Hammond Square: Cars, Wine, and Photobooths added up to success
On a very cold Wednesday night, our first annual Lover’s Lane event was a huge success thanks to the many local vendors, car owners and organizations willing to brave the elements! Hammond Square had 40 Classic Cars lined up on Palace Drive outside of businesses from Cato to Menchie’s. There were over 100 people from Hammond and the surrounding area bundled up, but still in the mood to gather with friends and loved ones and revel in the oldies music, classic cars, wine tastings and a warm photo booth. If you are wondering if people enjoyed the photo booth, you can check out the pictures on the Hammond Square Facebook page as proof they did! We went through three cases of wine that night and the bottle selections made by Red, White and Brew seemed to fit the event just right.
Multiple tenants reported increased sales the night of the event. The restaurants were the biggest benefactors as the car owners and event patrons stepped in the heated spaces for dinner and snacks. Increasing traffic to our tenants is an added benefit of these events!
A Tenant Team Spirit award went to Maurices for their great participation in the event. They had live models in their store windows, passed out coupons during the event, and even let their employees try out the photo booth! A close second was the newest tenant at Hammond Square, Obsession. With a new owner, new merchandise and new management, the store passed out cupcakes and provided a sneak peak of all the fabulous clothing they will have available starting in March when they open.
There were some items that could have been improved. After the event I had many people tell me that they did not know about it. We heavily utilized Facebook, e-mail and other online media as our main promoting tools. We had one banner and three small landscape signs on site. Hammond Square is now an open air shopping center instead of an enclosed mall so we lose some of the reach impact that one or two major entrances can prove helpful for.
Because of this observation, signage for the next event will be placed at every entrance. We feel this may reach the crowd that doesn’t check in electronically on a regular basis, but does shop at the Square.
So what is next? Apart from our regularly scheduled Tangi Humane Society pet adoptions on the last day of every month; there is an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 30th! The Golden Oldie Motor Club decided to hold their big Children’s Hospital fundraiser at Hammond Square in the lot by Nagoya and Albasha on the same day as the Hunt. We are taking the success from Lover’s Lane and making this an all-day event for the entire family with the Easter Egg Hunt on Palace Drive starting at 9:30 am and the Car Show participant registration going from 8:00 am – Noon. Hammond Square can only take the credit for the Easter Egg Hunt. Most of the work for this event is done by the Golden Oldies Motor Club who will even have a Kid’s Choice winner for the vehicle picked to be the coolest by the younger judges.
By Hammond Square slowly becoming known for being a social meeting area and tool for the community, we hope that it promotes a general feeling of community throughout Tangipahoa and the surrounding Parishes. As the Square becomes more active with new tenants and with even more successful existing tenants, we hope it will be used as a tool to show how Hammond is growing and changing in the right direction. Shop local. Shop Tangi!
Hammond Square: 2013 – A Year to Try New Things
Based on the positive sales reported by many of my tenants at Hammond Square, it looks like the residents of Tangipahoa Parish and the surrounding area had a very active Holiday season. Several retailers’ sales were the best in December 2012 from any other month since they opened! These numbers tell me that managing Hammond Square is going to keep me pretty busy.
So what does 2013 have in store for Hammond Square? This Saturday, January 26, kicks off our first heavily marketed event of the year. The Tangi Humane Society will have on-site pet adoptions starting at 10 am. The Shopping Center is giving away branded flying disks to people who stop by and donate $5 or bring stainless steel water/food bowls. This was the first time we used a promoted post on Facebook to let our shoppers know about the event. Another event that is new to the Center is in its final planning stages and is scheduled for Wednesday, February 13 from 7-9 pm. The Lover’s Lane Valentine’s event will bring a classic car show down Palace Drive with wine tasting stations and a photo booth. All are free to the community! We are using several outlets to promote this event – Facebook, banners, landscape signs, flyers, prizes for the car show participants and a radio remote.
In 2013 we are also working closer with two major businesses in Hammond: North Oaks Health System and Southeastern Louisiana University. Based on meetings held with both in early January, there will be more events and community involvement in the coming year at Hammond Square.
In regards to our leasing approach, we are aggressively pursuing some locally owned businesses for locations on Palace Drive. Locally owned businesses can bring character and sense of community to our Center.
It looks like 2013 will be a busy year for me, the leasing team, and Hammond Square’s retailers! Shop in Tangi! Shop Hammond Square!
Hammond Square – New Manager, New Town
Relocating from Atlanta to the Northshore of New Orleans, Louisiana to manage a shopping center in Hammond for Stirling Properties is a pretty big culture shock; however, it does help a bit that I am from the New Orleans area originally.
In my new position as the Hammond Square Property Manager, a large part of what I am looking forward to is meeting and learning about the tenants at Hammond Square. This will be the first time I have the stores Kay Jewelers, Zales, Charming Charlie, Maurices and many local merchants as tenants.
From what I have learned in my first two weeks, Southeastern Louisiana University and North Oaks Health System are a big part of the Hammond economy; meeting with representatives from those two institutions will be a 2013 priority. Hammond will be an interesting place to learn more about the economy, the importance of Hammond Square to the area, and the successful events put on by the Downtown Development District.
I can only hope that this blog will help me learn more about Hammond, Tangipahoa Parish, and the surrounding areas. In turn, I would like to share my knowledge about Hammond Square and the area with others. If all goes well, this can be a win-win situation!
Shop in Tangi! Shop Hammond Square!
Stirling Properties Hires Amy Allen as Hammond Square Property Manager
HAMMOND, LA – Stirling Properties is pleased to announce that Amy Allen is now Property Manager at Hammond Square.
Ms. Allen brings over eight years of commercial real estate background that includes a property management portfolio of over two million square feet and 17 shopping centers in the Atlanta area.
Ms. Allen started her real estate career as a Property Manager for DLC Management Corporation, where she oversaw a 1.5 million square-foot portfolio. In 2009 she joined Atlanta-based Developers Diversified Realty, where she managed over 2.5 million square feet of shopping centers.
Originally from the New Orleans area and an LSU graduate, Ms. Allen recently moved to Covington after living in the Atlanta area for nearly 10 years.
Stirling Properties Hires Eugene Schmitt as Hammond Square Property Manager
HAMMOND, LA – April 16, 2012 – Stirling Properties is pleased to announce that Eugene Schmitt is now Property Manager at Hammond Square.
Mr. Schmitt brings a diverse commercial real estate background that includes portfolio asset management oversight, portfolio leasing expertise, direct involvement in over $200 million in ground-up development, and direct day-to-day property management.
Mr. Schmitt started his real estate career as the Retail & Industrial Asset Manager for Washington Real Estate Investment Trust, where he oversaw a 4.3 million square-foot portfolio. In 2005 he joined Atlanta-based Cousins Properties where he served in various development, leasing, and property management capacities. Most recently with Cousins, Eugene served as the Regional Director-Retail where he managed a national portfolio of retail centers that generated over $30 million in annual operating income.
Mr. Schmitt moved to New Orleans in 2011 and founded Waterline Real Estate Consulting, a real estate services company. Waterline projects included project/construction management services for a 27,000 square-foot medical office build-out for LSU’s Health Sciences Center and project management services for a historical renovation/adaptive reuse project in downtown New Orleans.
Prior to starting his real estate career, Mr. Schmitt served as a naval officer aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Ticonderoga and as Assistant Operations Officer at Destroyer Squadron Six. He holds a B.S. in Naval Architecture from the U.S. Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from Tulane University, with concentrations in Finance and Accounting.
Mr. Schmitt lives in New Orleans with his wife, Theresa, and three-year-old son, Keegan.
The Advantage of a Three Step Insured Property Loss Claims Strategy
You just received a call on your cell that a small fire has occurred at the office building you manage and coincidentally operate out of. You return to your office to find that while the fire was small, the subsequent fire sprinkler damage is heavy…. Now what?
Insured property loss claim events are often ill-timed and come in a variety of types and sizes. While the occurrence is hardly predictable, the proper management of a claim process should lead to predictable results. As with any challenging situation you encounter in business, gaining and maintaining the advantage is the key to success. At Stirling, we use a simple three step strategy. This strategy will prepare you with the tools to tackle the simple, and the complex insured property loss claims and create predictability throughout the claim and restoration process. (more…)
