Merchants at Kentucky Oaks Mall Report Increased Sales After Soft Play Area Opens
Paducah, KY (PRWEB) July 10, 2013 -- Kentucky Oaks Mall serves a large geographic area, says Joe Bell, Director of Corporate Communications, explaining that families drive a long distance to visit the mall and they want to entertain their children as they shop. Therefore, the center installed a new Playtime playground and has already seen traffic increase.
“Retailers all say the play area has noticeably increased foot traffic,” says Bell. “The manager of one department store credits the play area for significantly increasing sales in the children's department.”
Bell adds, “Everyone knows that a cranky child can make a trip to the mall absolutely miserable. Consequently, soft play areas are enormously popular wherever we’ve installed them.”
The play area at Kentucky Oaks Mall is sponsored by Community Financial Services Bank (CFSB), a locally-owned and operated ESOP financial institution with over $600 million in assets. CFSB used the sponsorship as an ideal opportunity to expand its youth money management program, titled The Centsables.
“CFSB is committed to giving back to our valued customers in the communities that we serve,” says Jeremy Rose, AVP – Director of Marketing. “As we were looking for innovative ways to continue to show our gratitude, we found this opportunity. We were thrilled with the prospect to show our brand to the shoppers of Kentucky Oaks Mall daily. “
The toddler play area was designed, manufactured and installed by Playtime, LLC, a commercial playground manufacturer and the global provider of unique, interactive, soft play areas and playground equipment for indoor, outdoor and water play.
Called “The CFSB Play Center,” the custom-designed mall playground extols the virtues of wise money management as it also pays homage to the region’s rich culture. For example, the soft playground carpeting looks like an old-fashioned quilt because Paducah is the heart of quilting country, says Bell.
“As an added benefit, the quilt also looks like a map of the surrounding area, including all counties served by CFSB,” says Bell. “We wanted to show people that CFSB serves all the areas served by Kentucky Oaks Mall.”
The play area opened April 20 and Rose says that the response has been extremely positive.
“It has definitely achieved our goals,” says Rose. “We have received reports daily of the CFSB Play Center being packed with smiling faces! We know that this will only benefit our brand and help us to maintain ‘top of mind’ awareness to the region that we serve.”
Bell adds that he has even seen other shoppers stop to appreciate the mall’s new amenity.
“It sits under a skylight and it looks like a beautiful outdoor playground,” he says. “I’ve noticed shoppers without kids who linger and watch the children play because they find it enchanting.”
David O'Niones, Playtime, LLC, http://www.playtime.com, 303-662-0302, [email protected]
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