Nikki Style Magazine - Giancarlo Filartiga interview

'r text rLeigh de Armas

slope' a b-evY-oq with Europe's largest indoor ski track, Xanadrit' bowling alleys and d Formula 0 race makes shopping a the newest shopping destination form of entertainment'

"We focused on developingthese types of proiects in with-:1t-"-""n' Sp"in .nJ ltaly, becausethey are locations for thel particular in l'"."gt"phi.t and under-retailed' o u r S a t u r d a y . a f t e r n o o n p a r a d i s e . T h e r e w a s n o t h i n g q u i t e brand of retail and leisurethat Mills is'knownfor' lt was wash over as soon as Xanadt to succeed"' like the rush of cold air that would a perfect setting for a proiect like a line of ants on Like doors' glass giant the open we swung saysFilartiga. t thesidewalk'wemeanderedthroughthedepartmentstores were loitering at every ig Xanadi starters' and weavedbetweenthe adultswho For about?

So what's all the fuss mall was a much simpler ski slope' allowin6 f..g."n." counter' Back then' the home to Europe's largest indoor an stores' dozen two about of rain consisted usually lt hit the sl-opes' pla-ce. *ljr-go"r, to sirap on their gear and kiosk here and there', lt Follula a alley' lr."a", a food court and a iewelry ! or. shine.lt also offers a hugebowling interest' a Placeto De was a placeto sPyon your latest love where you can designand build yout store a track, race you couldn't afford' of high-endclothing r""", " pf.." to gawk at the sneakers own guitar' an enormous number more' much stores and drastic makeover and Today, the mall has undergone a we are longer No center' some of the mos is beloming more like a town The mall itself is a work of art' With hummingwith elevator the world' Mill in flockingao ih""p departmentstores architects and skilled designers its daysare surely burstingwith colori music.In fact, if such a placestill exists' was Xanad0 sure lorpo."aion'rnade InvestmentTrust everycorner' Hug numberedthanks to the U'S' Real Estate shapesand iaw droppingvisualsaround the of face the changing is fixtures and sle{ (REIT), Mills Corporation' Mills hanging ,.rin"a-gf"., windows,beautiful color' bust'size'and the moment yd mall as we know it-along with its hair from senses your interior d6cor invade offer every that mega-malls are results The i,fr'.t ,rt"a"' passthrough the colossalthreshold' the brain can .iorting, consumer and leisure opportunity first U'S'-basedREIT to "We are a retail and leisure destination"' says Filartig fatho.]Fu.th"rmore, Mills is the overseas' malls dollar take their multi-million "The important thing is that we developuniquepropertid destinationretail and leisureschemes.'' l in Arroyomolinos' Xanadrl,one of their latestProiectsnestled l'9 over Expanding within the U'S'j Madrid, must be seen to be believed' Mills Corporation has establisheditself of over $300 million' "We have developedand acquired 29 malls wi{ tillion .qu"r" f"et' and with a price tag well. a tourist attraction in number one tou!

Xanadri has made Arroyomolinos the United States,all of which are the famous a by inspired was which Xanadi, name fn" Florida' where irl tar"ft attraction in their state, aside from Mills' Global i, a synonymfor utopia' accordingto Filartiga'

lt seems like only The mall iust isn't what it used to be' car en route to mom's our yesterdaywe were piling into

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"number t w o " F i l a r t i g as p e a k s o f i s t h e f a m o u s S a w g r a s s M i l l s , i n S o u t h F l o r i d a . T h e s h o p p i n g d e s t i n a r i o nw a s built over 15 years ago, and is getting ready for a major fourth expansion, according to Filartiga_one the U.S. has yet to see. In its latest development, it will be expandingto include a fairytale-likeworld for children who want to be adults for a d a y . N a m e d W a n n a d o , t h i s m i n i - c i t yw i l l , , . . . a l l o wc h i l d r e n to play out their dreams of being a grown_up in an entertaining and educationae l n v i r o n m e n t , "s a y sT h e M i l l s . c o m . , , C h i l d r e n can role-play adult professions such as news reporf,er or television producer, airline pilot, cruise ship captain, doctor, c i r c u s p e r f o r m e r , b a n k e r o r d o z e n so f o t h e r iobs.,, The

F a':g: exp 3 -s. Frrr lies can bring their c h i l d r e nt o t n e p a r k , w h e r e t h e y w , f r r s ! r o i e - p l a yt h e i r a r r i v a l on an actual a i r p l a n e .T h e y w i l l g e r o f f r h e s r m u l a t e df l r g h t a n d go ro rhe bank, where they will take out money. and they can use t h i s m o n e y t o p u r c h a s e a n y t h i n g ,s u c h a s a c a r or a home.

E v e n t u a l l y ,t h e y a r e g o i n g t o r u n o u t o f m o n e y , s o they can ger lobs and become firemen or doctors, you name it.', Wannado will be opening in spring of 2004.

But Wannado is not the last of their children-oriented projects. They also have helped create a Crayola Works C r e a r i v i t y S t u d i o ,w h e r e k i d s c a n c o m e a n d make their own c r a y o n s{ c ' t h e i r d r a w i n g s .A n u m b e r o f o t h e r M i i l sr o c a t i o n s nave IncorPo-are: A PlaceTo Growrlr. ..This interactive play area for r,ds 3ges:wo :nc c der was d e s i g n e db y t h e S t . L o u i s - b a s e d .a w a . a - v

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o n a n i l l u s t r a t e dc h i l d r e ns b o o k o , ! . e s 3 - e - r _ e 5y rerhor S t e p h a n i eB l o o m , A P l a c et o G r o w - ! ' c o m D n e s - v e - : ve sc.: p l a y a n d e n g a g i n gp r o g r a m m t n g r o s r r m u l a r e e x p r o 1 3 :c . . spark creativity,promote learningand nurture growth...

Entertainment and leisure are a key trademark of any Mills project, and people are flocking to and from all over the world for the experience. In many of their properties, rhey have elaborate skateparks where people can come lorn in " T h e the fun.

Mills has parrneredwith ESpN.the wortdwide leader in sports, to create state-of_the-artpublic skateparks.,, says TheMills.com. "Each X Games Skatepark offers pubtic f a c i l i t i e sf o r s k a t e b o a r d i n g ,b i k e s t u n t r i d i n g ( B M X ) and inline s k a t i n g .T h e y a r e a l s o h o m e t o n a t i o n a l a n d l o c a l exhtbirions. including stops on ESpN events such as the Dave Mirra Tour, a large screen television for X Games viewing partres and a skaters and riders lounge. There is also a maior retail outlet featuring an extensive collection of action sports merchandise, including clothes, equipment, footwear, video games and more."

Their successis simply unparalleled. Mills Corporation has the fastest growing U.S. property stock with a $4 billion market capitalization, as well as $6 billion in gross annual s a l e s .W i t h t h a t k i n d o f p r o s p e r i t y , t h e y ' r e d e f i n i i e l y g o i n g to

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C h | o e E a r l y ,G i n g e r F u | k e r s o n ' M i | o Nikki *002 Writers: Leigh de Armas, A l C a b r e r a N a s h ' W . n a y O " t . t t e r - S m i t h , S a n d r aV M o l l e r ' J e s s e pedro cualquiera, Alberto Mosquera, SteffenThalemann' Nikki *002 photographers & Artists: Bosch' i f " f f ' Lance Cheshire' Manny Hernandez' Jessica Amber Gray, Dagmara, n"a*yi' Kupisz' R o b e r t H a r p e r ' S c i b i o r ' A ' Rosenthal' Davide' S a m a n t h aS c o t t , J a n i c e e ' i i " n ; , M i L " V i n c e n t Z e c h a r i a h M a r g a r i t ' David Marvel' Gina Derry, Cyrille Magnan' Soraya Ramirez Nikki *002 Translators: Lilliam Becker' Colette Kobrinsky Web Designer: Miguel Ortega & Paula Web Master: GregorY Bouchet Cardaci D i r e c t o r o f S a l e sa n d M a r k e t i n g : D a v i d Y a n Saquet M a r k e t i n g : I n t e r n a t i o n a l Director of Penrod S a l e sa n d M a r k e t i n g E x e c u t i v e s :S u s a n Meranda Davidson i"."r" ttloy' Marilyn Sims, Misty Saxon'

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