Tucson Tuesdays: La Encantada Shopping Center

I've been to La Encantada Shopping Center twice. La Encantada is an "intimate, open-air lifestyle center with extensive landscaping, upscale shops, walkways, patios and courtyards that invite pedestrian interaction."

Located on the northwest corner of Skyline Drive and Campbell Avenue, the shopping center has a very specific demographic - upper class Tucsonans, who are probably in the 35-75 age range and who probably live in the Foothills.

The stores are not "young" in taste - they are the classy, older set - Pottery Barn, Talbots, Coldwater Creek, J.Jill, and Crate & Barrel. You won't find GAP, American Eagle, Old Navy, Target, or H & M here.

The actual design of the shopping center is nice - I like the indoor/outdoor combination, especially since we live in sunny Arizona where the warm, balmy weather greets us nine months out of the year. The walkways are pretty and the landscaping is well-manicured.

But something seems still and cold about the center. It lacks vibrancy, vitality, youthfulness, authenticity, something...I always feel a bit of a chill there, a strange feeling that I don't quite fit in with the pretension, the brand names, and...yikes!...the price tags!

In my opinion, these factors are what have made La Encantada only a lukewarm success. Many of the store slots are empty and the center is strangely quiet - dead.

By targeting the older and richer segment of the population so narrowly, Westcor has excluded the "rest of us" - the families, the singles, the young couples just starting out, the moms and babies, and the college students. We just don't feel comfortable there. We want more color, more splash, more noise. We want to feel welcome in our Target t-shirts and our Old Navy flip flops. We want to be able to let our babies cry, our toddlers squeal, and our kids run about...without feeling out-of-place.

The La Encantada concept hasn't worked because, when the developers planned it, they forgot about "us."

Of course, I don't like to criticize without offering some solutions. As a Tucson resident, I actually desperately want La Encantada to succeed. Here's what I think the resident marketing specialist should do:

1. Get "younger" stores to fill the empty spots that are still for rent.
2. Start a weekly "Kids Club." It could be anything - a story time, a puppet show, a dance production, a meet and greet with a storybook character, etc.
3. Re-think the marketing campaign. Focus on authenticity and inclusion. Make it a place for everyone.
4. Plan several key events to re-introduce the center to the community. Be especially conscious of families in the planning process. Invite a face painter. Give away a stroller. Offer free lemonade.
5. Create a "Moms Panel." Select 5 social and influential moms (perhaps host a contest of some sort to find them...) to shop at La Encantada and provide reviews about the stores, the prices, and the fun things to do. As the experts say, word-of-mouth marketing is the most effective kind...and moms are an important market audience.

Fellow Tucsonans, raise your voice. What do you think about La Encantada? Is my synopsis accurate? What suggestions do you have?

Tucson Tuesdays: Ask and Ye Shall Receive

About 8 months ago, I wrote a letter to the developers of Passages of Tucson, a planned mixed-use destination development in southeast Tucson (see photo).

I wrote because I knew that it was a HUGE project with limitless potential - and I wanted to share my "requests" for certain shops, restaurants, and services. I don't remember all of the details, but I know I requested:

* Zara
* H & M
* Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack
* Target
* A Movie Theater (not Century Theatres)
* Family-friendly services and features (family restrooms, nursing lounges, kids club, etc.)
* A Women's health club/gym or a Lifetime Fitness

Guess what? The developers responded, invited me to lunch, and gave me the "inside scoop" on their master plan. They listened to my ideas and I listened to theirs. It was a productive give-and-take session.

That's the beauty of community engagement and participation.

I encourage you to take some small action step today to engage in your neighborhood, in our city. Think of one thing that you wish was different. Do you secretly wish that the local bakery would sell blueberry muffins? Tell them! Does the library not offer a book that you want to read? Request it! Do you wish that your child's preschool had a higher adult: student ratio? Volunteer!

Do just one thing. Start today. Our city (and our state, our country, our world) will only improve if we all contribute.

women, leadership, arizona

A quick poll for my fellow Arizonans...

The Arizona Women's Conference OR the YWCA Tucson Women's Leadership Conference?

Tucson Tuesdays: Summer Reading Programs

What better time to lounge around in the air conditioning and read than the dog days of summer? Not only will you be acquiring new knowledge, strengthening your vocabulary, and thus becoming a more interesting person...you will also be on the way to winning great prizes (if you are under 19) and signed up with your local library.

For kids
For teens
For adults

I have to admit that I'm only halfway thrilled about these programs...because of the prizes. It seems that the library could do a much better job at obtaining prizes for the program (think: gift cards to eegees, cold stone creamery, the mall, nice restaurants, etc. or ipods or pedometers or journals). Also - the adult program doesn't even offer prizes [Note to TPPL: Adults want prizes too!]

Tucson Tuesdays

If you haven't been to your local library lately, you might want to give your neighborhood one a second glance.

Even if you don't enjoy reading, there are lots of fantastic reasons to venture into the literary world:

A. Most libraries carry a wide selection of new-release and classic DVD's. As such, you can check out movies for free (instead of reaching into your wallet for $5 at Blockbuster).
B. Most libraries have a fantastic selection of audio books on CD. Perfect for road trips, long business commutes, and cleaning the house.
C. Most libraries have WI-FI access. Yes, you can bring your laptop and surf the Internet on a comfy chair.
D. All libraries have computers with Internet access available.
E. There are SO many activities that you would never think a library might sponsor...business workshops, DDR for teens, mom and baby yoga, etc.
F. Even if you don't love to read, it's a great idea to foster a love of reading in your kids. Take them to story hour or enroll them in the summer reading program.

Come on all you bookworms and book-avoiders - check out your local library. There's something for everyone.

Tucson Tuesdays

Henceforward, Tuesdays will be dedicated to the beautiful deserts of Southern Arizona. I will comment on the people, the politics, and the public happenings of this growing metropolis of 1,000,000 people that boasts endless sunshine, breathtaking sunsets, and big city amenities in a "small town" environment.

I'm going to start this ongoing series with a challenge for every Tucson resident. Whether you are a young professional, a retiree, a stay-at-home mom, a high school senior, or a baby boomer working in corporate America, I urge you to give to Tucson. We are all responsible for the present and the future of our "western paradise" - and thus we should all be doing something to help. That can, of course, mean by contributing dollars to noteworthy causes, but it also means investing your time and talents to make Southern Arizona a better place.

Over the next few months, I will highlight many opportunities for you to get involved. Here's one easy first step: sign up to be a "Community Voice" on the Tucson Regional Town Hall website. This is your chance to speak up about your wants, needs, and ideas for improving Tucson...