Under Oculus, Retail Takes a Bow
2016年8月16日 - 11:01AM
Dow Jones News
By Keiko Morris
Retailers inside the World Trade Center's transit hub are
finally going to give gawking tourists and rushing commuters
another reason to make the soaring structure a destination.
The $1.4 billion shopping complex officially opens at noon
Tuesday, adding an element to the emerging retail landscape in
lower Manhattan and offering another milestone of recovery from the
Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
"It's significant to us as a company, but it's also significant
to New York and America," said Frank Lowy, chairman of Westfield
Corp., the developer of the project known as Westfield World Trade
Center. He added, "It's a major victory of good over evil."
Westfield has high hopes. The company expects the shops to
generate more than $1 billion in sales a year, said Peter Lowy,
Westfield's co-chief executive.
Westfield aims to capture consumers' attention with digital
technology, including product-delivery apps and 19 digital screens.
One screen stretches about 280 feet along the corridor between the
central hall, topped by the structure known as the Oculus, and One
World Trade Center.
On Monday, stores were in varying degrees of completion. In some
shops, workers were putting the finishing touches on displays,
huddling for training and bringing in clothing racks. In others,
contractors were still at work.
Store brands include Eataly, Apple, Kate Spade, John Varvatos,
Sephora, Under Armour and Stuart Weitzman
Of about 100 stores expected to fill the space, 60 are scheduled
to open Tuesday.
Westfield doesn't yet have access to retail space in the
skyscraper known as 3 World Trade Center or the area still under
construction near the PATH station, said Peter Lowy.
Shops planned for those spaces likely will open between 2017 and
2018, he said.
Westfield World Trade Center is expected to do well, but faces
challenges such as attracting more regional, suburban visitors who
might decide to shop closer to home or online, said Burt Flickinger
III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, a consulting
firm.
Traffic congestion in Manhattan, for example, could dissuade
driving suburban shoppers, Mr. Flickinger said.
Westfield's leaders, for their part, expect ample foot traffic.
They estimated more than 300,000 commuters would pass through the
hub each day.
In addition, millions of tourists are expected next year to
visit the National September 11 Memorial Museum, the memorial plaza
and the observatory at One World Trade Center.
The company also estimated about 50,000 office workers will fill
the World Trade Center towers when all are completed.
Write to Keiko Morris at Keiko.Morris@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 15, 2016 21:46 ET (01:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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