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Toy shortages may stretch holiday season

Much-coveted toys may not be readily available this holiday season, which could lead to a shift in sales. Many manufacturers are undersupplying stores to build buzz and heighten demand. Mattel even created viral marketing campaigns to build demand for the new TMX Elmo doll and then undersupplied after a blowout launch on the Good Morning America television show, according to media reports. Meanwhile, Lego is allegedly unable to keep up a supply of its products as a result of internal restructuring.

All of this could delay some holiday sales if shoppers opt for gift cards so that the recipients can buy that special product on their own when it does become available, observers say. “Gift cards are going to be the number-one gift,” said Patricia Pao, CEO of the Pao Principle, a retail consulting firm. “The season will no longer be from Thanksgiving to the first week of January. It will extend the holiday season. It’s going to force us to measure Christmas in a very different way.”

Wal-Mart’s greener side

Despite plans to slow store expansion in 2007, Wal-Mart remains determined to become the world’s greenest retailer. Charles Zimmerman, the retail giant’s vice president of prototype and new-format development, made the case that Wal-Mart is on the cutting edge of sustainability in retail. He was speaking at the Conference Board’s second annual Commercial Real Estate Conference, in New York City, last month.

“Our green initiatives have been in place for a number of years, but hurricane Katrina re-energized us,” he said. “Our CEO Lee Scott asked what more we could do about climate change.” Zimmerman detailed a number of green building practices that Wal-Mart follows, both in building and operating its stores. The company recycles about 80 percent of the construction debris from building one of its Supercenters, for example. Once new stores are up and running, each employs an array of energy-conservation techniques, such as reclaiming waste heat, using LED (light-emitting diode) lights in places instead of conventional ones, harvesting rainwater and utilizing a system of “light harvesting,” which resembles skylights and defuses natural light.

The company even tracks energy usage in all of its stores in real time from a central location at its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. “If a walk-in refrigerator door at one of the stores is left open, in 10 or 15 minutes the manager of that store’s going to get a call to find out what’s going on,” Zimmerman said. As good for the environment as green Wal-Mart stores might be, there is also a cost-cutting rationale. According to Zimmerman, energy is the company’s number-two expense after payrolls. Each of the company’s green building initiatives, he said, is structured to pay for itself in three years, and they do.

Developer is licensed to heal

Miami developer Allan Kolsky, a liver disease survivor and kidney transplant recipient, led the charge to create a specialty Florida license plate supporting organ donations. For more than two years, he tirelessly raised funds and put together a team to lobby the Florida legislature to institute the new license plate, which will read, “Donate organs. Pass it on” when the first plate is produced in January. The Transplant Foundation will receive and distribute the funds raised from the license plate. Kolsky is chairman of Redevco Corp., which has built more than 2 million square feet of open-air centers in South Florida.

Happy holiday hours

U.S. mall owners are opening shop earlier and shutting down later to give consumers more opportunities to buy holiday gifts. General Growth Properties says most of its 210 properties will open between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and stay open until 10 p.m. from Nov. 24 to Dec. 24. On Fridays and Saturdays after Dec. 29, malls will continue to stay open until 10 p.m. A GGP survey of 2,000 shoppers found that 83 percent of the respondents want longer hours on weekdays during the holiday season. Some 87 percent of those surveyed said they’d like their mall to open earlier on Saturdays for the season too. And 65 percent said they want to see extended hours of operation throughout the year. “They have been asking for expanded hours to help them shop at times that are more convenient to their busy lifestyles,” said John L. Bucksbaum, SCSM, GGP’s chief executive. Macerich Co. centers will also have extended hours, opening at about 8 a.m. and closing sometime between 9 and 10 p.m. “All stores have extended hours, but they vary with different retailers’ needs,” said Anita Walker, senior manager of public relations at Macerich’s Westcor. “But the 8 a.m. opening seems to be the norm across all the Macerich centers.

Plaza seeks posh retailers for ground-floor space

The new owners of New York City’s Plaza Hotel unveiled ambitious plans for 160,000 square feet of mixed uses in what was once the landmark building’s main lobby. Elad Properties purchased the Plaza last September for $675 million. The property, which sits just off Fifth Avenue, will contain luxury boutiques and fine dining, accessible from both the hotel itself and the street. The retail project is part of a plan to renovate the hotel’s 805 rooms and create luxury condominiums on the top floors. As of now, 70 percent of the condominiums are sold, and the hotel renovations are under way. The developments will be unveiled in stages, with the retail area set to open in the second quarter of 2007. Though no names were given, there are intensive discussions being held with prospective leasers, all of which will be high-end luxury retailers. Included in the plans are a spa, a beauty salon and a fitness center.