Jones Lang LaSalle Gets Creative with a Small Space and Sees Traffic Increase!

October 28, 2009

“We were facing decreasing traffic in that wing because an anchor closed,” says Cherie M. Napier, Marketing Manager of Serramonte Shopping Center. “We have definitely seen a noticeable increase in traffic.”

Serramonte Shopping Center, owned by Capital and Counties USA, is located in Daly City, CA, just south of San Francisco. The center didn’t have a lot of room to introduce a new amenity but Napier says she was determined to install a new play area.

“Our hallways only allowed for a 10-foot-wide play area,” explains Napier. “But I knew there was a center with a play area just four miles away and parents were chatting online about the fact that they went there just because of the play area. It drove me crazy. I thought, ‘If that’s all it takes, we’ve got to do this!’”

Napier says she had talked to PLAYTIME, LLC about her dilemma and was heartened when she discovered that they had launched a program called “Little Footprints.”

“These smaller play areas are designed for customers with smaller budgets and smaller spaces,” says David O’Niones, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Little Footprints are pre-designed, turnkey play systems that can fit centers with corridors as narrow as 30 feet.”

Napier says the response has been exciting.

“Parents are extremely happy. It’s a small play area but it hasn’t been overcrowded,” she says, adding, “We’ve gotten letters from happy parents and we figure that for every one person who writes there are 25 other happy people.”

Little Footprints features include a fully enclosed wall surround, integrated seating, custom themed safety surfacing, interior rules signage, built-in shoe cubbies, interactive play panels and soft-sculpted foam play elements.

“It has transformed that wing of our center,” says Napier. “It took an expense on the owner’s part but we have more traffic and the space is more appealing to potential leasers.”