Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

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Re: Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

Post by storewanderer »

babs wrote: April 21st, 2022, 8:09 pm Westfield took the branding exercise too far. But others do it too.. Simon's name is all over their malls and outlet centers. For a brand name to work, you need to enforce brand standards. As a shopper, I'm not clear what they are at Westfield or Simon.
My market has a Simon mall and they don't have their name anywhere on the exterior even after some renovations were done in the past decade, but it is on some signs, security policies, etc. inside the mall.

When they market the mall which isn't much sometimes the marketing messages mention that it is a Simon property but other times they don't mention it. Any retailer who advertises and says they are located at the mall, simply refers to the mall's name, never includes Simon in their location information (in verbal ads, print ads, when they answer the phone, website locators, etc.). Westfield seemed to want their name to be used steadily.... at every turn (or every example like I just cited) when the mall was being referenced. Ego much?
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Re: Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

Post by luckysaver »

BreakingThrough wrote: April 19th, 2022, 1:24 pm
storewanderer wrote: April 18th, 2022, 11:05 pm The "Shoppingtown" name was a very poor fit for the US too. That definitely did not help their case any. Often times when "town" follows a retail establishment name in the US, it seems to either be a backwoods sort of operation or a poor operation.

The first time I saw the Westfield name or the Shoppingtown branding, I was somewhat intrigued. I started to wonder what is special about this mall that makes it have this unique chain looking name. Do the people shopping there seem happier than other malls? Nope. Are these hosts or ambassadors going throughout the mall to build up the Westfield brand and make me feel good about being there? Nope. Does it have a fantastic arcade inside? Nope. Does it have a fantastic food court inside? Nope. Does it look better than some malls? Yes. Does it appear to have upscale/high end retailers present? Yes.
I grew up the son of a shopaholic so I spent a lot of my childhood inside malls. When Westfield acquired and renamed the mall closest to us, Plaza Camino Real in Carlsbad / Oceanside, CA, to "Westfield Shoppingtown Plaza Camino Real", I think I was about 11 or 12. Even at that age I found the "Shoppingtown" name cheesy and downmarket...almost provincial. They were smart to drop the name but I think it made a really low-end and immature first impression.

Now I'm in LA and people still call "Westfield Culver City" the Fox Hills Mall all these years later. Westfield was like "fetch" -- they were just never able to make it happen. :-)
Westfield appears to be most proud of its Century City location (and its probably now their flagship US mall - they remodeled the entire 1964-built shopping complex in mutliple phases over the last several years). This location began its life in 1964-1965 as a typical supermarket-anchored neighborhood shopping center built on the former Fox Studios backlot for the new Century City and Century Park neighborhoods in LA's westside. Over time, the typical neighborhood stores were replaced by more upscale stores. Now it is by far the most upscale of all the Westfield SoCal locations (besides the Village at Topanga) and one of its newest anchors is an urgent care clinic operated by UCLA Health. The mall's oldest tenant, Gelsons (ex Mayfair) was recently remodeled with the new Gelsons decor. (This mall was almost attacked during the George Floyd riots of 2020 but LAPD and mall security successfully defended it before BLM protestors could even reach it)

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Re: Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

Post by veteran+ »

But the parking is a frickin nightmare!
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Re: Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

Post by storewanderer »

veteran+ wrote: May 4th, 2022, 11:01 am But the parking is a frickin nightmare!
Westfield says the parking is their driver's problem, not their problem.
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Re: Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

Post by veteran+ »

storewanderer wrote: May 4th, 2022, 7:00 pm
veteran+ wrote: May 4th, 2022, 11:01 am But the parking is a frickin nightmare!
Westfield says the parking is their driver's problem, not their problem.
Oh, that's nice!

Poorly designed and poorly signed. It is a maze with no signs posted so you can park near the store you plan to shop.
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Re: Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

Post by storewanderer »

veteran+ wrote: May 6th, 2022, 8:33 am
storewanderer wrote: May 4th, 2022, 7:00 pm
veteran+ wrote: May 4th, 2022, 11:01 am But the parking is a frickin nightmare!
Westfield says the parking is their driver's problem, not their problem.
Oh, that's nice!

Poorly designed and poorly signed. It is a maze with no signs posted so you can park near the store you plan to shop.
They spent all of their money on Westfield signs (which mean nothing to the consumer).

I wonder if any tenants ever suggested getting directional signage in the parking area to help customers park closer to their stores?
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Re: Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

Post by Bluelightspecial »

I disagree. Westfield spent well over a billion dollars on Century City. They've spent almost as much on Topanga and The Village which are still under construction. They might want to sell their US properties, but they aren't going to give them away.
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Re: Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

Post by ClownLoach »

Bluelightspecial wrote: May 8th, 2022, 9:36 pm I disagree. Westfield spent well over a billion dollars on Century City. They've spent almost as much on Topanga and The Village which are still under construction. They might want to sell their US properties, but they aren't going to give them away.
They also have spent a fortune on University Towne Center in La Jolla by UCSD and are not done yet. This includes Westfield's first apartment tower which is over 30 stories, ultra luxury priced, and seems to be almost entirely leased already. They still have to replace the former Nordstrom wing which is walled off currently after they moved to a new site on the property (its another outdoor mall like Century City) and Seritage is just now opening new stores that replace the former Sears. This is another billion dollar plus property as it is now - its still a smashing success from a retail perspective - and yet they could easily put five or six more of those towers on it and make a few billion more selling them as condos. The growth in North San Diego seems to be eclipsing anything else in California and probably the only place outside of the Inland Empire where the population is growing.

And I completely disagree on Westfield parking. They charge a nominal fee and have extensive signage everywhere for both drivers and pedestrians in both of the locations with complicated underground parking (Century, UTC). Very easy to find where you parked. I think they added quite a bit after the contractors finished the build.
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Re: Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

Post by Bluelightspecial »

I completely agree with you on the parking. It depends on the center. Some of their centers don't charge for parking. If its someplace like UTC or Century City you should expect to pay a nominal fee.
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Re: Westfield Says It Is Done With The U.S.

Post by ClownLoach »

I just don't see Westfield selling the entire portfolio in one chunk as they will make a lot less. They'll fire sale the bad properties and then be left with a highly valuable asset pool that they can contract out for management (so they can just bail the bucks without doing the work anymore). Or they'll sell the top properties off and then they can figure out a way to spin off the bad ones into a sinking anvil type corporation intended to fail to minimize their losses. I believe that in the mall world of today there are either great properties, dog properties, and already dead properties. Nothing in the middle. If an owner such as Westfield doesn't separate these assets out by grade then the dog properties (for example a declining Westfield mall in Escondido and another in Chula Vista) and dead properties will outweigh the value of the great properties (like the two I mentioned that easily could each be valued as a billion dollar asset). I think UTC is probably even more valuable than Century City because it is on a vast piece of land surrounded by ultra luxury, ultra high density offices and residential just a few miles from homes that make Bel Air and Beverly Hills homes look modest with 9 figure values (that is not a typo, was just looking at a $100 Million listing for an estate in Rancho Santa Fe and there are similar ones in La Jolla). They have to maximize the value of the portfolio and need to hurry before the recession starts.
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