CHECK OUT THE HOROSCOPES ON PAGE 2! New tourism visitor’s center strategically placed
MAIN STREET — Add the local tourism bureau to the growing list of tenants leaving the aging Santa Monica Place Mall, which for the past few years has experienced a steady exodus of business.
The Santa Monica Convention & Visitor’s Bureau (CVB) has moved its visitor center from the second floor of the mall to a storefront on Main Street. The bureau also moved its administration offices from an office building in downtown Santa Monica to the Main Street location, where its seven full-time staff members will be headquartered.
CVB president and CEO Misti Kerns said the bureau will save thousands of dollars by combining the offices and the walk-in center.
Some local observers never understood the rationale behind putting the CVB’s visitor’s center tucked in the corner of the mall’s second floor. But it made sense to bureau officials, since the idea was to capture tourists who load and unload from tour buses in front of the mall’s Second Street entrance. And the bureau got a good deal on the rent, although officials wouldn’t disclose the price, saying it was a “confidential lease agreement,” with the Macerich Co., which owns the mall.
But as fewer people came to the mall and its sales continued to dwindle in the past few years, the CVB started looking for a more visible location. Late last year, plans were unveiled to redevelop the mall, leaving many tenants and the future business of Santa Monica’s retail hub in limbo.
“When they stopped doing any marketing, we just couldn’t stay there,” Kerns said.
In hindsight, Kerns said the CVB visitor’s center probably would’ve faired better in a different location.
“It was difficult,” she said. “If we’d been on the first floor, I would be saying something different.”
Rob York, a retail consultant who works with downtown and city officials, said the visitor’s center location in the mall worked well a few years ago but not anymore.
“I think with the mall, there was some logic to it... I know they needed an attractive deal and there were trade-offs with the second floor but with the mall in limbo and not a lot of traffic on the second floor,” it was time to move, he said.
But for the three years the CVB was at the mall, it developed a strong relationship with Macerich Co. in marketing Santa Monica as a shopping and tourism destination.
“I think at the time of that relationship (with Macerich Co.) it was good,” customer service for visitors, Kerns said.
While the Main Street location is built out for a storefront, CVB has stationed its visitor’s center at a kiosk in the middle of the mall.
“Our traffic has literally doubled,” Kerns said, adding the old location saw about 1,000 visitors a month.
The CVB also has visitor’s center at a kiosk on Ocean Avenue in Palisades Park and another on the Third Street Promenade, where tourists can go to get information about local attractions and directions to area shops and restaurants.
The CVB’s new location is part of a long-term strategy to be in the middle of a high traffic area. The visitor’s center, located at 1920 Main St., is on a section of the street that’s being revitalized with two new buildings which will house luxury apartments and retail stores. And to the north, the Civic Center area will be redeveloped at a cost of more than $120 million, which will serve as a connector between the Third Street Promenade, the new Santa Monica Place and Main Street.
“It feels good to be here,” Kerns said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 5, 2005. Read the original PDF.