COMBINING ENTERTAINMENT AND RETAIL
by Lim Lay Ying
Property Times, New Straits Times
18th December 2004

This Christmas season, Myer Department Store came up with a novel idea for its window display at its centre located at Bourke Street Mall in Melbourne. Five of its mall-fronting windows were dressed up with scenes from “The Polar Express” – a CGI-animated version of Chris Van Allsburg’s charming 29-page picture book, which is being aired in cinemas worldwide.

Figure 1: 2004 Christmas Windows in Myer Melbourne
(Myer Stores, www.myers.com.au)

Throngs of curious on-lookers – both old and young, queued to catch a glimpse of the 3D scenes which have been reenacted from the movie. Curtains are raised for the show each day between seven in the morning through to one the next morning.

It was quite an enthralling display of sophisticated entertainment by Myer, that is cleverly combined with retail to create its identity and ultimately achieve patron “capture”. Obviously, it indicates that entertainment and retail when properly conceived, shows dynamic potential and will undoubtedly become part of the ongoing evolution of retail centres.

Here are some basic guidelines to remember when contemplating combining entertainment with retail:-

• Although always subservient to the basic retail intentions, entertainment must have enough ‘critical mass’ to be effective and viable. A token effort more often than not, yields a negative effect.
• Appeal to the broadest range of age groups possible to ensure financial viability. This includes teenagers as well as getting adults to spend more on themselves – especially on impulse, besides splurging on their children.
• It is important to integrate entertainment and leisure, retail and food/restaurants appropriately, and take advantage of the investment in the necessary theatrical environment to effectively combine these uses.
• Incorporating entertainment as a prime focus in the promotional campaign of the entire centre, will go a long way.
• Avoid looking only at the most profitable leisure components such as a video arcade only, as it is unlikely to be an asset to the centre as a whole.
• Understand that entertainment, if properly conceived can be an asset to the retail and should not be treated as another profit centre to generate the same return per square meter as for retail space.
• Be prepared to consider a continuous program of upgrading and reinvestment since the facility can become stale. This exercise is usually cosmetic in nature.
• No matter what attractions that are put into the entertainment mix of a given project, the environment, ambiance or “theme” of the surroundings is as critical as the mix itself.
• Be extremely careful in considering “new technology” and prototypes – (examples of virtual reality and “space” theming). They are expensive, have poor capacity, and have to be kept up-to-date continually to be able to draw a consistent stream of visitors.
• Any kind of entertainment facility, particularly those associated with retail, will be extremely influenced by actual school hours during the day; weekend intensive use, school holiday periods, both short and extended, and weather patterns. As much use as possible in slow periods must be pursued.
• Be careful to keep a broad appeal to the entertainment product particularly in a retail repeat visit facility. Dangers lie in going to extremes such as trendy, short term facilities with no long term appeal on one hand and the concentration of video and arcade games on the other.
• The day construction is complete and operations actually began, there is still a lot of work to accomplish to ensure successful on-going and profitable operation.
• The physical location of entertainment within the retail center is extremely important. A bad, inaccessible retail location is not a good entertainment location. “Centre court” allows for maximum exposure and will have a major effect on the financial viability of the entertainment.
• The notion that entertainment will turn a bad retail center into a successful center is by no means a safe assumption. Successful entertainment requires the same criteria such as location, population base, market share, perceived quality and quantity, competition, etc. as does successful retail. If the retail doesn’t work, the entertainment will likely face the same problem.
• More effective entertainment is usually achieved when integrated into the design of a new facility. Retrofit solutions are more difficult but can be successful if the circumstances are well understood.
• Enough anecdotal evidence has proven that if properly conceived, an effective, enjoyable family environment can be achieved in entertainment centers associated with retail. They are not the territory of “teenage thugs” who become the scourge of the community. Resolution of this issue however depends on knowledge, competence, and proven experience with this type of facility.

The Malaysian retail industry is getting increasingly complex, and is in a continuous state of change as it adapts or reacts to the changing needs and demands of the market place. The small size of the country’s domestic market has created an intensively competitive industry, but entertainment can and does present numerous potential opportunities to give retail centres the competitive edge, extend the length of stay of shoppers, and ensure repeat visitations.