Vol. IX, No. 5, June 2009

In this issue

1. What is a feasibility study? – Part 1
2. The Redemption Report
3. Report on the National Restaurant Association show
4. Let's Pizza angers 'Slow Food' Italians
5. Foundations Entertainment University arrives in Chicago July 14-16
6. The grounded consumer: changing the paradigm of shopping center entertainment
7. Hot Dog Hall of Fame
8. Number of children's role-play edutainment centers grows
9. America's 12 strangest museums

[ Index of Previous eNewsletters ]

The grounded consumer: changing the paradigm of shopping center entertainment

If you're in the shopping center industry and you're waiting for the economy to "return to normal," prepare for a long wait -- as in forever. This "Great Recession" is permanently changing the mindset of consumers. Say hello to your new customers, the Grounded Consumers.

In the 19th century, economist Thorstein Veblen coined the term conspicuous consumption, which he defined as acquiring valuable possessions visible to all as a signal of one’s wealth, success and status. During the 53 years since Victor Gruen launched America’s first enclosed shopping mall, conspicuous consumption has been the key driver for retail and shopping center growth in the United States.

With:

• Consumers making what appears to be permanent lifestyle and consumption changes due to the current recession,
• Store bankruptcies and closings, and
• Shoppers being dissatisfied with the sameness and unexciting experience of visiting many malls and even new lifestyle centers,

the basic model for shopping centers and malls built on a foundation of conspicuous consumption is obsolete. In order to prosper in the future, the model needs to be reinvented to attract the post-recession’s consumer’s time and money.

What is the answer? How can centers reinvent themselves for the post-recession consumer? A large part of the solution is to incorporate more experiences. We have moved into the experience economy. Experiences, both entertaining and enriching, are taking on even greater importance with consumers as the accumulation of stuff decreases in importance.

The Flowrider at Adrenalina is just one example of how experiences are
coming to shopping centers.

To read the entire article, click here.

To learn more about our projects and services

To learn more about our services and how we can help you with a new project or an existing one, don't hesitate to contact Randy White, our CEO, via e-mail or by phone at 816.931-1040. We are on Central Time (same as Chicago). Randy often works in the office on Saturdays, so feel free to contact him then if weekdays are not a convenient time for you to call.

Leisure eNewsletter is published on an occasional basis, about once every two months.

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White Hutchinson Leisure & Learning Group, Inc.