Going Boldly Beyond the Lifestyle Center
Make Way for the Newest Shopping Experience called Environmental Retailing
by Leslie McKerns
Consumers are always looking for something new and exciting, and savvy developers will always give it to them. Some of the country’s most ambitious retail environments are known as Lifestyle Centers. Now, a newer trend called Environmental Retailing is poised to take over retail.
Environmental Retailing is a total place of attraction with an experience worthy of holding attention for an extended day to night stay. An Environmental Retailing Center doesn’t just sit passively on a site filled with shops, but blends unique shops and restaurants onto a terrific site, and offers a dynamic series of cultural and community events. One such center, Downtown at the Gardens, in Palm Beach Gardens, FL is a destination so complete it has its own curated art collection.
This Environmental Retailing Center has a tropical feel with extensive landscaping and the proper magical mix of hardscape to landscape. Water features, fountains and lakes invite movement, provide active water sounds and create visual and physical relief. Breezeways capture and funnel cooling air. Protection from the hottest days comes with shade provided by umbrellas, shade structures and leafy trees.
While Environmental Retailing projects are architecturally oriented, they are open to their site, with features such as strolling paths and bridges connecting manmade lakes to residential areas. Art features prominently in the design, with permanent hardscape designed to display collections.
Knowing that shoppers are fickle, the developer, Menin Development Companies, Inc. traveled cross country, Chicago, Atlanta, New York, on a quest to find the unique and the unusual. Menin sought trendy shops and restaurants new to South Florida but with a track record of success elsewhere.
Rather than creating an artificial Old Town or a traditional marketplace feel, an Environmental Retailing Center showcases storefronts, colors, signage and design, allowing stores and restaurants to be the attraction.
Parking is never far from a destination point. Valet service delivers your car to you no matter where you initially parked. Multiple entrances provide visual appeal and ease of entry, both physically and psychologically. The entire center is carefully built to Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design standards. Known as CPTED, these design techniques employ psychological design as much as physical barriers.
Much in the sense of traditional Feng Shui, CPTED design provides not only a real sense of safety and well-being, but a perceived one as well. Bushes are kept low, lighting is glare free, and all around is a feeling of belonging or not, as the case may be.
Free wireless internet captures the electronic crowd, and gift cards function as customized credit cards throughout the retailing complex and the restaurants. Card holders become club members with access to amenities such as valet parking for multiple trips per month, car washes and detailing.
Seasonal events are scheduled, with a summer focus on bringing in professional groups in the 6-8 PM hours.
Extending hours much beyond the usual closing time of most retailers is attracting the after work crowd; mingling, meeting friends, sampling wine and food, and seeing the latest in the shops is part of the experience.
Shoppers staying day into night need sustenance, and adding unique food is key to the successful mix. Food samplings range from the ultra high end steakhouse, upscale Mexican fare, to health conscious gourmet food.
People want to go where other people are, and vibrant, central gathering places are where shoppers visit more often and stay longer when they do.
Convenience, unique shopping and entertainment--at an Environmental Retailing Center--soon to be near you.
McKerns Development, a Florida based PR, Marketing, Business Development agency, works with business owners to increase visibility and promote their projects and services through well placed press. For unique PR service packages and free marketing information visit http://www.freewebs.com/mckernsdevelopment
Leslie McKerns, is a publicist and business development specialist, a consistent contributor to major magazines and newspapers, and the Real Estate Editor of CitySmart magazine.
by Leslie McKerns
Consumers are always looking for something new and exciting, and savvy developers will always give it to them. Some of the country’s most ambitious retail environments are known as Lifestyle Centers. Now, a newer trend called Environmental Retailing is poised to take over retail.
Environmental Retailing is a total place of attraction with an experience worthy of holding attention for an extended day to night stay. An Environmental Retailing Center doesn’t just sit passively on a site filled with shops, but blends unique shops and restaurants onto a terrific site, and offers a dynamic series of cultural and community events. One such center, Downtown at the Gardens, in Palm Beach Gardens, FL is a destination so complete it has its own curated art collection.
This Environmental Retailing Center has a tropical feel with extensive landscaping and the proper magical mix of hardscape to landscape. Water features, fountains and lakes invite movement, provide active water sounds and create visual and physical relief. Breezeways capture and funnel cooling air. Protection from the hottest days comes with shade provided by umbrellas, shade structures and leafy trees.
While Environmental Retailing projects are architecturally oriented, they are open to their site, with features such as strolling paths and bridges connecting manmade lakes to residential areas. Art features prominently in the design, with permanent hardscape designed to display collections.
Knowing that shoppers are fickle, the developer, Menin Development Companies, Inc. traveled cross country, Chicago, Atlanta, New York, on a quest to find the unique and the unusual. Menin sought trendy shops and restaurants new to South Florida but with a track record of success elsewhere.
Rather than creating an artificial Old Town or a traditional marketplace feel, an Environmental Retailing Center showcases storefronts, colors, signage and design, allowing stores and restaurants to be the attraction.
Parking is never far from a destination point. Valet service delivers your car to you no matter where you initially parked. Multiple entrances provide visual appeal and ease of entry, both physically and psychologically. The entire center is carefully built to Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design standards. Known as CPTED, these design techniques employ psychological design as much as physical barriers.
Much in the sense of traditional Feng Shui, CPTED design provides not only a real sense of safety and well-being, but a perceived one as well. Bushes are kept low, lighting is glare free, and all around is a feeling of belonging or not, as the case may be.
Free wireless internet captures the electronic crowd, and gift cards function as customized credit cards throughout the retailing complex and the restaurants. Card holders become club members with access to amenities such as valet parking for multiple trips per month, car washes and detailing.
Seasonal events are scheduled, with a summer focus on bringing in professional groups in the 6-8 PM hours.
Extending hours much beyond the usual closing time of most retailers is attracting the after work crowd; mingling, meeting friends, sampling wine and food, and seeing the latest in the shops is part of the experience.
Shoppers staying day into night need sustenance, and adding unique food is key to the successful mix. Food samplings range from the ultra high end steakhouse, upscale Mexican fare, to health conscious gourmet food.
People want to go where other people are, and vibrant, central gathering places are where shoppers visit more often and stay longer when they do.
Convenience, unique shopping and entertainment--at an Environmental Retailing Center--soon to be near you.
McKerns Development, a Florida based PR, Marketing, Business Development agency, works with business owners to increase visibility and promote their projects and services through well placed press. For unique PR service packages and free marketing information visit http://www.freewebs.com/mckernsdevelopment
Leslie McKerns, is a publicist and business development specialist, a consistent contributor to major magazines and newspapers, and the Real Estate Editor of CitySmart magazine.
This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_129806_33.html
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_129806_33.html
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