PREIT Launches Curated Shopping Program, "sMALL Surprises," Offering an Innovative Complement to Back-to-School Shopping

PREIT's first venture into e-commerce represents a first-of-its-kind program from a national mall owner/operator

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Aug 17, 2020, 06:55 ET

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- PREIT today launched, "sMALL Surprises", a first-of-its-kind curated shopping program from a mall owner/operator for the 2020 back-to-school season. Launching in time for the second busiest shopping season of the year, the curated packs will be customized by a professional stylist – handpicking items from PREIT malls – to help students in grades K-8 prepare for school. With a nod to subscription-based boxes from stand-alone retailers, PREIT is pioneering the curated box concept in the mall industry.

sMALL Surprises marks PREIT's first foray into the e-commerce space, bridging online and offline shopping channels to better support both its customers and tenants. The blending of physical and digital in the modern retail environment has been critical to success, particularly as the industry continues to evolve and navigates the COVID-19 pandemic. While the 2020 back-to-school season may look different throughout the country, these curated packs are designed to offer goodies customized for any child – whether they're in the classroom or learning from home.

The inclusion of products from various mall tenants in the program will create a new stream of sales and customers for stores, as well as drive awareness and brand recognition. For shoppers, the pack creates an element of surprise during a stressful season with hand-selected products at a discount, and mall offerings they may not have otherwise sought out. In addition, the initiative offers shoppers the benefit of a mall's collection of brands from the comfort of their home, particularly for time-strapped families.

"PREIT is proud to be the first in the mall industry to launch this type of initiative and we're excited about the unique advantages this inaugural e-commerce endeavor will bring to our shoppers, tenants, and investors," said Joseph F. Coradino, CEO of PREIT. "PREIT has long been evolving the experience we bring to our communities, remaining laser-focused on innovating at rapid speed through times of change. This cutting-edge initiative provides surprise and delight to our shopper community during these uncertain times and helps ease the return to a vastly different school year, while also driving sales and awareness to our retailers, highlighting the unique products they offer."

Each sMALL Surprise pack will contain a mix of items, including a selection of sensory toys/games, trendy accessories, sanitizing necessities, activity cards, stickers, and a few cool school supplies. Consumers can visit SmallSurprises.Shop to take a short quiz that will help a professional stylist create a curated surprise pack. Once customized, the pack will be delivered direct-to-consumer anywhere in the United States.

Shoppers can select from two different pack options:

Fun Pack: Back to school can still be F-U-N! The Fun Pack is filled with curated goodies, chosen just for your student based on their favorite things. Get ready for hours of entertainment 'cause this box of at least 4 surprises is sure to bring a smile to their face.
Awesome Pack: Go ahead, be extra! The Awesome Pack is stuffed full with gizmos and gadgets galore, hand-selected for your tiny tykes. Do you have a little car fanatic or princess enthusiast? Lover of all things purple or green? We've got them covered! This box is bursting with a bunch of awesome treats sure to knock their socks off.

To learn more about PREIT's sMALL Surprises initiative, visit SmallSurprises.Shop.

About PREIT
PREIT (NYSE: PEI) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and manages innovative properties at the forefront of shaping consumer experiences through the built environment. PREIT's robust portfolio of carefully curated retail and lifestyle offerings mixed with destination dining and entertainment experiences are located primarily in densely-populated, high barrier-to-entry markets with tremendous opportunity to create vibrant multi-use destinations. Additional information is available at www.preit.com or on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "may" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans, strategies, anticipated events, trends and other matters that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views about future events, achievements or results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that might cause future events, achievements or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In particular, our business might be materially and adversely affected by changes in the retail and real estate industries, including consolidation and store closings, particularly among anchor tenants; current economic conditions, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the steps taken by governmental authorities and other third parties to reduce its spread, and the corresponding effects on tenant business performance, prospects, solvency and leasing decisions; our inability to collect rent due to the bankruptcy or insolvency of tenants or otherwise; our ability to maintain and increase property occupancy, sales and rental rates; increases in operating costs that cannot be passed on to tenants; the effects of online shopping and other uses of technology on our retail tenants; risks related to our development and redevelopment activities, including delays, cost overruns and our inability to reach projected occupancy or rental rates; acts of violence at malls, including our properties, or at other similar spaces, and the potential effect on traffic and sales; our ability to sell properties that we seek to dispose of or our ability to obtain prices we seek; our substantial debt and the liquidation preference of our preferred shares and our high leverage ratio and our ability to remain in compliance with our financial covenants under our debt facilities; our ability to refinance our existing indebtedness when it matures, on favorable terms or at all; our ability to raise capital, including through sales of properties or interests in properties and through the issuance of equity or equity-related securities if market conditions are favorable; and potential dilution from any capital raising transactions or other equity issuances.

Additional factors that might cause future events, achievements or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements include those discussed herein, and in the sections entitled "Item 1A. Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2020. We do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise.

PREIT CONTACT:
Heather Crowell
EVP, Strategy and Communications
(215) 316-6271
[email protected]

SOURCE PREIT