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Forum for june 15

With Wal-Mart opening its first Los Angeles store at the Panorama Mall, Selleck Development Group Inc. building a new retail center at the General Motors plant in Van Nuys, and shopping mall giant Westfield America Inc. buying the Promenade mall in Woodland Hills, the San Fernando Valley’s retail sector appears to be seeing a resurgence. In an environment of increased competition among retailers for limited customers, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal asks: What attracts you to a shopping center, or what repels you? R. Hank Miller (PHOTO IN SFVBJ APRIL 20, 1998 ISSUE, PAGE 18) Vice President and General Manager Bank of Granada Hills, Small Business Administration Division Granada Hills I guess it boils down to safety and aesthetics. If a mall has graffiti and looks tattered, it’s not attractive, and I don’t think I would feel safe going there. For example, I didn’t go to Northridge Fashion Center a couple of years ago because it felt unsafe. Now they have better lighting and bike security patrols, and I like going there again. Lorin Kupan Property Manager Grubb & Ellis Management Services Inc. Tarzana I have a busy life, so I try to organize my day to get the most things done at one time. A mall is attractive if there are other services nearby. For example, I should be able to drop my car off at a mechanic and get quickly to a mall. Or if I want to bring my teen agers and they don’t want to shop with me, I should be able to drop them off at a movie theater and meet them later. Phyliss Murphy (PHOTO IN THE APRIL 6, 1998 ISSUE, PAGE 10) President P. Murphy & Associates Burbank Easy parking and easy access is the biggest issue, especially because I do most of my shopping in the evenings and as a woman I want to feel safe. I tend to shop at the Northridge Fashion Center because the way that parking is set up, I can always find a spot near an entrance of a store. Robert Perlsweig CommuniCorp Calabasas I don’t go to malls unless I really have to. I go to whichever store I need to go to, and if it happens to be in a mall, then fine. I don’t go to malls because of any added convenience or anything like that. Jeff Reynolds President and Chief Executive Network Information Systems Inc. What attracts me is the consolidation of shopping options in one place. What turns me away from a mall is poor planning in terms of traffic management and crowd control. Some of these malls have so many things going on to attract people like carnivals that the crowds get in the way of people who come to shop. John Trierweller (PHOTO in APRIL 20 EDTION, PAGE 18) Vice President of Marketing Time Warner Communications Burbank I have two small children, so the things that make me come back to a mall are things like play areas or carousels. Those things can help get the kids excited about going shopping and make the experience more pleasant.

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