THE MILLS APPROACH
The Mills Corporation, a fully integrated real estate company based in Washington, DC, develops, leases, manages and markets super-regional, value-oriented mega malls, known as Mills, as well as conventional shopping centers. In April of 1994,The Mills Corporation completed in initial public offering and now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "MLS". Public ownership as a REIT has increased the company's access to capital, thus strengthening the development strategy and growth ability.
The Mills Corporation has come, over the last eight years, to dominate the value-oriented segment of the retail industry with the Mills projects. Several related facets combine to create The Mills formula for highly profitable shopping environments:
* Strategic locations near major population centers.
* Fully enclosed malls serving larger geographic areas than conventional shopping malls.
* Increased customer traffic, enabling retail tenants to cover broader geographic territories with fewer outlets, achieving higher sales volumes per square foot per store.
* Economies of scale in operation allowing value retailers to price more competitively, resulting in larger customer purchases per visit.
* Carefully planned and balanced assortments of "big box" value-oriented anchors and major national and regional retailers' outlets, complemented by smaller specialty retailers.
The company aggressively promotes its projects as tour and travel sites both nationally and internationally. Potomac Mills, serving the Baltimore/Washington/ Northern Virginia area, has become the most visited tourist attraction in Virginia. Sawgrass Mills, located 25 minutes from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, is the number two tourist attraction in the state, second only to DisneyWorld.
FUTURE GROWTH
Under the leadership of Chairman of the Board and CEO Laurence C. Siegel and President and COO Peter B. McMillan, The Mills Corporation has tested and refined its approach to value retailing, investing successfully in markets across the country. It has assembled a superior level of management expertise, earned a high degree of tenant confidence and secured ample financial resources.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
The Mills Corporation continues to set the pace for the value retail industry. Six new projects create the next generation of opportunities, further defining and evolving The Mills concept with innovative new value retail and entertainment venues.
The Mills Corporation created the value-oriented mega mall segment of retail. They did it first. They're doing it best. Follow the leader.