas season, says Shauna Allison, sales manager for Cal Expo.
Like many workers in the Arden Fair-Point West area, Allison says lunchtime and after-work mall visits are common, especially during the holiday crush.
“But a couple of months ago, the Autorama was at Cal Expo, and my husband could look at those cars forever,” she recalls. “So I ended up going to Arden Fair for an hour or two. I think that probably happens a lot, where one spouse attends an event at Cal Expo while the other heads to the mall.”
Some of the hotels in the area, including the Radisson Sacramento, provide transportation to the mall. “The mall is a real plus for all the hotels,” says Ron Berger, general manager of the Radisson. “I think we all use Arden Fair mall as a selling point to our guests. It’s a nice amenity.”
The spouses of conference attendees often head for the mall during the day to shop, Berger says, then return with their spouses in the evening to dine at one of Arden Fair’s restaurants. Many guests hit the mall to purchase things they forgot to pack.
“The mall is an economic juggernaut for the entire city of Sacramento,” says Franklin Burris, president of the North Sacramento Chamber of Commerce. “And it is an important partner in the community.”
Its roster of exclusive stores and diverse services contributed to Arden Fair receiving 9.5 out of a possible 10 points from Bigmallrat.com, an online guide to shopping malls in the San Francisco and Sacramento regions. Rating it a “one of a kind gem,” the Web site calls it Sacramento’s premier mall and gives it an honorable mention in its listing of the top 10 malls in the nation.
With its progressive track record, one day Arden Fair mall might top the list.
