Capital Partners, the owners of Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, and the Los Angeles Urban League to create a contest called “Who Wants to be The Next Entrepreneur Star.” The grand prize was eight months of free rent and four months at 15% rent. The team enlisted a distinguished group of local judges,
mentors and instructors. The competition was launched with an open house at the mall and invited prospective entrepreneurs to participate. To qualify to compete, the contestants were required to take
a rigorous educational program consisting of eight consecutive, weekend classes. The classes were taught by Vermont Slauson Economic Development Corporation, a non-profit organization concerned with business development and training in the south Los Angeles area. The coursework taught prospective retailers how to develop a business plan, hire employees, the basics of visual merchandising and how to operate a retail merchandising unit in the mall. Over 60 prospective retailers enrolled in the classes and at
its completion 28 entrants qualified. “The people who attended the workshops had great ideas,” Kravitz says. “These were people we had seen before [through prospecting for the center] but they couldn’t afford to rent space in the mall.” By removing or lessening the rent barrier, the competition allowed for new concepts to flow into the mall. As part of the competition, the mall hosted a public event
where the contestants gave presentations before a panel of judges. “The caliber of the entrepreneurs was phenomenal,” Kravitz says. Three finalists were chosen; each won an expense- paid trip to Las Vegas to attend the 2011 SPREE tradeshow where PRI hosted a dinner for them. As a final task, each had to develop and set up their business
120 Specialty Retail Report n Winter 2012
Celeste Bodnaryk was the winner of the contest hosted by The Centre in Saskatoon, Canada and MOMpreneur magazine.
on an RMU. Capri Capital Partners was so impressed with the caliber of the finalists, they asked, “What would you do if we made them all winners?” And, they did just that offering first, second and third place awards. The Los Angeles Urban League also honored the contenders at a black tie dinner where the winners were announced. The first place winner was Barbara Lawson, a full-time administrative assistant and mother of four, who in her spare time hand paints decorative glassware. The second and third place winners were Mimi’s Handmade Body Butter Lotions and Artistic Expressions Art & Jewelry. The second and third place winners also received concessions in rent.
Moving north Canadians are getting into the act too. The Centre, a Morguard Investments property located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan created a retailer contest with “MOMpreneur,” a national Canadian magazine. The center initiated the idea and sold it to the magazine that in turn supported the center’s efforts by linking their websites for contestant registration. The magazine allowed the center to use its name and trademark in all in-mall promotions. Janine Senick, specialty leasing manager, worked with
her marketing manager, Leanne Tameling to create the 2011 competition; they were so pleased with the outcomes that they are repeating it this year. The initial program had two
SpecialtyRetail.com
Photography by Grant Romancia
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