Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1378111
21 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MAY 31, 2021 FOCUS: REAL ESTATE 2020, but 2019's sales performance. This is highly encouraging. Q: Which retail categories are driving the biggest sales increases? Women's specialty clothing, junior apparel and fine jewelry are up between 35% and 50% and athletic shoes are up roughly 20%. Traffic is up, occupancy is steady and inventory is back in stores. Q: What's driving that uptick? With shoppers becoming more comfortable indoors, our volume continues to become more consistent with pre-pandemic levels. We are highly optimistic that this trend will continue as even more people become vaccinated. People are finding their way back out and feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. They are shopping and resetting their wardrobe based on what their current needs are. Q: Why has Westfarms been able to keep a strong occupancy during the pandemic? Westfarms offers an exclusive lineup of legacy and contemporary brands, which are resonating with the modern consumer. We have more than 40 new-to- market stores and restaurants and customers are drawn to the mall in search of that exclusivity. Westfarms has the only Louis Vuitton, Kate Spade and The North Face in Connecticut, to name just a few exclusive brands. That gives us a competitive advantage and creates a draw for tourists outside the state and all around our state. Q: How has the past year shaped or changed consumer shopping patterns and demand? Since reopening in May, we have seen a broadening of our shopper demographics that has contributed to a positive impact on traffic and sales. This includes a younger, more diverse shopper coming to our mall. In addition, the modern shopper is highly planful. Customers do their research with brands and come intent to visit specific stores to purchase specific merchandise they have identified online. Customers still like to be involved with what they are purchasing, not just static content on a screen where they don't know maybe how it fits and feels and how it makes them feel. People still need to find a connection with the products they are buying. Q: One way the mall makes money is through its advertising platform. Can you provide some examples of companies that use it to spread their message? Our advertising and activation platforms provide our advertisers with direct access to our customers. For example, Hartford HealthCare has a wellness lounge here and NBC has a relax and recharge lounge that allows customers to come in, lock up their phones for a recharge, and then they can continue their shopping and go back and retrieve their phone later. We also launched a digital signage program last year at all the high traffic areas at the mall that's been hugely successful. Alberto Arebalo General Manager Westfarms Previous job: Director of Operations, Dolphin Mall in Miami Age: 48 PHOTOS | COSTAR Westfarms mall lost Lord & Taylor as a tenant over the past year but picked up several new-to- market brands including Fablectics, Warby Parker, Cotton On and Cotton On Kids.