Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Q&A: Maureen Crampton, marketing director, Forum Shops

crampton

Mona Shield Payne / Special to In Business Las Vegas

Cream of the shops: Maureen Crampton, director of marketing at the Forum Shops, works with more than 160 of the most prestigious fashion retailers and restaurants in the nation.

Maureen Crampton takes a lot of pride in the success of the Forum Shops at Caesars.

The Las Vegas native has served as the marketing director since the Strip’s first major retail destination opened in 1992. It has been expanded twice, in 1997 and 2004.

The former account executive for R&R Partners developed an appreciation and love for the industry while handling clients for the public relations firm. Crampton worked as the marketing director at Meadows mall before being promoted to general manager, setting the stage for her move to the Forum Shops.

Simon Property Group owns and manages the Forum Shops. It has a lease with Caesars and built the shopping center on the casino-owned property.

The Forum Shops maintained its spot as the nation’s top-selling mall by generating sales in 2009 of about $1,400 a square foot, Crampton said. But that number was down from $1,500 a square foot in 2008.

Based on the math of a center that measures 638,000 square feet, Forum Shops tenants generated sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars in 2009.

IBLV: What are your duties?

Crampton: I work with PR. I also work with our advertising campaign and different things that make sense for the shopping center. I work with our partner, Caesars Palace. I have 160 clients — our tenants — and that keeps me very busy. I am involved in generating sales, promoting the shopping center, working with the (Las Vegas) Convention (and Visitors) Authority and working with international partners such as an airline, doing a co-promotion. It is a little bit of a juggling act and even more so today because we are all asked to do more things and to be creative and handle your business a little differently.

What attracted you to retail?

I am female, and I love to shop. That is a kind of a natural. I think there is a lot of gratification as much as there is challenge, depending on what you are faced with. I think it is a love for working with people and the excitement of experiencing results, for someone else being successful.

When this opened, what was your expectation?

I don’t think anyone had any idea of how successful the Forum Shops would have been. A themed retail environment on Las Vegas Boulevard in a tourist destination, and it wasn’t gaming related, was an unproven entity. Everyone was very nervous and a little bit preoccupied with that fact. We thought we put together a great package and we hoped people would come here and, unbeknown to us, it was a home run. It seemed as if every month from when we opened our doors, it seemed to blossom and snowball into the next month. At the time, statistics came in 1992 that said you were great if you were selling $300 a square foot (a year). The first month we did $500 and the next month we did $550 and it began it escalate over quarters. At $750, we thought we had died and gone to heaven. There were skeptics who said it was never going to work.

At one point in town, you were the only game in town and now you have several malls on the Strip. What is your competition today?

Everyone and no one. What I mean with everyone, there is more dining and more retail and more options for the consumer, which is competition. But at the same time, competition is good for everyone. I really do believe that. I think the importance of the growth in the market, whether it’s the Palazzo or Grand Canal Shoppes or Miracle Mile, what it does is it strengthens our position as a retail destination to the world. We have always benefited. Everyone gets nervous about something new coming in the market and asks, “Are we positioned properly and ready for this?” You do second-guess and you go through your checklist, but each time another shopping venue has come to the Las Vegas market, it has strengthened this portion of Las Vegas Boulevard and made it more exciting as a destination for the tourist and the locals. Every time there is something new, it is a must see. I am a victim of that, and it doesn’t have to be shopping.

So you don’t worry about the recent opening of Crystals at CityCenter?

I don’t worry in the sense that it’s very close to home, which is exciting. Because it has so many luxury brands, I think it enhances our luxury brand mix. Several of them are duplications — Louis Vuitton, for example.

What does that force you to do?

When any retail venue opens in Las Vegas, I think it makes you work smarter.

Won’t it take market share?

Certainly.

And decrease sales?

Not necessarily. It adds hotel rooms and additional tourists come to the market.

Hasn’t the recession affected retail shopping, especially high-end retail?

Absolutely. You have to be a realist. Up until the middle portion of 2008 or going into the fourth quarter of 2008, I can’t tell you enough about the great things that were happening. We have all been very spoiled of how business was good. Toward the end of the 2008 with what was going on the world, everybody in Las Vegas took a hit. We were no different. I can’t say we stood alone, and we were the shining star. We felt the pinch, and 2009 was a challenging year. We do business differently. We think differently. We go more domestic. We go more regional. Las Vegas has done a good job of going more toward California and surrounding cities. Strengthening those markets when the other economic factors are down, you are going to be so primed and ready when that comes back.

How much were sales down in 2009?

Single digits. I am feeling very fortunate to be able to tell you that.

What was affected the most?

Yes, the higher-end at a certain times. I want to tout the luxury brands horn if you will. What transpired was an interesting shift. It just goes to tell you, the luxury brand was able to go back to grass roots. You are forced to do that if you are savvy, or you are going to suffer. We all know that luxury brand designers and their teams took a look at the challenge, and they had to shift gears in what they are manufacturing — their price points and how much emphasis they were going to put on certain items. I will give you an example, in a ready-wear situation or handbag situation, maybe 75 percent of their merchandise mix was very big and pricey items. What you saw was an evolution, and it only took a couple of months to get this and be on top of this — shifting gears and giving the customer the opportunity to purchase more of an accessory that is more affordable.

Have any retailers fared better than others during the recession?

I am going to tell you Gucci can’t keep merchandise in its store. It was a hot ticket before this and it continues to be. It has a lot to do with brand and quality association. You know you are going to have that bag for a lifetime and it is not necessarily going to be something trendy, but something you know that you can bring out in 10 years and you are still going to be in a good place.

What types aren’t faring as well?

I will say this. It may have been a retailer who wasn’t as strong going into this and maybe needed to be. He may not have adjusted with the shift and when you fight it, somebody is going to lose. Unfortunately, it is going to be the retailers who didn’t adjust.

What kind of turnover of stores did you have because of the recession?

It is difficult to say that because some of them I would not relate to the recession. I can count them on one hand. Some of the leases expired, and they opted not to renew or we opted not to renew with them because we didn’t feel they were the right fit.

Is there a big waiting list to get in?

I would say right now less than 20 and they are all good, strong companies. I can’t tell you the brands, but there are two luxury brands that are waiting for their next-door neighbors’ lease to come up for renewal so there can be a reconfiguration of space so they can expand. That is not something common in right now, but the brands are doing so well and they want to add a new division or expansion. They are shifting with the trends that are happening with their customer profile. People are getting older and there are more grandparents buying gifts. There are more children, and (the retailers) are in tune with that.

Do you need to reinvent yourself or do you do what you are doing?

There is a lot said for our history and it’s a great success story. Each time it seems we are the first to sign a tenant that is not recognized in Las Vegas or the United States — there is a lot to be said for that because that sets us apart.

Are you more immune than other centers?

I wouldn’t imagine us being any different from what the world is experiencing. I always get a kick out of talking to people in the industry and ask them how they are doing. They say they are just blazing trails. I think I can’t believe that. We have tenants in common. There is something to be said for being honest and knowing we are faced with the same challenges. You really do have to think different and just as the retailers had to think differently. We as a shopping center in our messaging have to think differently, too. Five years ago if you would have said, “Maureen, are you thinking of putting together a special offer (coupon) booklet to share with your patrons?” I would say “Probably not.” Am I doing it now? Yes, because I know it is important.

Why did you do this?

I recognized that consumers are looking for great deals. That has become important. If it entices a consumer who stops coming here or has not come here, and I capture a percentage of that audience, then that is a success.

What is your customer profile and how has it changed?

Our customer profile is 40 percent men and 60 percent women. But you have to keep that guy happy, too, through your Niketown and golf and electronics. It hasn’t changed that much. Maybe age, getting a little older. Maybe we started out at 40 and now the average customer is 44.

Has that visitor changed over the past two years?

Maybe 80-20, where 80 percent were tourists — we have seen a slight shift to 75-25, because of the tourists number being down,

What are you going with the space vacated by FAO Schwarz?

We are in negotiations with a couple of retailers. It will probably be a key retailer. It is a very large space. We are starting demolition. We are close to finding someone. The challenge and opportunity at the same time in finding someone is that space is so large. It is 12,000 square feet.

If you had to pick any retailers you don’t have now, who would it be and why?

I would love to have Chanel here because in my mind that is the ultimate luxury brand. It brings a sense of prestige. It is a quality brand, and it’s recognized worldwide. I am going to shift gears and go to the opposite end of the spectrum. The reason I am saying this because I think it is part of the intrigue in place at the Forum because we are not just this and we are not just this. We are the melting pot of retail. I am going to say H&M. It has a lot of endorsements with world-renowned designers, celebrity and affordability and it will attract another customer. Another is Topshop out of the UK, which has worldwide recognition. It is very attractive, and it would be great to have it here.

Do the animatronics shows at the Forum Shops continue to draw crowds or will they be getting an overhaul to freshen up the presentation?

They do. They are the icing on the cake. Of course, you are focusing on our retail venue. The great thing about the entertainment venues is that they provide an additional form of (excitement). I like to add our spiral escalator even though it is not an entertainment venue. It is an attraction. (Shoppers) have either seen an image of it or they have heard about it or the talking statues and they know they have to see it. They always come up very high when we do surveys. Usually it is shopping or dining but in the top three is that entertainment venue. That is always a challenge to keep current because of technology. We continue to work on them. We are looking at the Festival Fountain and refurbishing it slightly just to keep it current.

What is in store for this year?

We do have Max Brenner (restaurant). That is an exciting large use. It will be entertaining at the same time. He is very well known for his association with chocolate.

How important are restaurants like that to shopping?

It is key. I have always thought, especially in the very beginning, we don’t have anchors. We don’t have department stores. Do I consider Caesars Palace to be our anchor? Yes. But also I consider our dining to be an anchor. The reason is because you will usually get a steady client. Food attracts and keeps the customers here longer. They tend to shop longer. It is key we revisit restaurant use because if you get into the mind of people who design shopping centers and lease space, there is a reason they cluster stores together because the price points are similar. They are cross shoppers. If you get to the layout of restaurants, it is to initiate traffic flow. Food is destination. If you look at a map, dining is dispersed at key points to initiate that traffic flow.

What will the Forum Shops look like in 2020?

It will look very similar because the interesting thing about the Forum Shops versus another shopping center is that it is a themed environment. We are never going to change our theme because we are affiliated with Caesars Palace. Will there be some different surface treatments, and will you notice some improvements here and there? Undoubtedly. Our face-lift will be through our tenants and how they present themselves. They will evolve with the new trends, the new signage and the new merchandise. That’s what keeps us fresh. It is how we have been doing it over the years and in such a great way.

What is the future of retail on the Strip?

I just look at what we have gone through recently as a hiccup. The recovery maybe a longer process than we were anticipating, but if we adjust and accommodate and we are good businesspeople, we will come out of it stronger than ever. Has the consumer changed because of this and will they ever go back to where they were? I think that is an uncertainty. We are consumers, too, and we think differently. Will it recover in a different way? I think yes. Should we continue being a little bit more savvy and aggressive in doing business differently and appealing to the consumer differently? Yes. I really do feel, and not in a naive way, that these experiences, if we are smart, we benefit from them. And we strengthen ourselves as businesses and are able to do things in a different way to where everyone, the business owner and shopping center owner and the consumer, benefit as a result. How do I see it shaking out over the next five years? I have nothing but optimistic thoughts that Las Vegas is going to bounce back bigger than maybe another tourist destination. No one is going to let this city fail.

The Poetry Nightclub, which closed, has battled the Forum Shops over access to the mall. There were accusations that access was limited because of concerns about the mostly black customer base of the club. The Forum Shops and Caesars Palace have denied those allegations. Has this created any fallout for you?

I can’t comment on that case because we are still in litigation.

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