(Save the date: RealShare Chicago comes to the Union League Club of Chicago October 23.)
CHICAGO-Jones Lang LaSalle is trying a switcheroo mall experiment –letting children run the stores – this year at 18 centers. The idea, Kids Inc., allows youngsters ages 6-15 to create a product and gain votes to be allowed to sell the concept at their local mall for a day.
The concept has been successful already at JLL’s Westgate Mall in Amarillo, TX. Basically, and with help from parents, children and teens can submit a business plan via the mall’s Facebook page. Fans of the site then vote for their favorite business ideas, and the top 10-15 winners will be selected to come to a “business showcase” day to sell their product and even keep their earnings.
The program is being held at 18 properties, including Rosedale Center in Roseville, MN; Tallahassee Mall in Tallahassee, FL, Windward Mall in Kaneohe, HI, Genesee Valley Center in Flint, MI and Central Malls in Ft. Smith, AR; Lawton, OK; and Port Arthur and Texarkana, TX. Products are just about anything you can think of – at the Genesee Valley property, the ideas so far include a bake sale for a local school playground, a duct-tape clothing and accessories store, henna tattoos, a cupcake stand, a nail art studio and a bottle-cap clothing accessories store.
Julie Crane Rickey, SVP and director of portfolio marketing services for JLL, tells GlobeSt.com that it’s a great way for the mall and its retailers to engage customers and generate traffic. Legality is similar to Girl Scouts selling cookies, she says. “It’s really low risk,” Rickey says. “It’s a great way to use the whole social media aspect to drive sales, and who knows, there could be the next Steve Jobs out there who’s motivated by the event.”
Voting is taking place over the next two weeks, and the children are trying a few marketing ideas to gain attention, Rickey says. “There’s a few that have said they are donating their winnings, including a boy who’s drawing pictures for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, because he’s in the program himself,” she says.
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