Keep Pedaling!

Community Room, Sustainability

Customers sweat out their holiday shopping stress as they take turns pedaling to power NorteShopping’s Christmas tree lights.

Shoppers had to pedal very hard to keep NorteShopping’s tree lights on last Christmas. Wanting to focus its customers’ attention on energy conservation and efficiency, the Portuguese mall teamed up with SportZone to create a sustainable tr[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Look Up

Community Room, Sustainability

If you can’t figure out what to do with those unattractive bare walls that lead to your mall’s washrooms or parkade, just turn them into vertical gardens.

French botanist Patrick Blanc (www.VerticalGardenPatrickBlanc) is credited for inventing the concept of vertical gardens, which a growing list of sustainability enthusiasts have embraced, and that includes malls. In collaboration with archite[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Eco-Upgrade

Community Room, Sustainability

Cambridge Centre is planning to retrofit its refrigerated beverage vending machines to make them more environmentally friendly.

Instead of chucking its existing equipment into the landfill and purchasing new units, Canada's Cambridge Centre wants to equip them with VendingMiser units. The units, which cost less than $200, incorporate energy-saving technology into a sm[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Tales of Survival

Charity Partnerships, Community Room

Shopper “tribes” face off in Exile Island competition to win kudos and help the grant wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses.

The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada (CWF, ChildrensWish.ca) is not in the retail business. Its vocation is to rally the community to help grant wishes to children living with high-risk, life-threatening illnesses. This year, however, the [...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Reconstructing The Food Chain

Charity Partnerships, Community Room

Retail developer GPT joins forces with the Kitchen Garden Foundation to give children an opportunity to develop their food literacy skills.

Ask children in wealthy nations where their food comes from and few will trace back its origins to nature. To many, mashed potatoes come out of a box and meat somehow appears in the butcher’s back room at their local supermarket. But Australia[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Ghosts In The Alley

Charity Partnerships, Community Room

Mark Hovath launched a video log to make the invisible visible, including the plight of America’s homeless.

Philanthropy is feel-good pursuits that can add some polish to any company’s image. In many communities, it’s also the only way to meet urgent needs. Focusing the public’s attention on those in need—specifically, homeless people across A[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

The (New) Greenhouse Effect

Community Room, Sustainability

Greenhouse by Joost pop-up café and bar is one of the most innovative and sustainable retail setup in Sydney, Australia.

Innovation is a word that’s thrown around a lot in the retail world, but artist Joost Bakker might have come up with a concept that’s truly worthy of it. His eco-friendly Greenhouse by Joost pop-up café and bar (www.GreenhouseByJoost.com) i[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

The Right Fit

Community Room, Fundraisers, Sales Promotions, Sales Promotions & More

Bower Place and West Edmonton Mall manage to bring out the crowds by hosting events for the whole family.

Emulating the competition has always been a dangerously alluring strategy in marketing, sometimes leading to costly mistakes. It’s even tougher to resist these days when everyone seems to be moving furiously toward digital platforms, threateni[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Putting Down Roots

Amenities, Community Room, Customer Service, Services, Sustainability

The village at Fairview community garden to provide food for the needy.

The idea of a shopping center being “the third place” has been vigorously challenged in recent years. Consumers seem increasingly unwilling to assign that role, or give so much importance, time and money, to any one location, be it brick-and[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...

Growing Returns

Community Room, Sustainability

Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM) introduces Australia’s first biodegradable gift cards.

Colonial First State Global Asset Management (CFSGAM) wasn’t the only company peddling gift cards to shoppers last year. However, it did manage to make its holiday campaign stand out by introducing Australia’s first biodegradable gift cards.[...] Tactics Subscribers Read More...