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H O L I D AY S H O P P I N G
New Valley Mall initiative aims to
‘bring the mall to you’ this holiday season
written by LAUREN LAROCCA Over the past decade, holiday shopping has continued to migrate from in-store to online, but 2020 will likely see the biggest increase in shoppers going virtual. If COVID-19 restrictions are still in place by Thanksgiving, limiting capacity at retail stores, we aren’t likely to see the typical holiday buzz, bustling and long lines at Valley Mall, Hagerstown Premium Outlets, the Centre at Hagerstown on Garland Groh Boulevard and other shopping centers in the area. The limitations brought on by coronavirus, combined with many consumers facing financial hardship and planning to spend less on holiday shopping this year, likely will result in fewer people perusing shops. But holiday shopping can still be a fun tradition — and possibly less stressful — because of the shift away from crowded malls and toward leisurely online buying that allows items to be delivered right to your door, and to the homes of family and friends. Knowing that back-to-school shopping would be affected by COVID-19, Preit, the company that owns Valley Mall, as well as more than a dozen more malls on the East Coast and one in Michigan, implemented a new e-commerce initiative called sMall Surprises. It aims to “bring the mall
to you,” said Heather Crowell, executive vice president of strategy and communications for Preit. Through smallsurprises.shop, parents, relatives and friends can order surprise boxes to be sent to students anywhere in the country. “We were thinking about the challenges the industry was facing, and the challenges the consumer and parents were facing,” Crowell said.“We were looking for ways to solve multiple problems: supporting the malls, bringing the mall to consumers and spreading some cheer. We thought, ‘let’s infuse some joy in this stressful time.’” Based on a short, online quiz about a child (name, age, favorite color, interests, personality, etc.), each gift pack is personalized and contains items that are selected by a personal shopper. Preit initially thought it would offer the Mystery Gift ($40), Fun Pack ($40) and Awesome Pack ($60) for a limited time, but because the boxes have been so popular for birthdays and other occasions — in addition to the start of the school year — the company decided to continue offering them. Additional boxes will be introduced, too, as the year goes on, Crowell said. Personal shopper and creative stylist Sarah
