The
Bal Harbour Shops,
perched on the north tip of Miami Beach, is not your typical
neighborhood mall. There’s no Sharper Image or Bulk Barn, no Gap or T.J.
Maxx. The brands are all recognizable, but not for their accessibility.
Think Chanel, Prada, Fendi and Neiman Marcus, among others. It’s the
kind of place where ladies, when they’re not lunching, browse for David
Yurman jewelry while holding flutes of champagne. And many of those
ladies are speaking Portuguese or Russian.
St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort pool at dusk
Sixty years ago, with ambitions of emulating something closer to a
grand promenade than a conventional mall, Stanley Whitman bought an
expensive parcel of land on Miami Beach. He cut the ribbon on the
open-air Bal Harbour Shops in 1965. It was America’s first all-luxury
shopping center, and Whitman’s vision has proved resilient. Since 1965,
year-over-year profit has increased with two exceptions: 2002 (following
9/11) and 2009 (following the global economic crisis). Bal Harbour
Shops is still a family business: Whitman, 94, is still actively
involved, while his grandson, Matthew, is focused on bringing in a
younger clientele by introducing new brands in a forthcoming
200,000-square-foot expansion.
The Shops are considered the most profitable mall in the United
States if not the world; the average shopping center earns $450 a square
foot, while the Shops come in at $2,700. A glimpse at the surrounding
real estate, particularly the new condominium development at the
St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort,
where prices for a two-bedroom unit start at $2.5 million, provides
clues as to why. The Shops essentially function as the corner store for a
global elite, including the owners of the Miami Heat and Carnival
Cruise Lines.
Global visitors are central to its success. Non-primary residents and
tourists account for an estimated 65% of spending at the Shops, and
Brazilians and Russians are top influential buyers.
Brazil has become the biggest buyers of the condominiums in this resort town. I think they should do online business an that would increase revenue. They say America is being bought by foreigners, so this article shows a part of that truth. It is surprising that in this economy that this resort stayed profitable and still expanding.
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