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Can GIGL help Revive Mall Traffic?
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
