Outlet Centers Shine at ICSC Maxi Awards
Five outlet centers make it to the finals, two of them earning Merit Awards.

November 2006
By Mary Jo Melone, Contributing Writer

Outlet centers had plenty to shout about at the ICSC Fall Conference & Trade Show held in Chicago on Sept. 25-27, where the covered 2006 Maxi Awards were handed out.

Out of the 292 entries, give outlet centers or their developers were recognized – the most ever.

Prime Retail won a corporate Merit award in the business-to-business marketing campaign category. Craig Realty Group’s Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., also won a Merit award. A Merit is, in effect, a second place finish to the Maxis.

The other three outlet centers were named as finalists. They included another Craig Realty Group center, Woodburn (Oregon) Company Stores; Rockvale Outlets in Lancaster, Pa., owned by PA Outlet Management; and Stoltz-operated The Shops at Las Americas in San Diego, Calif.

Centers were only judged against centers of similar size and were ranked on: marketing objectives and strategy: tactics and implementation; creativity: cost effectives and results and impact.

Thirty-five retail center executives – from the U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, Australia and Dubai – were among the judges. Cheryl Dougherty, SCMD, the VP for marketing for Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, based in Philadelphia, chaired the panel. The awards rated center work that took place between January 1, 2005 and May 31, 2006.

Among the honors:

• Citadel Outlets was honored in the advertising category for its campaign, “If These Walls Count Talk…” among centers between 200,000 sf and 499,999 sf.

• Prime Retail won for its business-to-business effort. “Extreme Makeover – Tourism Outreach.”

• Woodburn scored among centers ranging in size from 200,000 sf and 499,999 sf in the sales promotion and events category for its “Tourists Love Tax-Free Shopping” program.

• Rockvale Outlets at Lancaster was honored in the sales promotions and events category for centers sized between 500,000 sf and 749,999 sf for its ‘World’s Greatest Shoo-Fly Pie Contest.”

• Las Americas also placed among centers between 500,000 and 749,999 sf in the grand openings, expansions and renovations category for its “Fashions Without Borders Premier,” a campaign that took place at the opening of a center expansion.