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<br />.�; The UniversltU rlot��rs sales salo�i in Dg�ssinn Vnlle(/ C�nter is
<br />" prncl.�g custvm�rs cvill buy �$2,QO0 cnrs as tcell as $2 IlBC�CElGS.
<br />■ "Ford's Smartest Address?"
<br />That's the way University Motors
<br />in San Die�o, Calif. is promoting
<br />its new car sales salon in Mission
<br />Valley Shopping Center—one of
<br />San Diego's most successful and
<br />unique centers. (It's unique because
<br />much of the parking is beneath the
<br />stores; a moving sidewalk takes
<br />customer.s to business level.)
<br />Plush chairs, a red carpet-covered
<br />reception booth, walls of mirrors,
<br />private offices for salesmen and
<br />palace-like chandeliers—and a first
<br />such shopping center set up in the
<br />United States. Is that sma;t enough?
<br />"The shopping center location
<br />has already proven highly effective,"
<br />says Manager Danny Blackman.
<br />"We've sold lots of cars right off
<br />Rece�>tion platform is red-curpet, wall to ir;ft is hu�� mirror and chandelfer upgrades traditional coricept of dealership outlet.
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<br />the floor and we've got a terrific
<br />num}�er af leads that resulted in
<br />sales when salessnen followed them
<br />up.
<br />"Of course, we've been in the
<br />shopping center for less than six
<br />months—so we don`t yet have all
<br />the facts. But, we're beginning to
<br />get the answers ta lots of questions
<br />the new car industry has been won-
<br />dering about for some time.
<br />"I mean, will some people le�
<br />themselves be motivated `on im-
<br />pulse' to buy a new car in much
<br />the same way that they buy a new
<br />shirt or tie or expensive box of
<br />chocolates?
<br />"Can mass traffic ( such as shop-
<br />ping centers provide) be effectively
<br />and simply sifted through to find the
<br />few buyers out of the hundreds of
<br />lookers?
<br />Cars buyers' choice
<br />"Will new car buyers react favor-
<br />abiy to buyinb from an outlet that
<br />is some distance from an agency's
<br />service and repair department or
<br />will they prefer to buy from the
<br />firm's main sales and service com-
<br />bination headquarters?
<br />"Our feeling is that a shopping
<br />center location can play a vital part
<br />in a dealer's overall exposure and
<br />resultant sales volume."
<br />Blackman said that at first there
<br />was a problem of making people
<br />understand that the shopping center
<br />location was a permanent sales out-
<br />let and that the thirteen new cars
<br />were both for show and for selling.
<br />A large sign, listing a number of
<br />reasons why customers should buy
<br />new cars there, helped clear up this
<br />"auto show" misconception.
<br />More exposure: more sales
<br />Pleased with the success of Uni-
<br />versity Motors new sales salon,
<br />Blackman concluded that the volume
<br />turnover so necessary to success in
<br />today's business revolution is de-
<br />pendent on greater exposure. "With
<br />its built-in traffic, that exposure is
<br />virtually guaranteed in a shopping
<br />center location. Realizing that ex-
<br />posure is one of the keys to moder�
<br />selling, it's no paradox that shop•
<br />ping centers should be the nucleu;
<br />where sales of both $2 n�;ck ties anc
<br />$2,000 autos germinate."
<br />SHOPPING CENTER AGE, JUNE 1963
<br />Lr�sting the �aee acJ
<br />� sho �ng cer��er tr�aine�
<br />l�p
<br />o What does it feel like tc� $,ud-
<br />dently be thrust into the warld's
<br />largest shopping center f�or six
<br />weeks of intensive public relations
<br />training?
<br />This was my experience in
<br />December as a senior public re-
<br />lations major from San Jose State
<br />Callege interning at Portland, Ore.
<br />Lloyd Center. The internship, re-
<br />quired of PR majors at SJS, was
<br />arranged by Pearce Davies, asso-
<br />ciate professor of journalism at
<br />SJS, and Ron Schmidt, Lloyd
<br />Center public relations director.
<br />Lloyd Center is reputed to be
<br />the world's largest shopping cen-
<br />ter. I believe it. The center is
<br />designed in three levels of archi-
<br />tectural concrete with parking
<br />facilities for 8,000 cars.
<br />Such a place isn't hard to find.
<br />If you're driving from San Fran-
<br />cisco, as I did, I'd advise you to
<br />throw away the road map and
<br />concentrate on the billboards
<br />(much easier).
<br />Like most students in this phase
<br />of the program, I was a bit anxious.
<br />Especially I wondered what they
<br />would have me be doing the first
<br />day ... and was most shocked
<br />when checking in . . . Barbara
<br />Lowden, Schmidt's cute but teas-
<br />ing assistant presented me with a
<br />Santa Claus costume! . . . Schmidt
<br />(good fellow) arrived in the nick
<br />of time and took the blamed thitig
<br />away from her!
<br />Schmidt explained, as we sat
<br />down in his office that Danny
<br />Kaye was to arrive within the week
<br />for a show in the center ice pa-
<br />vilion, part of the annual Scandi-
<br />navian "Lucia Festival of Lights"
<br />pageant. Fifty thousand attended
<br />this program last year.
<br />I went to work immediately on
<br />news releases, TV script, and
<br />photo copy as the promotion was
<br />just four days away.
<br />In addition to the "Lucia" pub-
<br />licity there was copy to get out on
<br />the Christmas lighting display, this
<br />By R. E. FERGUSON
<br />year the largest w�st of the Missis-
<br />sippi. (The center was decorated
<br />with better than 50,000 lights and
<br />the centrally located 72-foot
<br />Christmas tree was trimmed in
<br />15,000 lights!)
<br />Copy for this drove me nuts!
<br />I was delivering to three dailies,
<br />l0 TV stations, plus the wire serv-
<br />ices. This adds up to a lot of copy
<br />if you don't want to be repetitive.
<br />I am now of the opinion that after
<br />lights ��gleam," ��glisten," "S�11T10,"
<br />"sparkle," "glow," and "beam"
<br />... they can do only one thi�g ...
<br />blow out!
<br />After two weeks of Schmidt's
<br />pac� T was exhausted. Schmidt,
<br />incidentally, is a remarkable �er-
<br />son. It was a pleasure to see him
<br />operate.
<br />Tak� for example the December
<br />`Fly 'n' Shop" promotion he
<br />dreamed up. The idea was a joint
<br />promotion on the part of Lloyd
<br />Center, West Coast Airlines and
<br />the Sheraton-Portland Hotel (lo-
<br />cated in the center). West Coast
<br />Airlines of�ered a state-wide air-
<br />line shopper special to Lloyd Cen-
<br />ter at reduced fare. Lloyd Center
<br />provided free limousine service
<br />between the airport and the Shera-
<br />continuerl on page 34
<br />29
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