2001, Volume 1PAGE 3

Belz Outlets Increase Traffic at Major Locations in 2000

Belz Enterprises enjoyed record-breaking numbers of shoppers at its five major factory outlet shopping centers in 2000. Overall, 34.9 million people visited a Belz outlet in 2000, an increase of nearly 1.3 million – or 3.8 percent – since 1999.

This volume of shoppers came in a year in which U.S. outlet sales nationwide fell by more than one percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Among the Belz outlet properties, traffic increased nearly seven percent at the Belz Factory Outlet World in Las Vegas, Nevada. In other locations, performance in 2000 varied from market-competitive to excellent.

Nevada’s strong performance underscores the reality that shopping is a key activity for vacationers – now something done by more than 70 percent of all leisure
travelers, according to recent studies. In addition, Las Vegas is the fastest growing city in the United States, due both to employment opportunities created by the tourism industry and the city’s rising role as a high-tech and distribution center.

“It is a testament to our strategic vision that our outlet centers have performed so well despite overall declines across the nation,” says Andrew J. Groveman, senior vice president of Belz Enterprises. “It’s not just a stroke of luck that continues to bring shoppers to Belz outlet centers. Instead, it is our strategy to locate malls in highly trafficked areas that benefit from both tourism and a strong resident population.”

Other major Belz Factory Outlet Worlds are located in Lakeland and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee; St. Augustine and Orlando, Florida, and soon-to-open in suburban San Juan, Puerto Rico (see related story on page 4).

Two-thousand-one promises to be a good year for Belz Factory Outlet World locations. Here’s a quick summary of what is happening in each of the Belz factory outlets:

• Las Vegas, Nevada is expanding with a 50,000-square-foot freestanding strip center adjacent to the original mall. Pre-leasing is now underway for the addition, which will open in 2002. Among quality tenants in the original Belz Factory Outlet World – Las Vegas are Calvin Klein, 9 West, Kasper, Emporio Armani and Off 5th/Saks Fifth Avenue.
  
  
• Lakeland, Tennessee (a suburb of Memphis) enjoyed a record-breaking weekend in early May when Old Time Pottery expanded its existing store to almost 94,000 square feet. Contemporaneous with the pottery store's expansion, the Belz Factory Outlet World – Lakeland added an 85-foot pylon-sign on Interstate 40.
  
  Later this year, the location will host three special car shows – an Antique Classic Mustang Show, the Shelby County Streetriders Show and the Belz Bug-in. The Bug-in is expected to draw thousands of Volkswagen aficionados from around the Mid-South.
  
  
• Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, located in a resort area in the Smoky Mountains of Eastern Tennessee, is continuing to position itself as a shopping destination for leisure travelers. The Belz Factory Outlet World – Pigeon Forge also focuses on local residents as a major customer generator and plays an active role in the life of the community – including participation this year in the annual Dollywood Festival of Nations, in which
  Dolly Parton leads a float parade through- out tourist and retail-oriented areas of the community.
  
  
• St. Augustine, Florida is adding a new 263,490 square-foot expansion that will be opening in late 2002. Anchoring the expansion wing are a 10,500-square-foot Gap, an 8,000-square-foot Banana Republic, and an 18,000-square-foot Old Navy store. The new wing will also have its own 46,000-square-foot food court. The first phase of the Belz Factory Outlet World – St. Augustine opened in July 1999 utilizing Belz's "tourism-plus-residency" model. Since then, the mall has attracted more than three
  million shoppers.
  
  
• Orlando, Florida's Belz Factory Outlet World celebrates its twentieth anniverary in October with special events, prizes and sweepstakes in partnership with local mega-attractions (including Universal Studios). Recent store openings include Subway, Traffic Shoes and Harry & David.
  

Photo at top:

1. Belz Factory Outlet World – Orlando, Florida will celebrate its 20th anniversary in October 2001.