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General Growth links with coupon Website

By Jon Springer

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Hoping to direct customers who shop the Internet to buy at the mall, General Growth Properties has formed a partnership with CoolSavings.com, an Internet coupon and sales promotion site on the World Wide Web.

The deal allows shoppers who surf the CoolSavings site <www.coolsavings.com> to download coupons redeemable at merchants in 36 of General Growth's 120 malls. Retailers in the participating malls, most of which are located in or near major markets, can post their own offers, and track their effectiveness through the site.

General Growth, Chicago, also will gain access to membership information of CoolSavings customers. The site has 2.5 million registered users. The deal with CoolSavings follows a successful test run over the Christmas holiday season at General Growth malls in Michigan and Texas.

"This will drive traffic in our centers," said Mark Klockner, General Growth's vice president for new business. "It gives our customers a chance to get value-added coupons and we get access to CoolSavings' customer profiles, which helps us cater to our customers' needs."

The deal is not General Growth's first move to the Internet. The firm has a corporate Website at <www.generalgrowth.com>, and in 1997 developed a site for its specialty leasing division, <www.speclease.com>. (See story, page 261.)

"CoolSavings is committed to helping traditional brick-and-mortar retailers bridge the gap between their retail outlet stores and the Internet by providing shoppers with one-stop access to great savings [coupons] that they can print and use in stores," said Craig S. Peterson, vice president of the CoolMalls division of CoolSavings, in a statement. CoolSavings is a Chicago-based Internet company founded in 1997.