Meadows at Lake St. Louis

The Meadows at Lake St Louis which was meant to be the city's town center never recovered from the 2008 real estate recession. The anchor, fashion department store, Von Maur caters to a middle-class consumer and does not have the mass appeal of a Macy's or Bloomingdale's.

RESULTS: Sales for Q4 were a 40% increase over the prior year. Cohen Equities (the owner) was able to secure a new, 75,000 SF lease with retailer Bed Bath and Beyond, and renew Nike's lease for an additional 10 years. They were also able to sell a 12 acre plot to another investor to develop a 220 unit apartment complex with parking garage, community area with a band shell.

Planned, coordinated and implemented all holiday programming called "Winterfest" for The Meadows at Lake St. Louis (500K SF Lifestyle Center). Executed ‘Winterfest” a 120’ x 80’ outdoor ice skating rink to drive customer traffic. Designed a schematic plan, created a budget and produced event materials and collateral. Handled vendor vetting (construction, contracting and management, pricing, public relations, entertainment, advertising, supervision of internal/external teams, governmental permitting and media relations.

LOCAL MEDIA

Used PR service and targeted local press and cable tv that covered the immediate area and a 10-mile radius.

SHOP INVOLVEMENT

Got buy in from the stores that were in the Meadows by creating a campaign with punch cards. Each patron that purchased $50 or more at any store (or combination of stores), received 2 FREE ice skating tickets.

TARGETED GROUPS

RADIO

DIGITAL

Targeted groups that produced news for local parents and singles Also visited surrounding homeowner's associations.

NON-PROFIT PARTNER

Establishing the ice rink as a drop off site for toys for a nationally known charity, ensured promotional help from the charity through their channels.

Streaming radio was an efficient place to generate highly-targeted user engagement for a

low CPM.

FaceBook and Twitter campaigns along with email blasts to the Meadow's customer list.

OUTDOOR

Due to the seasonality of the promotion, bulletins were the only affordable option for a 4-week contract. They were used as directional signs along I-70 and I-64 exclusively.

MUNICIPALITY

We leaned heavily on the local municipality for promotion and scheduled the Mayor's annual "Lighting of the Christmas Tree" on the grand opening night of the rink.