Page 42 - BusinessWest December 8, 2021

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And it’s not just a local phenomenon, she added. “I get to support leasing for all of our properties, so I’m not just focused on Hampshire and Holyoke; I get to see what’s happening across the Pyramid port- folio and across the industry. We’re seeing more hotels, we’re seeing apartments, we’re seeing shared office spaces in a lot of our properties. So it’s kind of cool to see it’s not just about a shopping center anymore, it’s about creating a lifestyle.”
Coming Home
Coming back to Hampshire Mall as general manager in 2016 was truly a full-circle event for someone who had built a career from the bottom up at the two local Pyramid properties. From her humble beginnings selling gift certificates at Holyoke Mall, she progressed in the mid-’90s to an office-assistant position at Hampshire Mall for a few years, which evolved into a marketing role. She returned to Holy- oke in the late ’90s as assistant marketing director, then went back to Hampshire as marketing director before her stint with General Growth Properties.
“When I came back to Pyramid again,” she said of her hiring as gen- eral manager there in 2016, “it was like coming home.”
As for the recent evolution in the use of mall space, one that’s espe- cially noticeable at Hampshire Mall, Gray said even individual tenants understand the trend.
“A lot of our partners in our tenant base have really gone out of their way to try to diversify their use,” she noted. “A great example is Pinz. You’re not just there for bowling; there’s also an arcade, there’s food, there’s dart throwing, axe throwing, all kinds of things. It’s about keep- ing people in these spaces longer, and that’s something we’re offering at all of our properties.”
That’s why both malls now feature a gym, bowling, and arcades, as well as shopping (including some big boxes, like Target, which is also featured at both). “We really are creating a destination for you to find everything you need. It’s creating sort of a downtown feel.”
No longer can mall managers cater only to people who want to stop in, get what they want quickly, and leave, even though there are still plenty of those. It’s about giving them more to do once they arrive and, therefore, more reasons to come in the first place.
“I think people have more choices today,” Gray said. “They have
“We’ve been doing everything we can to support the small businesses. Here at the Holyoke Mall, 27% of our businesses are actually locally owned businesses or locally owned franchises.”
less time, more on their plates, they’re going in a million different directions, and creating a space they’re going to frequent more often because they’re not coming here just for shopping is critical, because it keeps us relevant; it keeps us top of mind.
“They’re not just going to Target to get their essentials, they’re coming here for a day with their family and going bowling, or maybe they’re coming several times a week because they’re visiting the gym. Or they’re having their birthday parties at Altitude,” she went on. “It’s
a space that’s far beyond just a shopping destination. They’re coming more often and spending more time because they’re coming for a vari- ety of different uses.”
Hampshire Mall in particular is no stranger to innovation. Gray credited the wisdom of its original owners, who built a shopping center on farmland in Hadley more than 40 years ago. The Route 9 corridor eventually exploded with much more retail, dining, and other ame- nities, fed by the affluent communities of Amherst and Northamp-
ton that bookend it, and, of course, UMass Amherst and other local colleges.
“Somebody had this idea that putting a shopping center there would be really successful, and it has been,” she said. “It’s very desir- able real estate now.”
Still, no one in the shopping-center industry was prepared for the impact of COVID-19.
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“The biggest challenge has been the uncertainty, which still reso- nates with a lot of us,” she said. “We’ve been doing everything we can to support the small businesses. Here at
the Holyoke Mall, 27% of our businesses
are actually locally owned businesses
Gray
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