This September, I will celebrate fourteen years in the shopping center industry. I started as a Marketing Administrative Assistant just three weeks out of college, and in those fourteen years have worked at seven malls for seven companies – five of which no longer exist. I often feel like I have seen it all. Recently, someone asked me what the best lessons I had learned from the shopping center industry were. I was stunned by the question – I had never really thought about it before. The question (it came from a potential intern candidate by the way) got me thinking and before I knew it, I had my own “Top Ten” list of sorts. It occurred to me that perhaps some of them may bring a chuckle to your day, so here they are, the top ten ways I have “lived, learned, and laughed” in my time in the shopping center industry:
#10 - Having A Center Court The Size of a Football Field Does Not Mean You Should Play Football In It
At one center I marketed, we had that giant center court and it just so happened that the market was getting a new arena football team! A great partnership right – the team got to promote in the mall, the public got to meet the players, the kids got to learn a few moves, and the mall got a great event in Center Court. And it was, until that football, thrown by a professional quarterback, flew through the air and right through the store front of a center court retailer and bonked a customer on the head which led to a display toppling over. Lesson learned: Be careful what you wish for – and put up safety nets for any event that involved flying footballs!
#9 - The Easter Bunny Can Get You on CNN For All The Wrong Reasons
Ah, the photo set; a thorn in the side of just about every marketing manager in the business at some point. At one of my past centers, we had parted ways with a photo company under less than hospitable circumstances. A local paper picked it up, complete with a catchy headline: “Mall Sues Santa”. Now that was fun. It was not until the following Easter when we happened to catch a little blurb on CNN with its own catchy headline of “Easter Bunny In Shopping Mall Brawl” that we felt any better. Not that we wished ill on any of our fellow shopping center professionals, but at least our character never slugged anyone. Lesson learned: It can always be worse – and be sure you are managing and highly engaged with your photo program.
# 8 - Marketing Managers Can Drive Forklifts and Cherry Pickers – Sort Of
Imagine a woman who is nine months pregnant up two stories in a lift (cherry picker) putting the topper on a 36 foot Christmas tree. Yes, I did it. Yes, there were witnesses. There is a photo somewhere – and yes it looked as ridiculous as it sounds. Now, rewind two years earlier to that same woman driving a forklift in the parking lot during a hurricane relief supplies collection program, missing the gear, then gently bumping (okay smacking into) the back of the semi we were loading with the pallets of supplies. Thankfully it was a pallet of soft items like paper products that smacked the truck! Lesson learned: I really did think it would be fun to learn to drive a fork lift and I wanted to go up in that lift, but marketing managers are probably best suited to other tasks.
#7 - You Can Give A Television Interview With Morning Sickness, Really
It was the biggest event I had ever done – General Colin Powell (pre-Secretary of State Powell) was coming to my center with North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt for a huge rally and to recognize the mall for our work with America’s Promise. We had media interviews and morning shows lined up back to back and I was ready. I was also four months pregnant. The local television stations had all sent cameras for live shots on the morning programs – the plan was to put me on the earpiece directly with the anchors for the interviews. The only problem was that at 5:30 am, my stomach was not exactly up for giving the interviews. With about 45 seconds to airtime on the number one station, I was ill for the anchors and the studio tech staff to see and hear. I made it, with about five seconds to spare. I can look back at those tapes now and laugh – I was as green as the jacket I was wearing. Lesson learned: Don’t come to work when you really shouldn’t be there. It turned out great that time, but I certainly would not try it again.
#6 - Professional Athletes Will Not Really Hit You If You Put Them On The Spot
Five former Dallas Cowboys were coming to my center to sign autographs and raise money for the local children’s hospital. They would participate in a special sponsor luncheon, sign autographs in the mall, then gather in center court to go on stage and speak to the crowd. The first two elements went great – the lunch was a success and the autograph stations all had big lines! Then we gathered in Center Court and all five players suddenly decided that none of them wanted to be the one to go onstage and speak. I kept asking which was going to do it – I asked the players, I asked the event agent who was there with them. After fifteen minutes, the crowd was not happy. So I asked again, and got the answer that Tony Dorsett, the most famous of the players, would do it. So, I went on stage to introduce him. After what seemed an eternity, he slowly came on stage, took the microphone and with a dead serious look on his face said,”I’ve never hit a woman before, but…” Center court went silent for about a full 20 seconds and I turned sheet white, then he turned to the audience and grinned. They all started laughing and he went on to give a very nice speech about helping the hospital. I on the other hand nearly fell off the stage. Lesson learned: Have a plan, but be ready to change it. The crowd can wait while you are dealing with athletes who outweigh you by 100+ pounds.
# 5 - You Can Get Anything Out Of Fashion Show Outfits With Ivory Soap
Spring and Fall fashion shows used to be a staple on the mall calendar. A professional coordinator would come for the week and do everything for the shows, all for a nice tidy sum. As budgets got tighter, we started looking for ways to have fashion event without the expense. At one middle market center, I decided that I would produce the show, select the trends, pull the clothes, pick the music, and use the mall’s teen board members as the models. I had watched professionals do it for years – I could do this! It was a lot of work, but it was fun! The show was a big success – more than 1,500 people attended. The merchants were thrilled – until we returned the clothes. They had stains, make-up marks, etc. and the mall ended up paying for a lot of damaged clothes. I called up a friend in the fashion business after the fact wanting to know where I went wrong – how come he never had damaged clothes? The answer? Ivory dish soap would take just about any stain out of clothing without leaving a mark – and it costs about 99 cents a bottle. Lesson learned: Consult and /or hire a professional when you need one and do your homework before you attempt to try something new on your own. (Yes, Ivory really does work – try it for yourself!)
#4 - A Teddy Bear Can Cause A Riot
Our center had a new décor program and it was up and looking great for Santa’s arrival at Noon. A horse drawn sleigh would parade the “man in red” to the center where he would walk in to his home in Center Court while being serenaded by a choir and followed by adoring kids. The first 150 kids would receive a special gift, a cuddly teddy bear. But by 10:00am the line was nearing 350 people long. People had begun lining up at 8:00 am and were jostling for a place in the line. Customers were getting upset and ugly because others in the line were saving a place for friends and other family members. Thankfully, we had purchased more bears to be used for other promotions and we quickly made the decision to use them. With the help of our security guards we got the line untangled and under control. We made an announcement that Santa had “authorized us to give away more bears” and that we would be giving out tickets to all children currently in the line. (A ticket meant that the child got a teddy bear.) Shoppers in line were welcome to save places for friends and family in the line to see Santa, but only children in line that had tickets would receive a teddy bear. I went up and down the line repeatedly explaining the tickets and the line policy until the crowd calmed down and all tickets were distributed. By the time Santa arrived, that line stretched around the Santa set, from center court down one side of the mall, out an entrance and half way around one side of a department store - but people were calm and in the Holiday spirit. Lesson learned: Make plans for crowd control because you never know when you may need it. To this day, one of those bears sits on a shelf in my office as a reminder of that lesson.
#3 - Customers Will Complain About Anything If You Give Them The Opportunity
In 14 years, I’ve handled a lot of complaining customers. My favorite was a well dressed, well spoken older lady who stopped by our office one weekday in mid-December. She was loaded with bags and calmly and politely asked to speak with a manager. When I offered to help her she launched into a loud angry tirade about the free gift wrap. How dare we not charge and give the money to charity or allow the wrappers to take tips? How come we only had two color choices for the free wrap? (Red and green – go figure?) And what were we thinking only having six wrappers in the gift wrap center? At first I thought one of my co-workers was playing a joke on me. It took me about 30 seconds to realize that she was dead serious. Apparently I said the right things and she went on her way. After a moment of stunned silence everyone in the office lost it. We laughed until it hurt. Lesson learned: Customers truly will complain about anything, but you have to treat each and every one seriously. And if you can’t laugh at our industry’s little curve balls, you may not be in the right line of work.
#2 - It’s Not As Easy To Make Balloon Arches As You Think – Especially At 4AM
We were having a sidewalk sale and wanted to decorate with balloons. We thought it would be great to do giant arches that went over our escalators so people rode through them as they went up and down. Boy were we deflated when we got the quotes – balloon companies wanted thousands of dollars to make the arches and our budget was tiny. So we decided, my assistant, my visual merchandiser, and I that we would make them. How hard could it be – it was just PVC, balloons, some hi-float, and a helium tank or two – right? We decided to go for it and ordered the supplies, giddy at the cost of only $400. Several other staff members volunteered to help – we said no. How long could this take – we would be done by 1:00 or 2:00 am right? We met at the mall at 9:00 pm with sodas, pizza, and snacks thinking we would have a great time. And we did – for the first hour or so. After that, it became apparent that this would not go nearly as fast as we thought. Your fingers really hurt after tying several hundred balloons and sliding them on to PVC poles. We were still there at 8:30 am when the rest of the staff came in. We had the mall decorated by 10:00 but we were exhausted and had a new appreciation for exactly what it takes to make balloon décor. Lesson learned: Ask for help when you need it and NEVER EVER turn down volunteers!
#1 - When The Nut House Burns Down, Call 911
My very first night as MOD at my very first center was quite eventful. I had worked in the industry for about 45 days. I had survived mall-wide trick-or-treat on Halloween and though I was ready for anything. Until I picked up my phone to hear the young customer service representative on duty tell me in a panicked voice, “the nut house is on fire.” My response was to calmly tell her to put down the phone and call 911. I then got the marketing manager (who happened to still be there) and went running to center court. When I got there, the Morrow’s Nut House was in fact on fire and the manager from a neighboring shoe store was using a small fire extinguisher to try to put out a large fire. Flames shot out of the roasting machine and the oil combined with the fire extinguisher foam created thick and horrible smelling smoke. The Morrow’s employee was crying and a semi-large crowd had gathered to watch. As the mall filled with dense black smoke, the fire department arrived, and we were ordered to evacuate. I had no idea how to do this – thankfully my marketing manager did. Lesson learned: Be prepared for a crisis of any kind and know how to handle one when it does happen. Because it is not a matter of if an emergency will happen, but when. (Oh, and running towards a burning fire and thick smoke is probably not the smartest thing to do either.)
What does this have to do with DIY you ask? More than you think. As funny as some of these stories are, I did actually live, learn and laugh over or through every one of them. Besides, how many people can actually say they have had people bathe in their mall fountains? (A story I will spare you.) But when you think about it, what better way to teach yourself something than by experience. Conventional? No way! Some great DIY lessons learned? Absolutely!
Sidebar
Have a great story that taught you a lesson in a funny or interesting way? Here’s your chance to share! Email them to [email protected] and we’ll print some of the best in a future DIY column!
#10 - Having A Center Court The Size of a Football Field Does Not Mean You Should Play Football In It
At one center I marketed, we had that giant center court and it just so happened that the market was getting a new arena football team! A great partnership right – the team got to promote in the mall, the public got to meet the players, the kids got to learn a few moves, and the mall got a great event in Center Court. And it was, until that football, thrown by a professional quarterback, flew through the air and right through the store front of a center court retailer and bonked a customer on the head which led to a display toppling over. Lesson learned: Be careful what you wish for – and put up safety nets for any event that involved flying footballs!
#9 - The Easter Bunny Can Get You on CNN For All The Wrong Reasons
Ah, the photo set; a thorn in the side of just about every marketing manager in the business at some point. At one of my past centers, we had parted ways with a photo company under less than hospitable circumstances. A local paper picked it up, complete with a catchy headline: “Mall Sues Santa”. Now that was fun. It was not until the following Easter when we happened to catch a little blurb on CNN with its own catchy headline of “Easter Bunny In Shopping Mall Brawl” that we felt any better. Not that we wished ill on any of our fellow shopping center professionals, but at least our character never slugged anyone. Lesson learned: It can always be worse – and be sure you are managing and highly engaged with your photo program.
# 8 - Marketing Managers Can Drive Forklifts and Cherry Pickers – Sort Of
Imagine a woman who is nine months pregnant up two stories in a lift (cherry picker) putting the topper on a 36 foot Christmas tree. Yes, I did it. Yes, there were witnesses. There is a photo somewhere – and yes it looked as ridiculous as it sounds. Now, rewind two years earlier to that same woman driving a forklift in the parking lot during a hurricane relief supplies collection program, missing the gear, then gently bumping (okay smacking into) the back of the semi we were loading with the pallets of supplies. Thankfully it was a pallet of soft items like paper products that smacked the truck! Lesson learned: I really did think it would be fun to learn to drive a fork lift and I wanted to go up in that lift, but marketing managers are probably best suited to other tasks.
#7 - You Can Give A Television Interview With Morning Sickness, Really
It was the biggest event I had ever done – General Colin Powell (pre-Secretary of State Powell) was coming to my center with North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt for a huge rally and to recognize the mall for our work with America’s Promise. We had media interviews and morning shows lined up back to back and I was ready. I was also four months pregnant. The local television stations had all sent cameras for live shots on the morning programs – the plan was to put me on the earpiece directly with the anchors for the interviews. The only problem was that at 5:30 am, my stomach was not exactly up for giving the interviews. With about 45 seconds to airtime on the number one station, I was ill for the anchors and the studio tech staff to see and hear. I made it, with about five seconds to spare. I can look back at those tapes now and laugh – I was as green as the jacket I was wearing. Lesson learned: Don’t come to work when you really shouldn’t be there. It turned out great that time, but I certainly would not try it again.
#6 - Professional Athletes Will Not Really Hit You If You Put Them On The Spot
Five former Dallas Cowboys were coming to my center to sign autographs and raise money for the local children’s hospital. They would participate in a special sponsor luncheon, sign autographs in the mall, then gather in center court to go on stage and speak to the crowd. The first two elements went great – the lunch was a success and the autograph stations all had big lines! Then we gathered in Center Court and all five players suddenly decided that none of them wanted to be the one to go onstage and speak. I kept asking which was going to do it – I asked the players, I asked the event agent who was there with them. After fifteen minutes, the crowd was not happy. So I asked again, and got the answer that Tony Dorsett, the most famous of the players, would do it. So, I went on stage to introduce him. After what seemed an eternity, he slowly came on stage, took the microphone and with a dead serious look on his face said,”I’ve never hit a woman before, but…” Center court went silent for about a full 20 seconds and I turned sheet white, then he turned to the audience and grinned. They all started laughing and he went on to give a very nice speech about helping the hospital. I on the other hand nearly fell off the stage. Lesson learned: Have a plan, but be ready to change it. The crowd can wait while you are dealing with athletes who outweigh you by 100+ pounds.
# 5 - You Can Get Anything Out Of Fashion Show Outfits With Ivory Soap
Spring and Fall fashion shows used to be a staple on the mall calendar. A professional coordinator would come for the week and do everything for the shows, all for a nice tidy sum. As budgets got tighter, we started looking for ways to have fashion event without the expense. At one middle market center, I decided that I would produce the show, select the trends, pull the clothes, pick the music, and use the mall’s teen board members as the models. I had watched professionals do it for years – I could do this! It was a lot of work, but it was fun! The show was a big success – more than 1,500 people attended. The merchants were thrilled – until we returned the clothes. They had stains, make-up marks, etc. and the mall ended up paying for a lot of damaged clothes. I called up a friend in the fashion business after the fact wanting to know where I went wrong – how come he never had damaged clothes? The answer? Ivory dish soap would take just about any stain out of clothing without leaving a mark – and it costs about 99 cents a bottle. Lesson learned: Consult and /or hire a professional when you need one and do your homework before you attempt to try something new on your own. (Yes, Ivory really does work – try it for yourself!)
#4 - A Teddy Bear Can Cause A Riot
Our center had a new décor program and it was up and looking great for Santa’s arrival at Noon. A horse drawn sleigh would parade the “man in red” to the center where he would walk in to his home in Center Court while being serenaded by a choir and followed by adoring kids. The first 150 kids would receive a special gift, a cuddly teddy bear. But by 10:00am the line was nearing 350 people long. People had begun lining up at 8:00 am and were jostling for a place in the line. Customers were getting upset and ugly because others in the line were saving a place for friends and other family members. Thankfully, we had purchased more bears to be used for other promotions and we quickly made the decision to use them. With the help of our security guards we got the line untangled and under control. We made an announcement that Santa had “authorized us to give away more bears” and that we would be giving out tickets to all children currently in the line. (A ticket meant that the child got a teddy bear.) Shoppers in line were welcome to save places for friends and family in the line to see Santa, but only children in line that had tickets would receive a teddy bear. I went up and down the line repeatedly explaining the tickets and the line policy until the crowd calmed down and all tickets were distributed. By the time Santa arrived, that line stretched around the Santa set, from center court down one side of the mall, out an entrance and half way around one side of a department store - but people were calm and in the Holiday spirit. Lesson learned: Make plans for crowd control because you never know when you may need it. To this day, one of those bears sits on a shelf in my office as a reminder of that lesson.
#3 - Customers Will Complain About Anything If You Give Them The Opportunity
In 14 years, I’ve handled a lot of complaining customers. My favorite was a well dressed, well spoken older lady who stopped by our office one weekday in mid-December. She was loaded with bags and calmly and politely asked to speak with a manager. When I offered to help her she launched into a loud angry tirade about the free gift wrap. How dare we not charge and give the money to charity or allow the wrappers to take tips? How come we only had two color choices for the free wrap? (Red and green – go figure?) And what were we thinking only having six wrappers in the gift wrap center? At first I thought one of my co-workers was playing a joke on me. It took me about 30 seconds to realize that she was dead serious. Apparently I said the right things and she went on her way. After a moment of stunned silence everyone in the office lost it. We laughed until it hurt. Lesson learned: Customers truly will complain about anything, but you have to treat each and every one seriously. And if you can’t laugh at our industry’s little curve balls, you may not be in the right line of work.
#2 - It’s Not As Easy To Make Balloon Arches As You Think – Especially At 4AM
We were having a sidewalk sale and wanted to decorate with balloons. We thought it would be great to do giant arches that went over our escalators so people rode through them as they went up and down. Boy were we deflated when we got the quotes – balloon companies wanted thousands of dollars to make the arches and our budget was tiny. So we decided, my assistant, my visual merchandiser, and I that we would make them. How hard could it be – it was just PVC, balloons, some hi-float, and a helium tank or two – right? We decided to go for it and ordered the supplies, giddy at the cost of only $400. Several other staff members volunteered to help – we said no. How long could this take – we would be done by 1:00 or 2:00 am right? We met at the mall at 9:00 pm with sodas, pizza, and snacks thinking we would have a great time. And we did – for the first hour or so. After that, it became apparent that this would not go nearly as fast as we thought. Your fingers really hurt after tying several hundred balloons and sliding them on to PVC poles. We were still there at 8:30 am when the rest of the staff came in. We had the mall decorated by 10:00 but we were exhausted and had a new appreciation for exactly what it takes to make balloon décor. Lesson learned: Ask for help when you need it and NEVER EVER turn down volunteers!
#1 - When The Nut House Burns Down, Call 911
My very first night as MOD at my very first center was quite eventful. I had worked in the industry for about 45 days. I had survived mall-wide trick-or-treat on Halloween and though I was ready for anything. Until I picked up my phone to hear the young customer service representative on duty tell me in a panicked voice, “the nut house is on fire.” My response was to calmly tell her to put down the phone and call 911. I then got the marketing manager (who happened to still be there) and went running to center court. When I got there, the Morrow’s Nut House was in fact on fire and the manager from a neighboring shoe store was using a small fire extinguisher to try to put out a large fire. Flames shot out of the roasting machine and the oil combined with the fire extinguisher foam created thick and horrible smelling smoke. The Morrow’s employee was crying and a semi-large crowd had gathered to watch. As the mall filled with dense black smoke, the fire department arrived, and we were ordered to evacuate. I had no idea how to do this – thankfully my marketing manager did. Lesson learned: Be prepared for a crisis of any kind and know how to handle one when it does happen. Because it is not a matter of if an emergency will happen, but when. (Oh, and running towards a burning fire and thick smoke is probably not the smartest thing to do either.)
What does this have to do with DIY you ask? More than you think. As funny as some of these stories are, I did actually live, learn and laugh over or through every one of them. Besides, how many people can actually say they have had people bathe in their mall fountains? (A story I will spare you.) But when you think about it, what better way to teach yourself something than by experience. Conventional? No way! Some great DIY lessons learned? Absolutely!
Sidebar
Have a great story that taught you a lesson in a funny or interesting way? Here’s your chance to share! Email them to [email protected] and we’ll print some of the best in a future DIY column!