6 Questions with Taubman Centers Exec Billy Taubman

The opening of the Taubman Prestige Outlets drew thousands and thousands of shoppers to Chesterfield last Friday as well as the international company's executive leadership.

Patch sat down with COO William Taubman to discuss the design of the project, its future in Chesterfield and the competing outlet mall in town, Simon Premium Outlets, which will open Aug. 22. 

1) Can you tell me who much revenue you are expecting Taubman Prestige Outlets to generate?

Taubman Chief Operating Officer William Taubman: We don't give out those kind of numbers other than what we tell the public markets. And we have told the public markets that we are waiting to see exactly what is produced in terms of sales volume. It all comes down to sales. It's really about the amount of sales and the sales per square foot of the tenants. If the tenants are doing business, you will do fine.

I think both projects [Taubman Prestige Outlets and Simon Premium Outlets] will do business. There is no product like either one of these projects in the market. It is one of the largest markets in America with no outlet shopping today. Even when you combine the total square footage of both projects, it's substantially less than exists in almost every other top 20 market.

It may seem like a lot because it's all happening at once, and that makes it a little bit more difficult for both of us to lease up, but at the end of the day the total square footage is well shy of what the typical market demand suggests could be built.

The entire region within a one to one and a half hour drive will be the market for a project like this. 

2) Given the high concentration of retail stores in Chesterfield already, why do you think Taubman Prestige Outlets will be successful?

WT: This stores that are here are not the same stores that are across the street, and yet the customer here is interested in a lot of what they have across the street and the customer who is across the street will be interested in a lot of what we have.

3) What can you tell me about the physical design of the outlet center?

WT: There are a lot of elements here were we have evolved and changed the standard outlet model. The glass comes all the way down, that's not something you see in a lot of outlet centers. There are no columns in the store front, they are all set back a foot to two feet. As a result of that, we can locate the storefronts anywhere we want. It gives us a lot of flexibility and it makes the entire appearance of the mall fell very light.

4) A lot has been made in local media about the number of tenants you have versus your competitor on the other side of the valley. How would you respond to someone saying Simon Premium Oulets has a lot more stores? 

WT: It's never about the number of stores you have, it's the number stores you have that somebody wants. There are a lot of empty centers in China that opened with a lot of stores that nobody wanted. Since we are in China, I have seen a number of them over the years.

It's really about having the right stores. I think we will have some great stores and they will have some great stores and I think the customer will … likely end up going to both because we will have some of the stores they want and they will have some of the stores they want. 

5) A lot of effort has been made into making Taubman Prestige Outlets a dog-friendly shopping center. Who's idea was that?

WT: Our head of marketing dreamed that up a number of years ago when we were building a property in Richmond, an open-air project that had Saks Fifth Avenue and Dillards in it. We came up with this idea as a way of differentiating the relationship with the customer and enhancing the customer experience. It was so popular that we have now instituted it in our other open air projects. 

6) Taubman Prestige Outlets is right next to the Chesterfield-Monarch Levee that protects the Chesterfield Valley. Why is Taubman so confident in the levee? 

WT: We are above the 500 year flood plain. That doesn't create a guarantee but, you know, hopefully it's only once every 500 years.