26 - Sunday, January 12, 1992 - North Shore News

HIGH PROFILES

Cap Mail gm ready for new challenges

Richard Wood optimistic of a strong 1992 showing

THESE ARE lean and mean days for the retail in- dusiry. Hundreds of Cana- dian businesses faced one of the worst Christmas seasons ever and some analysts fear the worst is still to come.

By Evelyn Jacob News Reporter

Despite massive layoffs and re- cord bankruptcies across the country — 6,878 in November alone — Capilano Mali’s new general manager, Richard Wood, believes the worst is over.

That flies in the face of most predictions, bui Wood is op- timistic about a recovery.

_ “It’s not all doom and gloom,”’ said the Winnipeg native, who was transferred to North Vancouver from Lethbridge, Alberta, where he worked as a mall general man- ager for 4% years.

Wood predicts that some good will actually come from the cur- rent economic slump, namely the way retailers do business.

He blames the current slowdown on companies becoming too big for their own good and losing sight of what the customer wants.

Value-hungry shoppers, cynical about retail sales, are forcing store-owners to offer better ser- vice and sales and accept more modest mark-ups and profits.

‘*The (retail) industry is in a period of shake-out. Over the next few years we'll see a great change in the retail industry. There will be more opportunity for specialized businesses to come in and fine-tune their approach to the consumer and offer services that are really in demand,’’ says Wood.

While the mood in most Cana- dian shopping malls is grim — even in the normally spendthrift Christmas season — Wood says there are still people interested in starting up new retail companies.

*‘In my first three days on the job I had three new businesses approach me,” he points out.

Compared with other retail cen- tres, Capilano Mall, owned by Cambridge Shopping Centres

NAME: Richard Wood RESIDENCE: Surrey, B.C. EDUCATION: Certified Shopping Centre Manager, international Council of Shopping Centres OCCUPATION: General manag- er, Capilano Mall

FAMILY: Married to Marilyn: two sons

HOBBIES: Landscape photography, member of vasious service clubs

Ltd., which operates 40 malls across the country and controls property in the U.S., has managed to hold its own.

Says Wood: ‘ think it’s a reflection of good marketing that’s been taking place in the last year and good loyal customers.”

But that’s not to say the mall has been immune to the hard times.

‘We've had quite a few tenants go under. It’s been awful as far as that’s concerned."

From his vantage point at his desk looking down on the mall, he can see dozens of store windows with signs of 50% and 70% off. Still, Capilano Mall is getting about average traffic patterns for this time of year, and Wood says the shopping centre enjoyed a fairly strong Christmas.

However, he has yet to receive the final word on how Christmas sales shaped up.

Whatever happens, he plans to come out of the recession with a stronger shopping centre.

One of the things he will have to tackle is something that has become a prickly issue among Canadian retailers: the cross- border shopping phenomenon.

Wood acknowledges cross- border shopping has been a significant problem for the last year. He is convinced, however, that it’s not lower prices that are luring people away, but better service and greater selection.

That’s just one of many issues Wood plans to deal with in the new year. In the meantime, he’s still getting used to a new office and a brand new city; one of the first things he did when he arrived in Vancouver was to buy a pair of rain boots and a large umbrella.

Richard Wood - In his own words

What other B.C. malls does Cambridge Shopping Centres Ltd. own? ‘‘Oakridge, Eaton’s at Metrotown, it manages Land- sowne Park and is presently de- veloping Woodward Place in New Westminster.”

What’s your business background? “I was involved with the advertising industry in Win- nipeg and Toronto as a produc- tion manager and an accounts ex- ecurive. Then 1 moved into real estate and got into the shopping centre industry in the late '70s."" You’ve moved around the country a lot since you joined the shopp- ing centre business. How has that been? ‘‘Obviously it’s very traumatic and stressful, but there are positives too. My two sons, aged 12 and 14, have been able to visit just about every province in Canada. They have a real [eel for the differences that exist between provinces and the backgrounds that make up the Canadian mosaic.”’

What does the general manager of | a mail do? ‘‘One wears many dif- ferent hats during one day. You are a leasing consultant, an ac- countant, a lawyer, a public rela- tions representative, an advertiser — you flip from hat to hat on practically a minute-1o-minute basis. But that’s what I like about it: the diversity of respon- sibilites.”’

How do you read the consumer at this time? ‘‘Consumers are being very cautious with their discre- tionary spending. People are look- ing for value, for good service, the kind of service retailers should be providing. °”

What's Cambridge's busizess phi- losophy? ‘‘Cambridge is perceived by the industry as the retailer’s developer. It has a good relation- ship with the Retail Council of Canada and a good relationship with all major retai] malls in the -country.”’

NEWS photo Mike Wakelield

THE NEW general manager of Capifario Mall, Richard Wood (centre), takes a stroll through the North Vancouver shopping centre with (left) former general manager Dan Torok {now general

manager of Landsowne Park) and marketing director Andy Lowther.

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