New type of online shopping will be hitting the mall soon

Venture lets people touch the products, By Lisa Cornwell Associated Press. CINCINNATI -- Some people refuse to buy online because they want to look in a mirror to check whether a shirt's color matches their skin tone, or they want to hold a digital camera to feel if it is light enough or zooms the way they like. Others stick to traditional stores because they don't like the hassle of mailed returns. To try to win their business, a new mall store is in the works that will showcase products from various e-tailers and catalog companies in a shared space for people with hang-ups about shopping from a distance. Customers at the first Epicenter Collection store, to open next year in a Newark, Del., mall, will use handheld devices to learn about products, order them and have them sent to their homes without shipping fees. Some items can be bought through a conventional checkout line. The setup is meant to give people the touch-and-feel element of shopping they miss when buying online. In the new-product showcase site, companies and brands with few or no stores will lease space for individual shops in an empty mall anchor location, according to developer Convergent Retail. Paul Fredrick MenStyle, an online and catalog clothing seller, has committed so far to the first Epicenter Collection store in Christiana Mall. Allen Abbott, the clothing company's chief operating officer, said leasing a space in a shared store has less risk because it is cheaper than opening a stand-alone site. Convergent Retail is negotiating with 60 to 70 catalog companies, e-tailers and brands to bring home products, gifts, apparel, food and electronics to the store. The company is a division of Gordon Group Holdings, which has helped develop other specialty shopping venues such as The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and The Beverly Center in Los Angeles. Merchants will operate their own shops, making the decisions about what features the spots will offer, such as fitting rooms. Convergent Retail hopes to open similar stores at malls around the country, with two planned for 2009 at undetermined locations. Merchandise could include items such as chocolate, jewelry, clothing, DVD players and televisions. The first store will go in an empty space owned by Cincinnati-based Macy's, which exchanged a lease on the location for a minority stake in the venture. Developers hope the showcase stores will have the side benefit of increasing mall traffic and filling empty anchor locations. Retail analysts say the idea is worth a shot to try to help struggling malls and online sellers working to attract potential customers who want to size up products. But retail consultant James Dion, president of Dionco, has doubts about the venture. "There is a desperation to fill the hundreds of thousands of square feet of empty space in shopping centers and draw more shoppers," he said. "Why would I get up off my couch and go to a store with an eclectic mix of merchandise where I would have to use a device to read about and purchase items, when I can easily do it from home?"