Marketing Tactics

As retailers assess what worked and what didn’t in terms of Black Friday promotions and Thanksgiving weekend sales, overall there are a few things that stand out.

Indianapolis -- Simon Property Group announced that, in 50/50 partnership with Genting Berhad, it has opened Johor Premium Outlets, its first Premium Outlet Center in Southeast Asia.

The center encompasses 173,000 sq. ft. of gross leasable area featuring 80 stores and is located in Johor Bahur, Malaysia. A grand opening celebration will take place on December 11, 2011.

New York City -- REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) has opened its first-ever store in Manhattan, in the landmarked Puck Building in SoHo. The 35,000-sq.-ft. space has been carefully restored to honor the brand’s nearly 75-year heritage and the building’s more than century-old history.

All retailers are taking price increases where they can these days, especially in food, but the pace of increases at Walmart has slowed, and its price gap relative to most competitors has widened, according to the most recent pricing survey conducted by Credit Suisse.

A tacky holiday sweater – and most of us have one – can make for an innovative mall marketing campaign.

Inland US Management, Inland Southwest Management and Inland Pacific Property Services, subsidiaries of Inland Western Retail Real Estate Trust, have kicked off an ugly sweater contest on its holiday website, HolidayFunForAll.com, developed in partnership with Studio 318 out of San Diego. Contest participants are asked to answer a few basic questions and upload a photo of their worst “knitmare” to the website.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Walmart is looking to help holiday shoppers find the perfect gift this season with the launch of a new social shopping application.

New York City -- The discount and wholesale club sector was hit and miss in November, as Costco shone with a 9% rise in same-store sales for the month, but Target missed Wall Street expectations with a weak gain.

Boston -- A new survey by website technology company Modapt and communications firm Morrissey & Co., evaluating mobile phone users’ holiday shopping habits and plans, found that more than half of respondents are making purchases using their mobile devices. Nearly one quarter of those surveyed have used mobile devices in the past to purchase holiday gifts.

The results also show that during the holiday season: