As Provo Towne Centre mall sets "sale" Wednesday, Oct. 28, hitting an iceberg will be the furthest thing from anyone's mind.
Festivities galore, including gala parties, giveaways and, of course, shopping, highlight the launch of the $100 million south Provo indoor shopping and entertainment center.Dubbed a "regional" mall, the 967,000-square-foot, two-story building is the third largest in Utah and has room to grow.
"It isn't just your little old regular strip mall that happens to have a few stores you've heard of," said Mayor Lewis Billings. "This is a destination mall."
Mall developer Salt Lake City-based JP Realty Inc. will say `bon voyage' to 73 shops and eateries, three anchors - Dillards, JCPenney and Sears, and groundwork for a 16-screen movie theater. State-of-the-art light and sound systems, imported Italian tile floors and a children's play area will make Provo Towne Centre a unique shopping experience.
Kris Longson, JP Realty development director, calls it the mall-seasoned company's best effort to date.
But will it be enough to weather a storm looming on the unpredictable sea of economics? While Utah's slowing economy doesn't spell doom for the massive south Provo commercial venture, economist Jeff Thredgold says retailers will wonder what happens next after a fruitful Christmas season.
"Had this opened five years ago when the economy was booming, I think it would have done better. I think it will do reasonably well. The novelty is particularly important. The loser is going to be University Mall," said Thredgold, a Zions Bank economic consultant and president of Thredgold Economic Associates.
The International Council of Shopping Malls, a New York City-based trade association, predicted the strong U.S. economy should continue to help the shopping center industry perform well throughout 1998. But that was in May, before the job growth dipped, stocks plummeted and disposable income shrank. The council's latest projections are due out next month.
Still, mall shoppers nationwide plunk down $67 per visit, a 13 percent increase over 1995. The number of adults who frequent malls monthly rose nearly 2 million to 187 million nationally the past three years, including an estimated 1.4 million Utahns, according to the shopping centers council.
Malls contribute an estimated $8 billion annually to the state's economy, including $380 million in sales tax. Provo is looking to collect as much as $1.4 million a year from its new stores.
But Provo Towne Centre isn't the only ship trying to reel in Utah Valley dollars. It has two competitors within spyglass range: long-time fixture University Mall in neighboring Orem and the new Shops at Riverwoods a few miles north on University Avenue.
Because of its upscale stores, Longson doesn't perceive Riv-er-woods as a direct rival. Extensive market research, he said, bears out that Utah Valley's growing population of more than 360,000 is prime for another mall that caters to shoppers with various incomes.
"We'll see. I think there's room for both malls," he said.
University Mall and Provo Towne Centre have already engaged in store wars. The Provo mall lured JCPenney from its long-time Orem site. And the two engaged in heated bidding for ZCMI, with the popular LDS Church-owned department store opting to stay in Orem.
Richard Bradford, Utah Valley Economic Development Association director, said the shopping centers are banking on the economy being able to support essentially the tripling of the number of department stores.
"It will all shake down in a year or two," he said. "We'll see if the studies are correct." Perhaps shoppers will be the ultimate judges.
Pat Brown and Kathy Carlile, of Heber City, enjoyed their first trip to the Provo mall, but, as ZCMI loyalists, found it lacking.
"I think it's wonderful not to have to go to Orem," Mapleton resident Doan Curtis said while browsing with her daughters at JCPenney. "I think the location is much better." Though no marketing expert, Curtis spoke with the perspective of an experienced mall shopper when she said, "I think it's going to hurt University Mall. But I think this will be very nice for the valley."
Provo Towne Centre is counting on proximity to I-15 - a new interchange at University Avenue is being finished this week - to hook shoppers from as far south as Cedar City.
"I know that it will intercept a lot of traffic on I-15 that is typically headed for Salt Lake or Park City," Bradford said.
That also could mean fewer customers for University Mall, though Bradford figures once shoppers are in the area that might hit other stores in Orem and Provo.
Downtown Provo merchants sure hope so. Some have already jumped ship to the new mall.
"That's a concern to us. We don't like our businesses leaving the downtown area," said Susan Bradford, executive director of the Downtown Action Association.
She intends to heavily promote the city center and pray shoppers will find their way there between all the malls. "I'm just hopeful that it will not take away from us but maybe enhance the downtown. Only time will tell," she said.
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