 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Shopping Centers Today -> May 2001
 PRINT THIS STORY: |
  CHANGE TEXT SIZE: |
BULLISH ON BEARS
Celebrity bear auctions at Rivercenter in San Antonio are a smash hit
By Edmund Mander
 Actor Paul Newman dressed his bear with a decidedly casual flair. |
|
|
 Donna Karan gave her bear a nautical look, complete with sailor’s cap. |
People have been paying a lot for teddy bears at Rivercenter Mall in San Antonio, Texas, lately, but their money is buying a lot more than cuddly toys.
For the third year running Rivercenter, a 1 million-square-foot mall in the heart of San Antonio, has been sending scores of bears to film stars, sports figures, authors and others prominent in the world of entertainment and art with a request: Dress them up, autograph them and send them back for an annual charity auction to aid abused children.
Much to Mark Bachus’ surprise, celebrities have wholeheartedly risen to the occasion.
“I thought if we got 10 bears and raised $1,000, that would be great,” said Bachus, the mall’s marketing director, who conceived and organized the program.
Instead, 50 came back the first year, and the auction raised about $10,000. One bear sported a pair of Bill Cosby’s prescription glasses, while Madonna dressed hers in an apron and little else. People paid an average $125 per bear plus $40 for admission to the silent auction, which was dubbed “Bear Essentials for Children,” he said.
Bachus is not the only one who was surprised by the number of celebrities who rose to the occasion.
“We were floored by the response we got,” said Shannon Nisbet, director of development and community relations at Family Service Association (FSA), whose child abuse program received the proceeds.
The money is very much needed, Nisbet said. FSA is a nearly 100-year-old nonprofit organization that offers programs designed to help families struggling with a range of issues, including gang violence and drug problems. About a quarter of its approximately $4 million budget is earmarked to help combat the abuse of children, Nisbet said.
“Child abuse is rampant in San Antonio,” she said. “San Antonio leads the nation in births to mothers under 15, and about 90% of those kids have been abused.”
Social workers employed by FSA perform a variety of services for troubled or at-risk families, counseling abused children, talking to parents about the impact of ill treatment and also helping them cope with some of the daily stresses that can lead adults to harm children. It also runs a program that enables poor parents to obtain some of the basic requirements of a nurturing home for children, whether they be diapers or healthy food.
Because abused children often grow up to be abusive adults and even criminals, attacking the problem early is an effective way of forestalling a lot of social problems later, Nisbet and Bachus say.
“Abuse doesn’t end at childhood; it continues to cause pain for the rest of their lives,” was the way Bachus put it in one press release about the program.
Rivercenter’s location in downtown San Antonio, and its involvement in community activities, provides an up-close view of some of the problems families face, Bachus said. The center, which is owned by a pension fund and managed by L & B Realty Advisors, Dallas, has worked with FSA before on several projects, including a school uniform exchange program, and a teen board set up to help troubled peers.
But child abuse has always been a special concern to him, Bachus said.
“It is something very near and dear to my heart,” he said. Raised in Houston, he said he saw a lot of child abuse up close when growing up. “A lot of it took place in my neighborhood.”
 |
| Cindy Crawford’s bear got a glamorous haute couture makeover. |
The idea for the teddy bear auction came to him years ago, but it was not until he arrived at Rivercenter, during a meeting with Nisbet, that he broached the idea with someone.
At a second auction held last November, Clint Eastwood sent a bear, as did Tommy Hilfiger, author Maurice Sendak, Elizabeth Taylor, Oprah Winfrey, Billy Crystal, Harrison Ford, David Letterman and Dallas Cowboy Troy Aikman, among many other celebrities. George Foreman’s came back wearing boxing gloves, Cindy Crawford outfitted hers in haute couture, while Donna Karan’s had a decidedly nautical look.
Nicole Kidman, Robert Redford and Robert DeNiro were out of the country filming, but promised to send bears the following year, Bachus said.
“The only person we had who said ‘no’ was Ralph Lauren,” he reported. But that hardly put a dent in the program, which he has now turned into an annual event. Furthermore, other centers managed by L&B Realty Advisors have expressed interest in organizing similar events.
The company, an affiliate of Boston-based United Asset Management Corp., provides real estate advisory and management services to institutional investors as well as individual clients, and manages a portfolio of more than 27 million square feet of office, retail, industrial and multifamily properties.
Its mall portfolio includes Tyson’s Corner Center, McLean, Va.; Fiesta Mall, Mesa, Ariz.; Crossroads Plaza, Salt Lake City; and One Pacific Place, Omaha, Neb.
Bachus said he is not worried he will run out of people to send bears to, even with other malls jumping on his bandwagon.
“You never run out of celebrities,” he said. And he hasn’t given up on Ralph Lauren.
“He’s still not playing,” but Bachus said he will continue to send the designer bears.
 | Current Issue November 2008 |