Netherby

Vincent Citrino Position: General Manager, Fallbrook Mall Born: Philadelphia, Oct. 7, 1948 Education: B.A., organizational management, Eastern College, Pennsylvania Most Admired Person: Joe DiMaggio Personal: Married, 1 daughter, three step-children By JENNIFER NETHERBY Staff Reporter While the famed Sherman Oaks Galleria has garnered a lot of attention with its April closure following a sharp decline in business, it is not the only Valley mall to encounter troubles in the 90s. The three malls in the Woodland Hills area Topanga Plaza, Promenade Mall and Fallbrook Mall have all announced renovation plans in the hope of luring shoppers back with a new image. Fallbrook, the Valley’s fourth-largest mall and one of the oldest, has pinned its future on “value” shoppers, announcing it will go after big-box stores and discount shops to fill its space partially occupied now by Target, Mervyns and JC Penney. With a 35 percent vacancy rate and sales per square foot below average, the mall’s future is far from certain. But Fallbrook General Manager Vincent Citrino is hopeful. “I see it as a diamond in the rough, we haven’t shaved off all that dirt yet.” Fallbrook’s sales were up 5 percent in 1998 over the previous year and mall owner General Growth Properties is in negotiations to bring in more stores and turn Fallbrook into a regional discount center. Question: There have been several tries at revamping the mall over the last decade. What has worked, what hasn’t? Answer: I think one thing that has worked is the value concept. (The mall has) found its niche there. I believe shopping centers today are looking more for their niche market as opposed to going to all the masses, and I think value has done very well for Fallbrook. What hasn’t worked? Probably enclosing it from an open-air theater to an enclosed mall. Q: Westfield America has announced plans to possibly turn the Promenade Mall and Topanga Plaza, both just blocks away, into outdoor malls and has pumped money into marketing the malls. Has that had an effect on Fallbrook or your plans for the future? A: That’s where niche marketing really becomes a strong focus. For some reason, I don’t think we interrupt each other that much. I think Topanga, even though we serve the same market, serves it at a different level than we do. We’re competition, but not competing for the same people. We’re still competing for the same disposable income. Q: What are the remodeling plans for Fallbrook? A: It’s headed to something bigger, better but staying within the value concept. What it’s going to look like, that I can’t explore with you because at this point I don’t even know. We are talking to many retailers. We have a vision that we would like to see and we’re hoping the retailers will join us in this process. However, we’re not sure they’re going to. We are talking to (Costco, T.J. Maxx and other big-box) retailers. Hopefully we can cement some deals and move forward. Q: Why do you think there’s a market for stores like that in the area? A: You’ve got a pretty well-entrenched neighborhood here. People have been here for a long time. There’s not much turnover in population and there’s certainly not much building going on within our area. I think we’re just trying to be a community-based center with a lot of goods and needs for the community. Q: How far along are renovation plans? A: Very preliminary. I believe until we explore some more, until we get some commitments, it’s going to be very hard to move forward and announce anything. At this point it’s very exploratory. Q: Are plans to turn the mall into an outdoor shopping center still on the table? A: It’s part of the vision, but that could change tomorrow. It depends on the retailers we are able to entice. Q: What do you think Fallbrook Mall is lacking in terms of stores? A: Staying with the value concept, there’s many people out there, big boxes Costco, Old Navy, Ross, Marshall’s, T.J. Maxx. There’s numerous, numerous players that fit the criteron. Whether they come here or not, you have to throw something out to them and say “This is what we want to do, are you interested?” and go from there. Q: How did the value concept come about for Fallbrook? A: I think it goes back into the early ’90s when we started the niche marketing, when we found there was an over-saturation of shopping centers within the United States and I think people started looking at what they do best. If we’re a fashion center, we should be a fashion center. I think that’s something that really transcended through the years. Q: The Woodland Hills area has been able to attract shoppers from throughout the region. Do you think the new Commons in Calabasas will cut into the area’s shoppers? A: I think the Commons was a good thing for Calabasas. And I think it offers the people of Calabasas and Woodland Hills an alternative. It’s wonderful they did that. I believe variety is always good. I think they have a different venue. They’re looking for value, but their value’s a little different than what we would get here in the Valley. Even though it’s so close, it’s really different. Q: Strip malls in the area are increasingly able to attract tenants like Borders and Victoria’s Secret that used to be confined to malls. Has that cut into mall shoppers? A: It goes back again to this: certain things work well with other things. If you’re shopping and you’re going for clothes, you’re going to go to the stores that attract you. You’re trying to go to a place where you have three or four choices. If you’re looking for that (Express, Limited) you’re going to go to Topanga. If you’re looking for value, you’re going to go elsewhere. If you want Donna Karan, you’re going to head out to the outlets. That’s the difference. You’re seeing a lot of (stores) that feed off each other, stay together.