SHOPPING CENTER REBRANDING!!!

Commercial Building Services / by cpex

CPEX was selected for the rebranding of Westwood Financial’s Main Street at Town Center shopping Center in Kennesaw, GA.

The project was a great success, due largely to a few key things we did from the beginning.

Be Clear on the Scope of Work Keep in mind, that after you correct the unsightliest issues on the property, the first item to not make the to do list is going look much worse than it did to begin with.  An example of this in our project was the multiple, aging metal fire exit stairs.  Instead of replacing entire staircases, we only replaced steps that were rusted to the point of being unsafe. This was a cost-effective solution, but once the severely deteriorated steps were replaced with new one, those that were only somewhat rusted stood out a whole lot more than they did before work began.

Project Fatigue.  We recognized that there was more than one level of project fatigue going on involving the landlord, merchants, and shoppers.  So, we made the conscious decision to prioritize the merchants’ project fatigue.

The first way we did this was to set expectations early by developing a phasing plan for the work that could be shared with the merchants so they knew what to expect.

Since the work was going to require all the signs to be removed from the building, we had temporary banners identifying each merchant made that were immediately hung as the signs came down.

From the point at which the sign came down, we expected work in that section of the building to be completed within two weeks.  So, we set the expectation that work would take at least two weeks, but less than four.  We then were able to exceed expectations in every case.  This minimized tenant frustrations and kept us working as efficiently as possible.

 SINGLE IMPACT.  We were intentional about impacting each tenant only one time. 

While it may have been easier for us to complete all of task A, then all of task B, and so forth, we took the approach of completing a small section of the property, then moving on to the next section.  This way all the inconvenience to a tenant and its customers were felt one time, then never again.  

The only exception to this was due to a number of canopies that had lingering supply chain issues due to COVID-19.  Knowing this would be the case, we worked in these areas first, so there was a long recovery period between the main work effort and the 1–2-day effort to install the canopies at the end of the project.

REMOVE ALL THE SIGNS AND PAINT BEHIND THEM.   We’ve seen others simply paint around tenant signage.  This seems short sighted for several reasons:

  1. A major rebranding will allow for higher rents, which will cause some tenants to leave.  When their sign comes down, there will be a large touch ups needed which will not exactly match the original coat of paint.
  2. The fresh look of the property will make older signs in poor condition stand out.  So many tenants will likely replace their signage, again requiring awkward touchups
  3. A major rebranding will allow for higher rents, which will cause some tenants to leave.  When their sign comes down, there will be a large touch ups needed which will not exactly match the original coat of paint.The fresh look of the property will make older signs in poor condition stand out.  So many tenants will likely replace their signage, again requiring awkward touchups.
  4. Unfortunately, there will always be those tenants who want to take advantage of the situation and will claim damage to their sign and want unreasonable restitution.

PLAN CUSTOMER ACCESS TO EACH STORE AND ENFORCE CLOSURE OF WORK AREAS.  I was shocked at how many people would step over our caution tape and walk through a work area.  While from a legal standpoint, their disregard for our safety protocols probably constitutes the assumption of risk, any injuries or mishaps are still bad for everyone involved.  So, enforce the closure of work areas and clearly indicate the path shoppers are to utilize. 

The results were amazing!

  1. No merchants had to close due to the work.
  2. No injuries on the project.
  3. No vehicle damage in the parking lot.
  4. The property is now close to 100% leased!