SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 23 /PRNewswire/ -- While only 24% of Americans know who originally coined the phrase "Old Glory" to describe the American flag, Santa Monica, CA-based Macerich Company (NYSE: MAC) plans to reinvent the phrase with a summer campaign. In an effort to uphold the rich heritage of the flag and encourage awareness of American history, Macerich malls are launching three months of patriotic exhibits, promotions and sales.
The Macerich Company kicks-off the summer-long campaign titled "An Old Glory*ous Celebration" to promote patriotism and honor the American flag. The unprecedented three-month dedication to the Stars and Stripes will include exhibits, special events, promotions and community partnerships throughout the summer highlighting the patriotic holidays of Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. To kick off the program, Macerich conducted "Old Glory-ology", a survey of over 4,500 shoppers nationwide on their patriotic buying patterns, holiday activities and general knowledge of American History.
"Our first year of 'Ology' surveys taught us a lot about our shoppers' interests. Above all, we learned that our shoppers see us as more of a town center than just a retail option," said Susan Valentine, senior vice president and director of marketing for Macerich. "Our 'Old Glory*ous Celebration' is a way to reach out to our community and continue providing the types of services and community programming they have grown to expect from our malls."
The "Old Glory-ology" survey officially kicked-off the program in time for Memorial Day activities at targeted centers. In the survey, Macerich not only learned about shopping trends and interests of their summer shoppers, but they also learned about shopper attitudes and knowledge of American history and patriotism, information that has helped shape some of the summer special events for "An Old Glory*ous Celebration."
Just over 30% of shoppers surveyed say they are not currently registered to vote, and they don't plan to before the upcoming presidential election. In order to promote patriotism and generate higher voter turnout, Macerich has made a commitment to local voter registration agencies by providing in-mall registration locations for ease and convenience.
Americans say they feel most patriotic on holidays, such as July 4th and Memorial Day (35.75%), but more than 45% say they do not fly a flag on these holidays, and nearly 60% say they do not dress up in red, white and blue. Macerich will encourage all their mall customers nationwide to celebrate the nation's treasure, Old Glory, with its commitment to distributing flags and flag etiquette books, displaying educational exhibits, and partnering with local community groups. All properties will hold Flagpole Dedications simultaneously on Flag Day, and most will be flying a flag that flew over the nation's capitol, courtesy of their United States senators.
The first big event of the summer will be on June 14th, as each Macerich mall holds its own Flag Day Celebration. With everything from patriotic music and old-fashioned wagon parades to ice cream socials and "Star Spangled Banner" singing contests, the community events will provide shoppers with both history and fun.
Random samples of shoppers completed the survey in targeted Macerich properties by answering questions on the Max Trak system of hand held units, an electronic data gathering and analysis tool.
The Macerich Company, which has ownership interest in over 50 malls across the continental United States, is one of the nation's largest owner/operators of regional malls. Founded in 1965, Macerich is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol "MAC". For more information on Macerich, visit the Macerich web site at www.macerich.com. SOURCE Macerich Company
CONTACT: Betty Lovell of Lovell Public Relations, 972-788-4511, or pager, 214-910-5296, for Macerich Company; or Susan Valentine of Macerich Company, 310-394-6911/