Bling My Program!

by Robin Bliss

Makeovers

While TV has been busy documenting makeovers of everything from homes to human beings, a Virginia shopping center has created its own total makeover—on all of its RMUs.

A premier shopping destination with one million square feet of retail space in the heart of Norfolk's revitalized historic downtown, MacArthur Center recently created new visual bling for its already successful RMU (retail merchandising unit) program.

The makeover began when Kathy Loizos, east coast regional director of specialty retail for Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE:TCO), which owns and manages MacArthur Center, dispatched a visual merchandising team, including industry pro Matt Grace and me, to the center. The goal was to complete the makeover in time for the winter holiday shopping season, while ensuring the RMU décor would lend an ongoing festive touch to the shopping center year-round.

Taubman specialty leasing agents joined the project, participating in a visual merchanding training session before working with the visual merchandising team to cover display pads and help remerchandise the units.

"Actively taking part in the project was the most helpful part of the training and was a real learning experience for us as SLAs," observes MacArthur specialty leasing agent Jennifer Brown. "It showed us what to look for in improving a display—and that became particularly clear when we looked at the before and after photos. Even with something as simple as covering pads, we saw that just as color can change the feel of a room in your home, a simple color change in an RMU display can make a huge difference."

The visual merchandising team developed plans for each RMU in the weeks before the program makeover, including thematic displays incorporating props, color and display elements designed to increase merchandising space. The result not only increased the appeal of the RMU tenants but also added visual excitement to the common area of the mall.

Here's a look at several RMUs and the specific changes that took place in order to make these businesses even more attractive and appealing to shoppers (and center management).