Four months ago I was hired to help lease a low occupancy mall in Cleveland, Ohio. The mall is a historic, beautiful gem. The day I was hired I subscribed to five Cleveland area newspapers and magazines. Day 2, I read in the newspaper about a small business competition called “Chain Reaction.” Entrepreneurs apply for financial prizes through a pitch competition. I told my client we needed to become a sponsor, and they eagerly agreed. We decided besides contributing to the monetary prize money, we would also give free rent to the top 3 winners. Part of the program was a Bootcamp that taught the applicants classes in recruiting, biz planning, marketing, and I volunteered to teach a class on choosing a bricks/mortar location (the class was held at our property) where we walked the candidates in and out of a few of our vacancies. We also asked if we could have the finale at our property.
Results:
💥 112 small businesses applied for the competition. (We get the list of all of these small businesses to reach out to as potential prospects.)
💥 21 were chosen as finalists.
💥 We have signed 3 leases. (A barber with 3 other locations, a toy company for a kiosk, and a women’s boutique with another location.)
💥 We have 7 others interested in space.
💥 Our property, Tower City, was highlighted in many television news shows announcing the winners and in the local newspapers and magazines. (💰Earned Media!)
Prospects have called us from that coverage. It was a huge success and helped us hit the ground running with our leasing campaign AND helped the small business community of Cleveland!
If you have more than 1-2 vacancies, getting involved in the community is a fabulous way to get the word out and get people to your property. Special events are traffic drivers and we all know that traffic increases sales and sales increase rents!!
Congrats to Bedrock Detroit who owns Tower City for their forward-thinking on getting involved in the community and to Chain Reaction for a fabulous program!!
