The king
of retail for decades, the death of shopping malls was proclaimed as
online shopping soared. Death predictions for brick and mortar malls
are a bit premature, but in the battle of clicks vs. bricks, the
clicks are taking an ever-increasing chunk of brick and mortar
business. Online shopping was less than 2% of all retail in 2004 but
by 2013 e-commerce accounted for 6% of all retail sales in the U.S.,
and e-commerce growth dwarfs that of brick and mortar.
Recent
stats show that malls are now suffering their greatest level of
vacancies since the over-building boom of the ‘70s. Vacancy rates
hover around 35% in over 200 different shopping malls nationwide.
Over the next decade, many of America’s shopping malls will fail,
and only upscale shopping centers with high-end anchors are expected
to survive.
Maybe
that’s why Westfield Corporation (OTC: WEFIF), one of the largest
mall owners and operators in the world, wants to expand their
existing partnership with Giggles N’ Hugs, Inc. (OTCQB: GIGL).
Anchored in upscale malls, Giggles N’ Hugs is a one-of-a-kind
restaurant chain that combines active, cutting-edge play and
entertainment for children with high-end, healthy organic food. A
true family destination, Giggles N’ Hugs provides an upscale,
family-friendly atmosphere with a play area that children absolutely
love. Nightly entertainment with magic shows, concerts, puppet shows,
face painting, play areas, party packages and high-quality fresh
local foods makes Giggles N’ Hugs the place families want to go to
do something special.
In a
letter to the Giggles N’ Hugs management team, a Westfield
Corporation executive recently stated, “Based on the performance we
have seen from Giggles N’ Hugs contributing to the overall family
foot traffic, making the kids corridor a vibrant part of the mall, as
well as helping us turn both Century City and Topanga malls into
major family destinations, we know there is more business to do with
your Company. Westfield is thrilled to have Giggles N’ Hugs as a
tenant and would like to strengthen our relationship with Giggles N’
Hugs by having more locations in our shopping centers and airports.”
Shopping
malls as major family destinations? Increased family foot traffic?
Vibrant corridors? No wonder Westfield already offers Giggles N’
Hugs up to 75% rent discounts and up to 50% of buildout costs and now
wants to expand the existing partnership by offering Giggles N’
Hugs its entire worldwide portfolio of malls for consideration for
future locations.
Giggles
N’ Hugs not only puts smiles on the faces of families, but also,
for a change, mall owners are smiling. With significant international
franchisee interest and a target of 12 company-owned stores within
two years, Giggles N’ Hugs could make investors smile, too.
Learn
more by visiting www.gigglesnhugs.com
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