Municipal axioms as well

Posted 8/13/14

Aram Garabedian, co-managing partner of the Warwick Mall, makes running the state’s largest mall sound easy.

From his perspective, running a successful retail business operation comes down to …

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Municipal axioms as well

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Aram Garabedian, co-managing partner of the Warwick Mall, makes running the state’s largest mall sound easy.

From his perspective, running a successful retail business operation comes down to five basic elements: security, convenience, variety, pricing and service. If you have those, then the customer, who he considers “king,” is happy and it will all work.

No question the Warwick Mall has been successful in doing that, even after the highly publicly financed Providence Place Mall came along, and a major setback with the floods of 2010. The Warwick Mall stays fresh. Jordan’s Furniture took over the cavernous spaces once occupied by Old Navy, which relocated to another space but stayed within the mall. With similar ballyhoo, the mall welcomed Nordstrom Rack, Not Your Average Joe’s and Buffalo Wild Wings, all firsts for Rhode Island in recent years. Now Jared, a jeweler targeting the $50,000 to $150,000 income bracket, will raze the former Rhode Island Costume building on Route 5 and replace it with a specially designed building intended to look like a gift box.

Indeed, this development is a great “gift” to the city and state’s economy. Also exciting is news that the long dormant Rhode Island Mall will be rejuvenated as the state’s first outlet mall. And then Car Max is moving into the defunct Building 19 location.

It would seem Garabedian’s formula for success is hardly exclusive. Retailers, and for that matter restaurateurs, are identifying gaps in the market and offering customers greater variety. Similarly, they appear to be taking advantage of Warwick’s convenience and security.

This brings us to the observation that the guidelines for retailing might also be applied to city operations. As mentioned, convenience or location is a huge factor in the attractiveness of the city as surely as security and service are. Prices, or taxes, are also important.

Variety is in play for, undoubtedly, the diversity of city housing and the opportunities it offers for different types of businesses, from manufacturing to offices and retail, are a draw. Variety can likewise be applied to the educational opportunities the city offers, along with its parks, marinas, clubs, libraries and even its theater and museums.

This is not to suggest that it’s easy, but it would seem that when shopping for a good meal, a new pair of shoes, furniture, jewelry, or a city you want to live and work in, a few basic axioms apply.

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