The Sum of Fun
Glimcher Ventures Southwest’s The Boulevard development is a highway to high-quality food and entertainment.
Brian A. Lee

The Boulevard is anchored by UltraStar Cinemas and Boulevard 300, GVSW’s new premier concept that combines multiple entertainment options with unique dining experiences.

With apologies to a popular fast-food chain, food, folks and fun have officially come together in Arizona. That’s where Glimcher Ventures Southwest (GVSW) has debuted The Boulevard, a new mixed-use entertainment center brand that will appeal to everyone with an appetite for quality food and festivities.

“The Boulevard is an aggregation of participatory entertainment experiences along with multiple food experiences,” says David Glimcher, principal and CEO of Scottsdale, Arizona-based GVSW. “We’re obviously not Disneyland or Walt Disney World; what we are is Disney-esque. We’re focusing in on the same demographic population, which is the entire demographic population. With this kind of aggregation, there’s nothing even remotely like it in our market.”

In Surprise, Arizona, GVSW recently introduced the first phase of its first branded property — The Boulevard, Surprise Pointe — with the opening of its anchor tenant, the 14-screen, 2,800-seat UltraStar Cinemas, the first movie theater in Surprise and the first Arizona theater by the California-based company. When complete later this year, The Boulevard, Surprise Pointe, will combine more than 250,000 square feet of entertainment venues, retail shops and restaurants. GVSW plans to develop four properties in the greater Phoenix area, one for every 1.2 million to 1.3 million in population.

From dining and movies to bowling, Internet gaming, laser tag, arcades and sports bars, each aspect of what people do for entertainment — or “foodertainment” as Glimcher calls it — will all be in one open-air, pedestrian-friendly Boulevard location.

Tenant Deployment for Consumer Enjoyment

In bringing this entertainment aggregation concept to fruition, GVSW first approached San Diego-based UltraStar Cinemas.

“We felt Ultrastar is unique,” says Glimcher, who believes the theater will draw from 20 to 25 miles because of the development’s collection of entertainment options. “They do two things that are special: they’re the only 100 percent fully digital theater chain in the country, and they combine that high tech with old-time Hollywood. Before a movie starts a [spokesperson] comes in to give you a summary of what the movie is going to be about. That person wishes you happy birthday, happy anniversary, etc. from gathered customer data. It’s a very personalized approach to the entertainment business.”

The next step was the development of the co-anchor concept called Boulevard 300, which will feature 42 bowling lanes with a plush, VIP section, a high-tech laser tag component and an arcade. A state-of-the-art audio-visual system adds to the customer’s sensory experience.

“And we top it off with the signature piece of the operation, which is a unique restaurant operation with high-end food that is being formulated by two of Scottsdale’s leading restaurateurs,” says Glimcher. “I can best describe it as a burger joint on steroids. Most uniquely, to add to the entertainment experience, consumers will order from the bowling lanes by calling up on a speaker system to the restaurant. The orders will be delivered by waiters or waitresses on roller blades, with music and lighting signaling their approach.”

The fun and flavor doesn’t end there. There will be a unique frozen yogurt vendor, Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt, with a buffet toppings bar full of fresh fruit and other quality condiments; The Play Factory, an indoor play and party facility; and Howie’s Game Shack, the largest PC and Xbox gaming center operator in America, where both kids and adults can play individually, as teams or against international competitors across the globe.

Other tenants at The Boulevard, Surprise Pointe, include 3 Tomatoes & a Mozzarella Pronto, a contemporary casual Tuscan bistro; Tang’s Asian Bistro; Yellow Rose, a casual-dining restaurant with “All-American” cuisine; Country Kitchen; Bella Salon, a full-service day spa; Dunkin’ Donuts; Lithium Clothing; Walgreens; TCF Bank; a health club and Fast Lane Auto Spa. The property will feature a common area with walkways, fountains, patterned lights and a small amphitheatre area for live entertainment.

Industry Experience Feeds Customer’s Experience

Having been in the retail development business for approximately 35 years, Glimcher has seen a great deal of the industry’s evolution, including what product was hot and when it became not. He says to understand the development of his company’s Boulevard brand, one must know the progression of retail development through the years, from the 1960s when open-air regional malls and discount stores were en vogue to the 1970s and the advent of community strip centers — the Glimcher Company, started by his father, developed around 120 Kmart-anchored strip centers — to the ‘80s when power centers became all the rage.

“That was when the marketplace, retail and development, began to say that the consumer was looking for a specialization of product,” says Glimcher, who founded GVSW about 7 years ago.

Of course, the ‘90s ushered in the development of lifestyle centers, which were spurred on by specialty retailer interests. According to Glimcher though, the fact that these lifestyle tenants, like women’s apparel and high-end furniture stores, are tied together through co-tenancy requirements within their leases means that many of these centers will be hit hard by these uncertain economic times. Meanwhile, the restaurant and entertainment component within the power and lifestyle centers continued to grow.

“In fact, restaurants in the late ‘90s and into the 2000s have by and large become the largest producers per square foot of anybody in the marketplace, other than specialty high-end tenants on an individualized basis,” says Glimcher, whose company will combine a distinct local flavor, a strong regional representation and a few national tenants in The Boulevard’s restaurant lineup. “We saw that and the one thing we noticed about entertainment or ‘foodertainment’ was that these types of tenants could exist anywhere. What we felt in looking at different products out there like Disney is that if you could aggregate entertainment concepts inclusive of the food that the likelihood of the consumer coming to that location on a more regular basis and expanding your market draw is going to be significant. In looking at [overwhelmingly positive market research], we said we are going to move from the creation of a specialty center to an entertainment experience, which evolved into our concept that we’re calling The Boulevard.”

Targeting Disney’s demographic — “It’s everybody and anybody; it’s low-end, it’s mid- and it’s high-end demographic,” says Glimcher — means that The Boulevard is less exposed during tough markets. On the contrary, lifestyle centers have evolved over the past decade or so to meet the demand of the upper echelon of consumers.

“They’ve all been geared to that high-end consumer,” says GVSW’s CEO. “The first thing that crashes in recessionary environments is women’s apparel — first to crash, last to come back. Entertainment is solid in good times and bad — down times because people are depressed, they need a diversion, it’s reasonably priced and they’re going to get their fix of entertainment. Therefore, the concept is as close to recession-resistant as you’re going to be able to get.”

Another plus for The Boulevard is the versatility of its tenant lineup. GVSW has created a format that allows for adaptability predicated on market location and/or market status. The Boulevard will rely on its two anchors, UltraStar Cinemas and Boulevard 300, but the other 50 to 60 tenants can be changed up.

“Everything about this brand is designed to create flexibility,” says Glimcher. “Not tying tenants to each other allows them to have the ability to continue to evolve as new concepts come out and as existing concepts change.”

Even within Boulevard 300, there are options. For example, Glimcher says, if in 2 years laser tag is on the wane and paintball is hot, then that section of the co-anchor’s space will be transformed to satisfy demand. The bowling alley is subdivided to cater to both the high-end, weekend clientele and the day-to-day family or league customers.

“It’s all about flexibility, it’s all about transition, it’s all about entertainment, it’s all about all the demographics,” says Glimcher. “That’s why it’s the route that we at GVSW have taken and we think it has the opportunity to be kind of the new big evolution of shopping center development in the future.”

Growing by Smiles & Miles

In addition to the four locations in the Phoenix metro area, GVSW will be looking at development opportunities for The Boulevard brand in California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah. Glimcher says the biggest determinants are growth of jobs and population, citing the approximately 100,000-person in-migration that Phoenix experienced last year.

“We’re looking at areas where we have good accessibility, where we can position ourselves for our regional draw,” he says. “We’re anticipating that during the next 2.5 years or so we’ll have all four of the Boulevards open in this market (Phoenix). The company will begin in the next 12 months to look at some of these other expansion areas more aggressively. We’re really excited about it.”

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