PRINT THIS STORY:

CHANGE TEXT SIZE:

IGNORE HISPANICS AT YOUR PERIL, RETAILERS TOLD

BY DONNA MITCHELL

Between their spending power and brand loyalty, Hispanic shoppers have plenty to offer retailers and shopping center developers, said panelists at ICSC’s Carolinas Idea Exchange in March. Accordingly, landlords and retailers should build on those strengths by ramping up marketing and customer-relations efforts.

The panelists rattled off several attention-grabbing statistics at the meeting, which took place in March in Charlotte, N.C.

• Hispanic women buy more clothing than any other ethnic group, about $15 billion worth between September 2002 and September 2003.

• In 2003 the purchasing power of U.S. Latinos was $643 billion; that is expected to jump to $939 billion by 2008. Further, the group is enrolling more children in the first grade than any other ethnic group.

Developers cannot ignore such numbers, especially in the Carolinas, which has experienced the highest Hispanic population growth in the United States, says Jimmy Penman, a leasing representative for development firm Edens & Avant, Columbia, S.C.

One way for developers to tap into this lucrative market is to identify products that the local Hispanic community wants and then group retailers into one convenient area, says Teresa Hernandez, a vice president at Bank of America. In Charlotte, for instance, several retailers catering to Mexicans have formed a hub at the intersection of Central Avenue and South Boulevard, which is near public transportation and thus accessible to lower-income residents, Hernandez said.

And retailers should realize that Latino shoppers demonstrate almost unwavering brand loyalty, she said.

“Even though many [Latinos] are professionals and have assimilated into U.S. culture, they want to continue using the products that they remember their parents using,” said Hernandez.

Wal-Mart, which operates 10 stores in the Charlotte area, says it is working to make things easier for Latino shoppers. The company uses Spanish-language signage and Spanish-speaking associates, said Paul Beno, Wal-Mart’s district manager for the Charlotte area.

To hire more Latino store associates, Wal-Mart reached out to local churches and Latino organizations and also used employees as recruiters.

Some of those efforts appear to be paying off. The 114,000-square-foot store on Eastway Drive, in particular, sells more Hispanic music than any other Wal-Mart store in the Southeast, said Beno.

“It really helped the growth of our stores,” he said. “If we continue to listen [to the customers], we can do better.”

Indeed, all retailers and developers would do well to pay such attention to Latino consumers, said George Herrera, president and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. They should work hard to find Latino vendors too, he said, adding that Latino entrepreneurs are growing about six times faster than other small businesses.

This year’s Carolinas Idea Exchange drew 1,847 attendees.

© 2008 ICSC. All rights reserved. | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Contact ICSC | ICSC Home |