I believe Legoland sees an opportunity in the recession because consumers are looking for free or affordable cost entertainment in their malls. This trend also corresponds to a consumer who expects their news to be free on the web. Consequently, we see malls across the globe add entertainment and amusement venues to draw consumers who have relegated shopping to obligatory time, which is something close to work. These consumers are bored with the same stores in every mall and with higher gas prices, lost home values and depressed 401K accounts they do not have the funds for a shopping spree.

Yet, Legoland charges on with a strategy to open in Grapevine Mills mall in Dallas, TX and are they are looking for a location near the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. Additionally, the city of Dallas will give Merlin Entertainment, the operator of Legoland, a $1 million TIF (Tax Incremental Financing) incentive package to open in the mall. The facility is projected to open in March 2011 in 40,000 square feet.

Glenn Earlam, a managing director with Merlin, said in a statement that “the inclusion of a quality leisure attraction like the Legoland Discovery Centre will . . . deliver significant incremental business to both the mall, to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and the greater region as a whole.”

Likewise, Disney earlier this month announced that they are turning 340 of their Disney Stores into “entertainment hubs” and renaming them Imagination Park with the help of Apple’s Steve Jobs. The goal is to make children clamor to visit the stores and stay longer, perhaps bolstering sales as a result. Over the next five years, analysts estimate that Disney will spend about $1 million a store to redecorate, reorganize and install interactive technology. Some Disney board members fretted though that the concept was so lavish that parents would try to use the stores as day care centers. Others worried that people would come for the entertainment but not buy anything. Disney is pitting landlords against each other to try and get the best deals in top-tier locations.

The Middle East seems to be leading the trend with the biggest entertainment venues as attractions in malls. Examples include the 15,000 square foot Wahooo! Waterpark which just opened in Bahrain City Centre mall, and the now infamous Ski Dubai at the Mall of Emirates.

Ski Dubai located in Mall of EmiratesBut will these large financial investments hold up in the long-run? Or are they a 21st Century repeat of the previously failed versions of entertainment in malls, such as Warner Brothers, Gameworks, FAO Schwarz and Niketown? The 1990s saw the end of roller rinks in malls and affordable home video game systems killed the mall arcade.

With all the focus on entertainment will the new shops fail like many others in the past, especially when Target and Wal-Mart offer the lowest priced toys in a warehouse envirnoment?

Disney claims sales at its original stores, which opened in 1987 and sold to Children’s Place in 2004, plummeted because they oversaturated the market. However, many analysts believe that the stores’ visitation was high due to the entertainment but not enough people bought to sustain the rents and overhead.

I remember stopping in The Disney Store on every mall visit but only purchasing merchandise a handful of times. Is my experience the norm or a rarity?

Additionally, FAO Schwartz which was a New York destination failed when it tried to bring their concept to malls proving that high entertainment value does not always translate into high sales figures. So I ask the question, are these high investment entertainment venues going to last or are they a trend that will be a lecture in business school ten years from now?

A Legoland Discovery Centre – a small indoor attraction based on the tiny plastic brick children’s toys from Denmark – is being planned for metro Atlanta, a broker said Friday.

The company that will develop it – Merlin Entertainment Group of the United Kingdom – may also seek to bring its wax museum brand — Madame Tussauds — to Atlanta, said Howard Samuels, the company’s national broker with Samuels & Co. in Los Angeles.

The location for the Legoland attraction – which would charge admission of $15 for kids and $19 for adults – is still in negotiations, Samuels said. The attraction would include an Atlanta skyline made of Legos.

Sites being considered are Atlantic Station near Midtown, North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Buckhead and downtown Atlanta, he said, as well as other sites that “meet our criteria.”

Criteria include being near other “family-oriented co-tenants” with good dining nearby. Samuels said he is in negotiations, but he wouldn’t say whether a letter of intent has been signed.

The indoor attraction would be about 35,000 square feet – the size of the recently closed ESPN Zone restaurant in Buckhead.

It would include several rides, a large play area, a café and a gift shop, and be available for private parties.

There is only one U.S. location of Legoland Discovery Centre, which is in Schaumburg, a Chicago suburb. A Legoland amusement park is in Carlsbad, Calif., near San Diego.

Mike Pastor, the general manager of the Schaumburg location, said the average age for visitors is about 7 years old, but the attraction brings in kids ages 3 to 12.

The Chicago outpost opened in July 2008. “We’ve met our budget goal so far and exceeded what we expected,” he said.

Samuels said these attractions are built with the expectation they could get 400,000 to 600,000 visitors annually. The company does not disclose development costs.

Merlin Entertainment operates about 60 attractions in 13 countries. A London spokeswoman wouldn’t confirm details about Atlanta, but she did say Merlin is looking to add U.S. locations for several of its brands, including Sea Life.

In general, Merlin seeks economic development incentives to help offset the capital costs for the attractions, Samuels said. But without a lease in hand, it has yet to pursue public incentive funds, he added.

The Legoland attraction is set to open in the spring of 2011, he added.

A Legoland and/or Madame Tussauds would add more feathers to Atlanta’s hat as a tourism destination in the Southeast.

A pirate museum and college football hall of fame were recently announced as well.

William Pate, president of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, said it would be nice to have another place for young kids, along with the Imagine It Children’s Museum of Atlanta and the Georgia Aquarium.

“It really fits in to our diversified portfolio of tourist offerings,” he said, referring to the varied tourism sites now downtown, plus the ones that are coming, such as the National Health Museum.

He believes a Legoland indoor park, because of its uniqueness, would also be another magnet for tourists who drive from Birmingham, Nashville and Knoxville, for example.

A proposal to build a 254-room, Lego-themed hotel at the Legoland California amusement park won the support it needed Tuesday from the Carlsbad City Council.

The state’s Coastal Commission also is expected to soon sign off on the plans, but when construction will begin is uncertain, project backers said, adding that it depends on national economic conditions.

“We need to see signs of recovery first,” Legoland general manager Peter Ronchetti told the City Council.

Once the park’s owners —- Merlin Entertainments —- agree to begin the job, it will take about 18 months of work before the proposed hotel can open its doors to paying customers, Ronchetti said.

Tucked out of sight between Cannon Road to the north and Palomar Airport Road to the south, the Legoland California park opened in 1999 and added a separate aquarium attraction last year. The park’s rides and other attractions are inspired by creations made from the plastic Lego building blocks.

The proposed hotel will include a Lego clock tower and brightly colored Lego decorations around its exterior. Plans call for the serpentine-shaped hotel, which will wrap around a pool area, to be built in two phases, with the first phase consisting of 152 rooms. The hotel is proposed to go on what’s now the RV parking lot next to the ticket counters.

The RV lot is seldom used, so the loss of its parking spaces isn’t considered a big concern, city senior planner Van Lynch told the council.

In fact, Legoland has so much excess parking space that it leases part of its lower lots to car dealerships for new-car storage.

Council members said they were eager for the place to open. Councilwoman Ann Kulchin noted that city leaders have expected a Lego-themed hotel ever since the park opened a decade ago.

Others said they loved the room designs, particularly the luxury ones with pirate and castle themes.

“I think this is obviously a very unique hotel,” Councilman Mark Packard said.

Ronchetti said that even the basic rooms will carry a Lego look, with special carpeting that has the texture of the bumpy top of Lego blocks. The wall paper will feature building plans for Lego objects, he added.

A $12 million Legoland Discovery Centre, an attraction centered on the popular children’s building blocks, will be coming to Grapevine Mills mall, the city said Tuesday.

The only other U.S. Legoland Discovery Centre opened last year outside Chicago. Legoland Discovery Centre and the Legoland theme park in California are developments of U.K.-based Merlin Entertainment Group, reportedly the world’s second-biggest operator of visitor attractions.

The Grapevine City Council and the board of the Tax Increment Financing District No. 1, which was established several years ago for the mall, approved a two-phase, $1 million incentive package for the project. Merlin Entertainment will receive $500,000 when it completes the facility and $500,000 when it completes an accompanying 10,000-square-foot miniature golf facility made from Legos.

Construction should begin in June, with an anticipated opening in March 2011, the company said. The facility will occupy 40,000 square feet currently being used by Woodward Skatepark, which is across from the AMC Theatres. The golf facility will go in the outdoor plaza between the theater and the mall.

Simon Property Group owns the mall. Its local business representative could not be reached for comment.

Legoland Discovery Centres are geared to kids ages 3-12. Visitors often spend between two and three hours walking through the center and taking part in activities. Kids learn how Legos are built before venturing on to build with the blocks, see displays and ride Lego rides. There’s a cafe and rooms for birthday parties. Admission is $15 for children and $19 for adults. Annual passes are $40.

Merlin Entertainment said it chose Grapevine because the city is considered a “popular destination for family visitors.”

Glenn Earlam, a managing director with Merlin, said in a statement that “the inclusion of a quality leisure attraction like the Legoland Discovery Centre will . . . deliver significant incremental business to both the mall, to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and greater region as a whole.”

Grapevine Mayor William Tate said the project “will become one of the most unique and best family attractions in Texas.” City officials estimated that it could draw more than 300,000 visitors a year.

Legos, colorful snap-together plastic building blocks, are made by Lego Group, a private Danish firm.

The first Discovery Centre opened in Berlin in 2007. There is one in Germany, and a location is expected to open next year in Manchester, England, according to the company’s Web site. Atlanta might also add a location, according to media reports.

Merlin operates 59 attractions, six hotels and two holiday villages in 13 countries, including Madame Tussauds in New York, Washington, Las Vegas and Hollywood, Calif.

A Lego Education Center in Southlake, a venture of Lego and Pitsco Inc, is not part of Merlin.

It offers classes and educational activities geared to kids 3-12 using Legos to teach math, science, engineering, technology and art.

Versace
Recently announced it was closing all thirty (30) of its stores in Japan.

New World
A new world is likely to emerge in which designers rebel against long lead times and where they take their collections directly to the consumer through their own boutiques, trunk shows, and over the web.

Web Sales
Web sales are projected to reach $156 billion in 2009, representing 6% of the total U.S. retail pie

The Web Fashion Consumer
Consumers have come to expect new merchandise more frequently, thanks to the web and fast fashion retailers such as H & M. Many cannot understand why they have to wait 6 months to see the fashions seen on the runways. Buyers at department stores generally base their orders on the past, while fashion editors gravitate to the most photogenic and future looking styles, leaving the consumer stuck in the middle. This results in one facet of the fashion industry looking forward and the other looking backwards. The consequence: a consumer on one hand is told what to buy but on the other, not where to buy it.

In response, a new generation of fashion retailers is emerging on the web where news is freely given and fashion is sold. Net-a-porter with average sales of $820.00 per transaction and customers from 170 countries is one example of this new generation of merchants. The company has successfully merged its web retail site with a fashion news site catering to a new consumer who wants credible news over magazine advertisements and the most up to date fashion now.

Entertainment
Families spent 5.1% more on entertainment in 2008 than in 2009, something that has surprised many economists. As consumers tightened their pocket books and wallets one would expect entertainment to be one of the first categories to see significant decreases. But the 5.1% increase in spending equated to 16.5 billion more dollars spent in the category over 2007.

Household debt
The American family is trying to put money into savings and reduce their overall debt, but they are clearly not faring as well as one might expect in this recession. Household debt now amounts to about 125% of after tax income.

High Net Worth Individuals
Luxury retailers are faced with a significant decline in Americans with a high net worth defined as having $1,000,000 of assets available for investment. In 2008 the assets of these individuals dropped by as much as 22%. The result is a major decrease in sales at retailers such as Neiman Marcus where sales have decreased by over 20% in 2009 over 2008.