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Shopping Centers Today -> May 2002
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IN SIGN OF TIMES, TEMP TENANTS SELLING STRESS RELIEF
By Debra Hazel
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| Specialty retailers are pampering shoppers with hydromassagers and other indulgences. |
A woman lies enclosed in a metal cylinder while water shoots through pipes around and over her. Minutes later she emerges — perfectly dry. This might sound like a medical test in a high-tech lab, but it actually takes place in the center courts of some regional malls, where people are getting “hydromassages” in the Aquamassage.
Visitors to ICSC’s 2002 Temporary Tenant Conference and Trade Exposition, held in Dallas in February, saw a number of health- and beauty-related retailers and manufacturers whose main goal is to help consumers relieve the stress of living.
“People love it for that convenience,” said David Cote, president of AMI International, the Groton, Conn.-based manufacturer of the Aquamassage. “The mall environment is great. People are tired from shopping, from other things.”
And shoppers may be the perfect market for the health-oriented items that dominated the trade floor at this year’s meeting. From hair accessories to oxygen bars and aromatherapy items, manufacturers are catering to stressed-out consumers.
Though the trend is not new, these manifestations are relatively new in malls, Cote pointed out. There are Aquamassagers now in 160 centers.
These and other services and devices can play a critical role in combating daily stress, especially among baby boomers.
“With all the stress today, people need health and beauty,” said Sean Gagnon, vice president of Body Time, Chester, N.J., maker of the Nukkles hand-held acupressure massagers that were also featured at the Temporary Tenants meeting. The recent attacks on America and the continuing war on terrorism have only fueled stress, mall executives say.
“People just want to have creature comforts, especially after Sept. 11,” said Coleen McNelis, vice president of specialty leasing for The Macerich Co., Santa Monica, Calif. Macerich installed several health-related items throughout its portfolio.
At a Kravco Co. conference in January, social trend experts pointed out the increasing tendency toward self-help that preceded the attacks, said Cheri Baker, retail leasing agent for the King of Prussia, Pa.-based firm.
“Look at how crazy our lives have become, just the pace at which our lives run,” she said.
One benefit of many health and beauty products is their interactivity, said Joy Miller, vice president of specialty leasing for Crown American Realty Trust, Johnstown, Pa. Shoppers stop, watch, and talk to the vendors and each other.
The items also replace trends that have run their course; temporary tenants needed something new.
But will common area massages and other services prove to be a fad like Beanie Babies? Most don’t believe so; stress isn’t decreasing.
“The products may change, but the idea will be around a long time,” Baker said. As baby boomers age, the products may become more important, Miller observed.
“They’re such a huge market, and it’s important to them to look good and feel good,” said Miller, a boomer herself.
The manufacturers don’t disagree. Herbal Concepts, a Portland, Ore., maker of aromatherapy products, opened 40 units for the season last year and plans about 60 this year.
“I worried about this three years ago,” said Herbal Concepts President Chris Lindsay. “Are people going to get tired of this? But we keep introducing new products, and sales keep going up.”
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