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Mall Psychic Fights E-commerce

WWW Signs Outlawed, Ugh?... I guess it was bound to happen somewhere sooner or later. "The Saint Louis Galleria informed its 170 retail tenants in a letter last week of a new policy prohibiting any in-store 'signs, insignias, decals or other advertising or display devices which promote and encourage the purchase of merchandise via e-commerce.'" (WSJ, Nov 24, 1999). According to Mark Zorensky, the president of Hycel Partners, which owns the property, "If a sale is rung up on the Internet, then it's not rung up in a store. ... and conceivably the retailer could charge online returns against store sales." Translation: E-commerce is not good for me.

According to the WSJ article, most tenants don't appear to be complying with the new policy. In fact, some merchants continue to encourage shoppers to visit their web sites to win prizes or save time (or avoid sales taxes?). Hey, this is heresy to Hycel. ... But you will not believe this. The Saint Louis Galleria web site contains hyperlinks to merchants' actual web sites. So I used the Galleria site to go to Rand McNally on the web and buy a map. (Thank you, Galleria!)

Contrast this story with an article the same day in the New York Times about how brick-and-mortar merchants and their landlords are striking back. For example, Mills Corporation, owner of Gurnee Mills Mall in Gurnee, IL (near Chicago), has taken a creative approach to attracting real world shoppers with a Psychic Aid Station. There, according to the Times (Nov 24, 1999), a "'tried and tested' clairvoyant, Joanna Ammons, will conduct free readings to help shoppers with holiday ideas..." Hey, you can't get that at Amazon.com -- yet. ... How do you think shopping center owners should address e-commerce? Send e-mail to me at , and I'll report in a future Dispatch.

PikeNet 2000... Want to know more about Internet listings? Don't miss the Real Estate Information CEO Roundtable discussion with Dennis DeAndre of LoopNet, Andy Florance of the Costar Group and John Stanfill of PropertyFirst.com. ... PikeNet 2000, Apr 5-7, 2000, in San Francisco. Click the link at the top of the home page or www.pikenet.com/pikenet2000. ... The conference registration form should be posted by Wednesday.

--Peter