Shopping Centers Today -> February 2006
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WHAT’S SO SPECIAL

Specialty tenants’ newer, more-sophisticated merchandise keeps common areas uncommon

By Donna Mitchell

Specialty retailers are always front and center for mall shoppers, dotting common areas for all to see. Now landlords, too, are finding them increasingly hard to ignore. In the past five years, specialty tenant revenues and rents have doubled to $10 billion, according to trade publication Specialty Retail Report. Specialty tenants are generating sales growth with a variety of goods that cannot be found at in-line shops. Sports products and garden, yard and patio accessories are just a few of the categories enjoying boom times in the common area, sources say. Some of the offerings — such as aromatherapy and spa treatments, and beauty supplies and regimens — are nearly upscale. Here is a sampling of the hot new products and enduring concepts that stop mall browsers in their tracks.


Virgin Mobile, Canada

Operated by London-based Virgin Group, Ltd.
Products: Cell phones, prepaid phone cards and accessories
No. of units: Four in the greater Toronto area
Preferred locations: Shopping centers
Sales: Not available
Leasing contact: Sarah Green, director of mall services, Northwest Atlantic, (416) 391-6964
Virgin Group’s kiosk business is anything but humdrum. Designed for 18-to-24-year-olds, its units are large enough for shoppers to step into. Virgin Mobile hopes to expand the program, launched in Toronto in November, across Canada.


Heaven’s Therapy, Boca Raton, Fla.

Products: Herbal pain remedies, health and massage products
No. of units: About 700
Preferred locations: Enclosed malls and airports
Sales: Company expects to gross $13 million in 2005 and $60 million in 2007
Leasing contact: Frank Friedland, owner, (772) 201-3453
Heaven’s Therapy’s most recognizable offering is a dry water-jet massage given on-site. Also available are herbal packs, body scrubs, massagers and vitamin supplements to promote health and relaxation.


Kitchen Stock, Turner Valley, Alberta, British Columbia

Products: Kitchen supplies
No. of units: 75
Preferred locations: Enclosed malls
Sales: Kiosks average C$70,000 ($60,396) every 10 weeks
Leasing contact: Bev Durvin, co-founder, (403) 933-5793
Kitchen Stock’s founders noticed mall-based kitchen concepts were dwindling. So they launched their own, with 25 kiosks set to open this year, and another 12 to 25 units each year after that.


Island Ink Jet, Courtenay, British Columbia

Products: Ink jet, laser and photo printing products and services
No. of units: 100 in U.S., 150 in Canada
Preferred locations: Shopping centers and college campuses
Sales: Kiosks average between $200,000 and $300,000 per year
Leasing contact: David Massie, senior vice president of business development, (877) 466-5538
Before the big-box boom, enclosed malls used to attract many computer users who needed to replenish their paper and ink cartridge supplies, says Armin Sasche, president. “We’ve brought those customers back into the mall.”

AnimationArt.com, Chicago

Products: Vintage art used in animated films
No. of units: Two, both in Randhurst Mall, Mt. Prospect, Ill.
Preferred locations: Enclosed malls
Sales: Overall sales undisclosed; gift givers spend about $100; collectors spend upwards of $300
Leasing contact: Mark Maron, owner, (800) 650-2357
In this age of digital animation, classic animation cells from the golden age have become collectors’ items, especially for admirers of the work of Walt Disney, Warner Brothers Studios, D.C. Comics and Nickelodeon.


Rosetta Stone (Fairfield Language Technologies), Harrisonburg, Va.

Products: Interactive foreign language teaching software
No. of units: 48
Preferred locations: Shopping centers and airports
Sales: Not available
Leasing contact: Ellery Plowman, director of specialty retail development, (540) 432-6166
Rosetta Stone hopes adventurers will take one of its foreign language learning systems on their next trip. It offers systems for 29 languages, including Arabic, Swahili and Welsh. The retailer plans to open 24 new kiosks and specialty stores in 2006.
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