Reduced opening hours mooted to help retailers

Landlords and retailers need to find ways to generate savings in the current downturn, ICSC chairman Mary Lou Fiala told delegates at the annual conference of the International Council of Shopping Centres in Barcelona. 'They need to build bold new partnerships and develop short-term strategies for a brighter and stronger future,' she said in a presentation entitled 'Upside of the Downturn'.

One of the ways in which retailers can generate savings is by reducing opening hours, she said. Pointing to the example of shopping mall developer Westfield, she said it had reduced its opening hours by half an hour in the morning and the evening at 55 of its US malls. 'One retailer expects to save EUR 500,000 in 2009 through shorter hours,' she noted.

Another opportunity to generate savings, Falia said, was by pooling backend operations for smaller retailers 'Landlords should also reserve space for new retail concepts and encourage new service concepts. Internet should not be a threat.'

Falia said it was also important to maintain advertising budgets and to craft messages that reflect the current - difficult - times. Pointing to a survey by McGraw Hill of 600 companies, she noted that the companies who had maintained their advertising budgets during the recession in the 1980s saw significantly higher sales afterwards.