by Lisa Morgan –
When I was asked to write a business profile on our desert’s lovely indoor shopping mall, I thought to myself, “A mall is a mall. They have a bunch of stores and a food court. I go there to shop and eat.” Realizing that doesn’t make for much of an interesting read, I did some research, and sure enough, made some pretty cool discoveries. Not only does this cool indoor arena house over 100 retailers, 20 eateries and a movie theater, but they offer some other less conventional services as well.
Remember the days of staring at the directory trying to find a certain store in the mall only to realize you had walked past it three quarters of the mall ago? Well, guess what, THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT! Now available in the iTunes App Store, Westfield App v2.0 helps you with parking, navigating the mall, helps you search and find products, gives you information about retail offers, provides social media integration, voice command and even allows you to purchase movie tickets and make dinner reservations. Just remember to look up from your phone once in a while as you walk. Having run into a kiosk and one very large, angry man myself, I highly suggest using the app while stationary.
My dad, the former, official greater and occasional Santa for Macy’s, used to refer to one of his lady friends as a “mall walker”. Not wanting to have an awkward conversation with my father as to what he was referring to, I chose to envision a woman who got her exercise in the cool, temperature controlled environment of our mall and thought that was a pretty darn good idea. I didn’t realize there was actually a group of them! The “Silver Sneakers” group meets every first Wednesday of the month. Participants gather for socializing, exercise and free health education. The group starts out on the lower level of the mall, next to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. They start with stretching and warm-ups at 7:45 am followed by an hour long mall walk. At 9 am they receive a complimentary breakfast and lecture series.
I was also pleased to discover that over 25 stores within the mall offer a discount to our active military, veterans and their families. Several stores offer a 10% discount to our true heroes. Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf give a $1 discount off of any beverage while Champs, Foot Locker, Great Cuts, and Wetzel’s Pretzels give up to 20% off. A complete list of stores offering this special discount can be found at the Westfield Palm Desert website listed below. Another heart-warming fact I uncovered was that Westfield Palm Desert also allows its indoor venue to sponsor pet adoptions via Animal Samaritans SPCA every 2nd Saturday of the every month from 10 am – 2 pm, on the lower level in front of Sears. You can find out more about this event by going to the Animal Samaritans’ website animalsamaritans.org or calling 760-343-3477.
It’s amazing to see how family friendly our mall is. Westfield Palm Desert has made many special considerations for the families with children that frequent the mall Expectant mothers and families with small children can park in preferred, up-front parking and there’s an entire lounge area where adults with children can relax and recharge. Located in the upper level food court, the Family Lounge offers private nursing areas, baby changing stations and a large family restroom. The Westfield Play Space gives kids a place to climb and explore in the bright, colorful paly area complete with animals, a bridge, large puzzles and plenty of space to sit and play with other children.
Westfield Palm Desert “Rocks the Runway”
with Project Runway’s Micheal Costello
Saturday, August 18th at 1 pm.
This month, Westfield Palm Desert is getting the entire community involved with their Rock the Runway event. Over 100 models ages 5 to 75 have been selected from our own Coachella Valley to strut their stuff at the 5th annual fashion show. Hosted by Master of Ceremonies Ginger Jeffries from KESQ Channel 3, the event is free to the public and features a new Premier Designer, Project Runway’s Michael Costello.
Michael will be previewing pieces from his Spring/Summer 2013 Collection to be showcased at NY Fashion Week this fall. Westfield Marketing Director, Franchesca Forrer said, “We’re thrilled to have Michael Costello join us for the 5th Annual Rock the Runway fashion show. His new collection is remarkable, and guests will love him as much in person as they did on Project Runway.”
And this year a special group of models are being added to the event – the “Haute Dogs” and “Couture Cats” from Animal Samaritans will unleash their tail-wagging style in hopes of being adopted after the show.
Over a dozen retailers will be highlighted at the event, including Aeropostale, Buckle, Charlotte Russe, Gap, JCPenney, and more. A special Beauty Bar will feature samples and discounts from vendors like Bath & Body Works and Perfumania. There will also be scheduling for FREE children’s haircuts (K-6) at the JCPenney Salon.
Westfield Palm Desert is located on Highway 111 and Monterey in Palm Desert. They are open Monday through Saturday 10:00 am to 8:00 pm, Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. For more information call 760-346-2121, check out their website at www.westfield.com/palmdesert.com or follow them on Facebook.
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