PopUp Republic

Interview with Patty Hirt, Retail Development at General Growth Properties

General growth properties (ggp) is the second-largest shopping mall owner/operator in the United States, with over 120 U.S.-based properties in their portfolio. They have also become leaders among their peers for the pop-up concepts they organize at many of their shopping centers nationwide, using these experiences as opportunities for enhanced foot traffic and additional revenue opportunities.

Melinda Holland and Patty Hirt, two GGP employees at the forefront of the company’s efforts to incorporate pop-ups into their business strategy, were kind enough to answer a few questions.

• Q: Online retail is probably going to garner 10 percent of the total market this year. How are malls reacting to this new form of competition? How are malls changing?

  GGP is a future-ready organization. In order to deliver the experiences consumers are demanding, we have to be nimble. We still exercise tried-and-true best practices, but we also embrace change and omnichannel retailing. We don’t see online shopping as a threat—we see it as a complement to the physical store. Pop-ups represent that change; many are pure play online retailers looking to experiment, garner real-time and real-life feedback. Pop-ups also increase repeat visits to the mall. In this digital age we look at our malls as websites and keep the content fresh, relatable, and cutting-edge.

• Q: We at PopUp Republic used to have a hard time getting malls ...