GlobeSt.com: According to retailers what’s selling?

Coradino: For the most part, electronics were hot this year. From an apparel perspective, we saw a lot of hoodies, sweaters, fleece, jeans, outerwear, boots and shoes. Within the shoe category, UGGs and Timberland were hot. There was a new sneaker release—the [Nike] Michael Jordan 3 Retro shoe—and the Tim Duncan basketball shoe, so that boosted sales at the athletic stores. Cosmetics were hot this year: signature collections from Bath & Body were a big hit. Obviously, all of it could be put in a wrapper called “shoppers were responding to discounts and promotional offers.” Clearly the shopper was seeking the best deal, continuing to be price-conscious.

GlobeSt.com: How does the landlord help the retailers? You can’t control the merchandise mix in the stores or the weather.

Coradino: Long-term forecasts have it in pretty good shape until Christmas. That’s a good thing. From our perspective, we looked at what we can do this year to enhance the shopping experience and drive traffic at our centers. Obviously, you have the easy stuff, which has to do with maintenance, cleanliness and customer service.

On top of that, we’ve been deeply into social media. Our websites are interactive. We’re on Facebook and Twitter and we have a PREIT mall app now. Our websites feature the “Deal of the Day” and have a printable checklist, a sales promotion page. We offer fast passes to move to the front of the line when you’re visiting Santa—you can pre-purchase that on our website. We do a lot of e-blasts and we’ve been really active in terms of our mall app, our Facebook, Twitter, etc., which we think really gets out our customer.

Each week at our mall we have a contest to win a $300 gift card—you have to enter at customer service, so you have to be at the mall. We’re working on promotional efforts to sell our gift cards, and a number of our malls offer free shopping bags. It’s a real octopus approach—every possible arm we can extend to attract the customer, we’ve done: Performances at our mall from community choirs, charity gift wraps, relaxation stations where we give free massages… there’s no stone unturned. We think it’s working.

GlobeSt.com: Has the holiday shopping pattern—a huge Black Friday and Thanksgiving weekend, followed by a lull, picking up closer to Christmas—held up this year?

Coradino: Yes, particularly with the late timing of Hanukkah this year. We are experiencing that pattern holding up. We’re now beginning to see that traffic is picking up. I visited a few of our malls yesterday and was surprised at the traffic. I was there at 3:30 in the afternoon and Tuesday is not typically a peak shopping day, but the traffic was there. Yes, people’s shopping habits and trends have continued.

GlobeSt.com: Over the last few years, PREIT has made serious investments in renovating and expanding its properties, particularly adding dining and other uses. How has that helped sales this season?

Coradino: The kinds of restaurants we put in cater Christmas parties for companies and bring out people who are in the holiday mood. Families, particularly two-worker households, are eating out more. That brings that kind of a trip to a mall environment, and they use that opportunity to shop.

It’s all experiential at this point. We believe we have transformed a lot of our properties with our significant investment in improvements over the past five, six, seven years. That’s resulted in our centers becoming the shopping mall of choice in particular markets. We see value in our redevelopments, in the incorporation of restaurants, the addition of first-to-market retailers, and we’re seeing sales trend in that direction. We think we will eclipse our high water mark in sales of 2007 this year.

GlobeSt.com: Do you expect a crush on, and how are you preparing for, a Saturday Christmas Eve?

Coradino: I hope there is a last-minute crush and I think there will be one. People are busy, number one, and people tend to procrastinate. We think there will be a big push on December 17 and 18, and that December 23 is going to be a huge day. And let’s not forget the day after Christmas: A number of organizations including ICSC and NRF are talking about it being the second biggest day after Black Friday. Also, this year, Christmas Eve falling on a Saturday is an extra day—even with the shortened hours. That will give us a little bit of an edge over last year. The predictions are 2.5% to 3.0% sales growth. I think we’re going to outperform that and PREIT clearly will outperform that.