It’s Called Currency

I work for a company that owns malls throughout the United States. It’s kind of ironic because I, personally, hate shopping. But I’m in the marketing department and I get a daily dose of why the company needs people to go shopping. And, as someone who’s trying to fathom the current state of our national economy, I’m starting to have a much better understanding of why the country needs us all to shop as well.In a recent NPR Planet Money podcast, they interviewed a guy who talked about the “threadbare” shape of a mall’s Christmas tree. They pretty much made fun of the mall’s statement that they were “going green” this year in an effort to reduce their electricity use and expense. This mall (not owned by the company I work for, BTW) had opted for using a tree that was likely already part of the property’s landscaping as it was in a planter rather than being a cut tree. So, no huge tree was purchased that would ultimately go to the landfill or be mulched. Nor was a giant plastic monstrosity erected to simulate the “real tree” look.  Cost savings for the mall, and ecologically sound as well. But the attitude here seemed to be that the mall was unnecessarily cutting corners and shortchanging someone’s holiday experience.

You’ve heard the reports folks: retail sales are down. If the sales are down, doesn’t it follow that the stores are hurting? And maybe all those industries that support the stores are as well, like the landscapers, and the cleaning services, and the security companies, and the mall management company? You know, that management company that has suddenly taken a cut in their revenues because the Linens ‘N Things and B. Moss and KB Toys just closed their doors and are no longer paying rent? So they, in an effort to stay afloat themselves, have had to cut expenses. They start with things that hurt less, like electricity, so they don’t have to do the more painful steps like “staffing reductions” (a lovely euphemism for “firing people”). But maybe they’ve already done the layoffs and now they’re faced with trying to continue their operations on a shoestring staff and a miniscule budget. Perhaps it’s time to consider that the mall is a business, too, with debt obligations and expenses just like everyone else.

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