Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • November 20, 2017 • www.HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS: Retail Barnes & Noble's foothold firmly planted at UConn, in downtown Hartford Q&A talks to Patrick Maloney, presi- dent of Barnes & Noble College, which operates 781 college-campus book- stores around the country, including eight at UConn's seven campuses around the state. Q. Barnes & Noble's downtown Hartford location on the UConn campus has been open since August. How are things going so far? Are you getting the sales and traffic you hoped for? A. Since opening our Barnes & Noble UConn Hartford store in August, we've re- ceived an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the community. We are pleased with the success of the store and the traffic we've seen. More importantly, we are honored to have the opportunity to serve the UConn community through not just one, but eight bookstores across seven UConn campuses. Q. Is the Hartford bookstore seeing busi- ness from more than just UConn students? Has the bookstore tried to establish any partnerships with local employers to bring in more business? A. Because of its location in downtown Hartford, our store has the benefit of serving as a hub for not only UConn students, but for members of the surrounding community as well. In addition to textbooks, our store of- fers general interest books, a Barnes & Noble café serving Starbucks beverages, a grab- and-go-style food market, and a selection of UConn apparel and other merchandise. We are currently in the process of engag- ing with local businesses to explore partner- ships that would benefit all of our customers. Q. In 2016 Barnes and Noble College took over operation of all UConn bookstores, including the school's main store in Storrs. What changes has Barnes and Noble made to existing UConn bookstores since that time. Is there a different operating strategy between the Storrs and Hartford locations? A. Barnes & Noble College operates more than 780 campus bookstores nationwide, and we strive to make each of those stores unique to the campuses they serve. In all eight of our UConn bookstore locations, we created vibrant academic and social hubs that reflect UConn's culture and values. The stores were designed to offer a wide selection of course materials, general read- ing books and other merchandise. They also include comfortable seating, grab-and-go food markets and, in many, Barnes & Noble cafés serving Starbucks beverages. Graph- ics in the bookstores reflect the UConn brand and community, and showcase the students that our stores serve. In our Storrs location, we also recently added The Glossary, an in-store boutique that offers students the opportunity to ex- plore, sample and purchase a wide variety of prestige beauty products such as Smashbox, Philosophy, Bliss and Stila, and traditional mass-market brands including L'Oréal, Burt's Bees and Maybelline. We operate all of our stores with the Patrick Maloney President, Barnes & Noble College By Matthew Broderick Special to the Hartford Business Journal T he 12,000-plus families expected to visit Santa's Flight Academy at Westfarms mall this holiday season will get more than just giddy anticipation waiting for Christmas' most famous celebrity — they'll also get multiple opportunities to learn about Com- cast's Xfinity cable TV, internet, telephone and wireless services. That's because Comcast signed a two- month sponsorship deal at the mall, where in addition to promoting its brand on mall entrance doors, elevator wraps, video boards and outside advertising, the cable giant will take over the sponsorship booth near Santa's display in the mall's center court with an interactive display, where it will be able to upgrade customers to its new products, create new accounts for people, sell mobile devices and swap out remotes. While Westfarms has always been a place for retailers and restaurants to showcase and sell their brands and wares in store- fronts, the mall in recent years has also been offering companies, including non- retailers, the chance to conduct activation campaigns, or experiential marketing. The multiplatform promotions, grow- ing in popularity in other settings as well, allow companies to incorporate a variety of touchpoints to interact with and inform customers about products and services and raise brand awareness. It's also a revenue opportunity for West- farms, which, like other malls around the country, is looking to diversify its business as the traditional retail industry faces head- winds from the continued rising popularity of online sales. Ray Lamoureux, Westfarms' senior director of marketing, said the mall has seen steady growth in its sponsorship revenue since it launched activation campaigns, which can vary broadly in price depending on the duration and elements of the program. He de- clined to reveal specific sponsorship rates, but said 70 percent of the mall's current sponsor- ship partners returned from last year. "When you look at the path of engage- ment with a traditional ad, where someone has to visit a website or make a phone call, it's a longer process to make a transac- tion," Lamoureux said. "With activation opportunities in our mall, the turnaround is immediate and the path for a consumer to take action like sign-up for an event, ask questions or make a purchase is much shorter." Hartford HealthCare has been sponsor- ing its wellness lounge at Westfarms for the past four years. Sara Beth Donovan, senior vice president of Avon ad agency Mintz + Hoke, said activation campaigns are a core component of marketing initiatives these days. Her firm helps the healthcare network execute activation campaigns, which in- clude, for instance, a monthly presentation by a Hartford HealthCare-affiliated doctor on a specific topic, such as melanoma, heart health, screenings and osteoporosis. Average attendance at these events have climbed from 15 people a few years ago to more than 50 today, she said "The chance to interact one-on-one with a healthcare provider allows a two-way dialogue that would not be possible with television ads or digital banners," Donovan said, crediting mall-based interactions and promotions with spikes in attendance at Hartford HealthCare events at other ven- Experiential Marketing As traditional retail faces headwinds, Westfarms' activation campaigns offer additional revenue stream Comcast is paying to locate an "activation" marketing campaign in Westfarms mall's center court this holiday season, where it hopes to promote and sell its products to consumers, including those waiting in line with their kids for a visit with Santa. PHOTOS | CONTRIBUTED

• Cover