Simon Property Group: Digital Ad Campaign Boosts Activity at Malls

Activity at malls is getting a boost from a digital advertising campaign and may get an additional push from a potential change to U.S. tariff laws, Simon Property Group Chairman, CEO and President David Simon said Tuesday (Feb. 4).

“Our national advertising campaign is all about talking about how it’s fun to go to the mall and hang out just like in the ’80s and ’90s,” Simon said during the company’s quarterly earnings call. “We’ve had a very good reception to it.”

The company launched the campaign during a year in which it was already seeing gains at the locations it owns. Simon Property Group, which owns shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations, said that two of the three operating statistics it reports for its U.S. malls and premium outlets saw improvements in 2024.

Occupancy increased 0.7 percentage points from 95.8% at the end of 2023 to 96.5% at the end of 2024, while base minimum rent per square foot increased 2.5% from $56.82 at the end of 2023 to $58.26 at the end of 2024, according to a Tuesday earnings release.

Reported retailer sales per square foot declined $4 from $743 for the trailing 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2023, according to an earlier earnings release, to $739 for the trailing 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2024.

Simon Property Group launched its advertising campaign in September, saying it aimed to reach a new generation of consumers who want to “shop, eat, stay and play” at the mall like their parents did in the 1980s and 1990s.

Dubbed “Meet Me @themall,” the campaign was launched on several popular streaming services and social media channels, as well as on Simon Property Group’s channels and its shopping centers.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our marketing efforts,” Simon said Tuesday during the call. “They’re very digital, they’re very fun, they use new media in a lot of ways, and I just expect more and more. More importantly, we’re seeing return on investment, and we’ve got the data to prove it.”

Simon also highlighted the potential elimination of the U.S. “de minimis” rule that exempts packages from tariffs if they are worth less than $800. Simon said the change, which is being considered by President Donald Trump and by Congress, would be helpful to American retailers.

It was reported Saturday (Feb. 1) that the additional tariffs imposed on China include a provision that will eliminate the de minimis exemption. The rule is commonly used by Chinese eCommerce retailers to sell goods at lower prices by shipping them directly to consumers in the U.S., Bloomberg reported.

Simon said during the call: “If enacted, that will give a real shot in the arm to retailers that don’t purposely try to send their goods to get under the $800 limitation — not to say it’s also more green, it saves packaging costs, etc.”