The steady price inflation and economic downturn are driving shopping mall managements into a cost-minimizing crusade.

Strip mall management is downright difficult and when coupled with bleak economic assessments and recession - the pressure is doubled in fact, tripled for mall managers.

To cope up with the crisis the need to counter its impacts is crucial.

Lowering cost on commercial real estate management calls for cost-cutting measures that must be thoroughly considered so as not to affect the customers’ overall shopping experience negatively and to keep the customers happy.

Different shopping malls are already starting to make their own move to reduce their expenses and eliminate spending on the things they can do without.

For instance, the Westfield Group will be reducing its shopping hours which will be implemented in its 5 malls in Illinois. The malls will be opening 30 minutes later but will be closing 30 minutes earlier.

Other shopping malls are turning on to energy-saving approach which include delaying the time when escalators start turning on and adjusting the thermostat down for a bit.

Even small things can turn into something big when summed up. As simple as replacing the light bulbs with efficient LED bulbs and adjusting the temperature along the corridors at the back together with other cost-minimizing measures can go a long way towards saving costs.

The Northbrook Court is already using energy-saving lightings and doing temperature adjustments in chosen mall areas. In addition, they will start switching its annual plants with perennial plants which are more cost-effective considering materials and labor costs. Their sprinkling systems are now tied up to timers in an attempt to save on water consumption.

Ford City Mall has also adjusted their thermostats and delayed the time when their escalators turn on for few minutes. They are finding the move to be effective as it helped reduce their power consumption by 11%.

Yorktown Center has gone on more strict business travel policies for managers, upgraded to more energy-efficient bulbs and ended their information center 411 calls which usually cost $1.50 for local call and $1.99 for the national.

Westfield Group’s decision to cut their store hours has gained support from the National Retail Foundation’s Vice President, Ellen Davis, who said that it only makes sense such that if the traffic isn’t enough (during those hours) there’s no need to spend on heating a location and paying the employees.

But Davis emphasized that cutting store hours can be a tough move considering that the management will need to balance out whether cutting the store hours will keep their customers happy or make them go somewhere else.

All in all the need to keep the customers happy is a primary concern among shopping mall managements. In the case of Shops at the North Bridge, they are trying to implement cost-reducing strategies after hours so as not to cause inconvenience to their customers.  They are implementing trash recycling and turning on their escalators an hour later. They are also using sensors that automatically shut down the lights of their management office room after 5 minutes that it is unoccupied.

Shops at North Bridge property manager, Todd Hiepler acknowledges that the crisis in the country’s economy has turned everybody’s attention towards energy efficiency. But, generally it’s actually like hitting two birds in one stone as it promotes environment-friendly solutions and at the same time helped in ROI.

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