It’s not just that pups are allowed in most of the stores. As of this summer, they’re downright coddled. The mall added cleanup stations stocked with bags and wipes and launched a monthly Yappy Hour, featuring activities such as agility courses.
Category Archives: News
09
Jul
Jul
Take a Walk on the Mall Side
At 6 a.m., the doors to Yorktown Center will open. They’d better, Erin Falbo jokes, or someone will hear about it from the mall walkers.
Falbo is marketing and business development manager for the mall in Lombard, a western Chicago suburb. Last year, Yorktown celebrated its 50th anniversary. “And there has been at least an unofficial mall-walkers program probably all fifty years,” Falbo says.
Falbo worked with Humana, the health care colossal, to take mall walking to the next level. This was a chance, she says, to give back to a community where so many neighbors also took root in the mid-20th century and to reward those who faithfully walk the malls. About two years ago, the Heart & Sole Walking Club was born.
There are approximately 700 members, Yorktown marketing coordinator Emily Barack says. Each received a drawstring bag, a water bottle and a pedometer (now a cooling towel). There also are deals with mall stores, which is good for the walkers — and, yes, for business.
‘I Have So Many Friends Here’
Every Thursday, there is a free program for the Heart & Sole members and anyone else who pops in. On a recent morning, the walking group is scheduled for 8:15-9:15 a.m., and scores of people are here, not all group members, walking the…
20
May
May
LOS ANGELES, Ca. – (May 20, 2019) – Pacific Retail Capital Partners (PRCP) based in Los Angeles, CA was honored with several awards of distinction during the 2019 Global Awards sponsored by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). The ICSC Global Awards Program, held in Las Vegas at RECon, the world’s largest retail real estate convention, recognizes the retail real estate industry’s most innovative events, programs, and technologies that add value to shopping centers and companies across the country.
The shopping centers in the PRCP portfolio that utilized a myriad of resources to re-energize centers, drive traffic, increase sales and give back to their respective communities, and were recognized as a MAXI finalists include Paseo Nuevo in Santa Barbara, CA; Eastridge Center in San Jose, CA; The Shops at South Town in Sandy, UT; Galleria White Plains in White Plains, NY; Yorktown Center in Lombard, IL; and Northpark in Jackson, MS. “I have the distinct honor of collaborating with a talented group of people and companies to take Pacific Retail to the next level and create impressionable experiences for our guests, while continuing to push the envelope in the industry”, said Najla Kayyem, Senior Vice President of Marketing, who accepted the awards on behalf of PRCP.
Three Pacific Retail centers took home three MAXI awards – one gold and two silver awards – recognizing the properties’ programming as the best in class across all centers and companies in both the United States and Canada.
With the power of innovation, leadership, and teamwork, PRCP was the recipient of the following awards:
Gold MAXI Award in the category of Impact for shopping centers more than 500,001 square feet: Aloha Winter Rollerland – The Aloha Roller Rink was a staple of the San Jose, CA community from the 70s until 2014 when sadly, it shuttered. Eastridge Center, which was fully-renovated in 2018 and was once home to an ice rink through the 70s as well, is constantly evaluating experiences they can offer to the community. With a vacant Sports Chalet box and an approaching holiday 2018 season, they excitedly explored the idea of bringing the famed roller rink back as a holiday pop-up experience. The new Aloha Roller Rink opened at Eastridge with much success in November 2018 and – after an outstanding continued local response – will remain open for patrons to enjoy throughout 2019. Offering theme nights, free lessons, mommy and me events and more, this go-to destination offers the nostalgic community an updated classic while driving redevelopment awareness, center traffic, sales, and a healthy rent.
Silver MAXI Award in the category of Innovation for Shopping Centers more than 500,001 square feet: The Shops at South Town Murals – The Shops at South Town completed an interior renovation in 2017, however the exterior façade was left bare of improvements. With limited ownership funds, the team enacted a creative solution to involve their city council. Envisioning exterior blank walls as an opportunity to cultivate the arts, the team garnered the city’s partnership to fund a public art program. The $85,000 contribution began what is now an ongoing city-funded arts initiative. Activating walls with art created synergy between the center’s picturesque backdrop and the urban-meets-mountain renovation theme. Featuring three artists, the murals serve as a tangible touch point inspiring lasting community engagement.
Silver MAXI Award in the category of Revenue for Shopping Centers more than 500,001 square feet: Humana Partnership: Yorktown Center secured a multifaceted year-long partnership with national healthcare agency, Humana. The business development deal generated thousands of dollars in new revenue in 2018 totaling 30% of the business development budget. The partnership included onsite activations, advertising domination in Center Court, and sponsorship of the “Heart & Sole” center walking club. Humana activated Center Court with weekly events including fitness classes, seminars, health checks and games that added experiential value, traffic, and sales. The partnership proved extremely valuable to Humana who renewed the partnership for 2019.
“We are fortunate to not only have some of the most passionate and talented marketing people in the industry on our team, we also have an incredibly savvy group of investors who partner with us to execute these award-winning initiatives,” said Gary Karl, Chief Operating Officer for PRCP.
About Pacific Retail Capital Partners
Pacific Retail Capital Partners (PRCP) is one of the nation’s premier retail operating groups of large open-air centers and enclosed malls, with more than $1.8 billion in retail assets presently under management in the United States. Based in Southern California, PRCP provides end-to-end sourcing, assessment, underwriting, valuing, developing, and asset management of retail real estate with a proven track record of repositioning retail properties. PRCP strategically manages over 11 million square feet of regional malls and open-air lifestyle centers. The Executive team has over 150 years of collective real estate expertise with deep experience in leasing, marketing, operations, design, development, investment, and finance. With a keen focus on enhancing the value and quality of its growing portfolio, PRCP is dedicated to creating a unique, strategic vision for each property and exceeding the highest expectations of retail investors, retailers, and consumers. To learn more visit www.pacificretail.com or follow us on social media at:
Facebook: pacificretailcapitalpartners
Instagram: @PacificRetail
About ICSC
The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) is the world-wide trade association of the shopping center industry and serves the global retail real estate community. Their 70,000+ member network provides over 100 countries with invaluable resources, connections and industry insights, and work together to shape public policy. For more information about ICSC visit www.icsc.org.
09
Aug
Aug
BERWYN – It’s been Berwyn resident Ernesto Torres’ lifelong dream to own a restaurant with his younger brother, Fernando, and after winning a contest at Lombard’s Yorktown Center this summer, their popular Berwyn-based food truck, Ofrenda, will open as a brick-and-mortar location in early 2019.
The contest, Taste for the Space, featured 12 Chicago-area food trucks, chefs and entrepreneurs who competed for a space in the popular shopping destination, plus a prize of $50,000 to use for their new business. The public was invited to sample food from each of the entrants on June 16 and vote for their favorite, while judges from Yorktown Center’s managing company, Pacific Retail Capital Partners, looked over each of the competitors’ business plans.
When Ofrenda was selected as the winner in July, Ernesto said it felt “exciting and unreal.”
“When we made it to the final three, I thought we had a good chance,” he said. “Yorktown was really interested in what we had to say, and it’s crazy to think that they chose us. We’re just two brothers who started a business out of a van, and we’ve come a long way.”
“‘Ofrenda’ means offering in Spanish, so the food truck is our offering to the people,” Ernesto said. “We were always around [the Dia de los Muertos] tradition growing up, and we really enjoyed how our family made something that could be sad into something that’s happy. We want to celebrate food, celebrate life and keep the tradition of Dia de los Muertos alive.”
09
Aug
Aug
CHICAGO (PRWEB) August 01, 2018
A new restaurant is coming to Yorktown Center. Yorktown Center, a popular 1.5 million-square-foot Chicagoland shopping and dining destination, recently announced the first winner of its Taste For the Space™ culinary event hosted in June. Berwyn-based Ofrenda won an opportunity to open its dream restaurant at Yorktown Center as well as 6 months free rent plus $50,000 to put toward their new space – a prize package worth $140K.
Brothers Fernando and Ernesto Torres first created Ofrenda, a contemporary Mexican-style food truck, in 2014, specializing in gorditas and handheld masa cakes filled with carnitas, green chilies and cilantro topped with pico de gallo and avocado puree. Not strangers to the restaurant business – as their parents have been in the industry for the past 30 years – this new opportunity will enhance the Ofrenda concept.
“Winning Taste for the Space™ gives my brother and I the chance to open Ofrenda Restaurant – a huge dream of ours — and share the food we create on a daily basis,” said Ernesto Torres. “Ofrenda translates to ‘offering’ and is a collection of objects and food placed on a ritual altar during El Dia De Los Muertos in Mexico. With our new restaurant, we plan to create an environment where you can experience the tradition that is celebrated every year on November 2. We plan to showcase the quality and consistency of our Contemporary Mexican Cuisine.”
Ofrenda is looking to be one of the great food and beverage restaurants in the Shops on Butterfield area joining the likes of DOC Wine Bar and Capital Grille.
“It was an exciting and tough competition between all 12+ chefs, but Ofrenda was the fan favorite and had a unique taste that we know will thrive here at Yorktown Center,” said Najla Kayyem, senior vice president of marketing for Pacific Retail Capital Partners, the operating group for Yorktown Center. “Taste for the Space™, the first culinary and community event of its kind at Yorktown Center, brought together the community to support its local culinary scene. Because of this event, there is an exciting possibility of having one or two other contestants join the line up at Yorktown Center.”
Taste for the Space™, a family-friendly, community-focused culinary event, took place on Saturday, June 16 featuring a cooking competition and experience that brought together food trucks, local restaurateurs and chefs to showcase signature dishes to the local community, and share why their taste should win the space. The event also featured games, kids’ activities, beverages from D.O.C Wine Bar, entertainment and more. Taste for the Space™ was sponsored by U.S. Foods, who generously provided all food and paper products for the competing chefs on event day. For more information about Yorktown Center and the Taste for the Space™ winner, please visit https://www.yorktowncenter.com.
About Yorktown Center
Yorktown Center, a 1.5 million square-foot two-level shopping center with over 150 specialty stores and 15 restaurants, is located in the heart of Chicago’s western suburbs. Anchored by a top-performing Von Maur, JCPenney, Last Chance (by Nordstrom) and its new Self-Care Precinct, Yorktown Center offers a wide array of convenience and destination shopping, dining, fitness studios and entertainment.
For more information:
Website: yorktowncenter.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: @YorktownCenter
Instagram: @yorktowncenter
See original story HERE
27
Jul
Jul
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— Actor and Chicago native Michael Peña talked Chicago food on Thursday night on Late Night With Stephen Colbert. Colbert and Peña chatted about their experiences in the city, but it appears Peña has a shrinking memory. Peña, who appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp,repeatedly referenced “Gold Coast Italian Beef,” a restaurant that doesn’t exist. Perhaps he meant Gold Coast Dogs which serves Italian beef. Regardless, Peña said he ate an Italian beef on Wednesday: “I had it hot, which, by the way, you should not do that when you’re taking a long flight.” Colbert dropped a D’Amato’s Bakery reference, mentioning the West Town Italian bakery’s famous bread. Colbert also talked Mr. Beef (presumably Mr. Beef on Orleans, not the Homer Glen location): “I like Mr. Beef because I’d go sweet peppers and wet. Because you go hot or sweet peppers and wet ‘cause it gets the whole thing — you can really shove it down your mouth. You literally dip the whole bun in the jus. Eat it faster than the Japanese guy [Takeru Kobayashi] at the Nathan’s [hot dog] contest.” Check out the whole clip here.
— Longtime Lakeview bar Brendan’s Pub will shutter after service on Sunday night at 3169 N. Broadway Street, Block Club reports.
— The Loop classic The Berghoff has a name for its new brewery: Adams Street Brewery. It’s slated to start brewing beer within the restaurant at 17 W. Adams Street in the fall, a rep says.
— Ofrenda, a Berwyn-based Mexican food truck, won the opportunity to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant in suburban Yorktown Center. The shopping center hosted more than a dozen chefs in its “Taste for the Space” competition which offered six months free rent and $50,000 to open in a vacant space there.
— Juniper Spirits and Oyster, the restaurant that opened in May in the new Claridge House hotel at 1244 N. Dearborn Parkway, has given Gold Coasters a new brunch option. The restaurant’s Sunday daytime service features lobster and steak Benedicts, a BLT with triple-crème cheese and tomato jam, bloody Marys and Micheladas.
— And finally, Wrigleyville gets a food truck festival on Saturday at Gallagher Way adjacent to Wrigley Field. Da Lobsta, Auntie Vee’s, and eight more trucks will serve food tomorrow between 2 and 7 p.m. while the Cubs-Cardinals away game plays on the video board. Admission is free but a $5 donation is suggested.
See the original story HERE
09
Jul
Jul
A new restaurant is coming to Yorktown Center. Yorktown Center, a popular 1.5 million-square-foot Chicagoland shopping and dining destination, recently announced the first winner of its Taste For the Space™ culinary event hosted in June. Berwyn-based Ofrenda won an opportunity to open its dream restaurant at Yorktown Center as well as 6 months free rent plus $50,000 to put toward their new space—a prize package worth $140K.
Brothers Fernando and Ernesto Torres first created Ofrenda, a contemporary Mexican-style food truck, in 2014, specializing in gorditas and handheld masa cakes filled with carnitas, green chilies and cilantro topped with pico de gallo and avocado puree. Not strangers to the restaurant business – as their parents have been in the industry for the past 30 years – this new opportunity will enhance the Ofrenda concept.
“Winning Taste for the Space™ gives my brother and I the chance to open Ofrenda Restaurant a huge dream of ours—and share the food we create on a daily basis,” said Ernesto Torres. “Ofrenda translates to ‘offering’ and is a collection of objects and food placed on a ritual altar during El Dia De Los Muertos in Mexico. With our new restaurant, we plan to create an environment where you can experience the tradition that is celebrated every year on November 2. We plan to showcase the quality and consistency of our Contemporary Mexican Cuisine.”
Ofrenda is looking to be one of the great food and beverage restaurants in the Shops on Butterfield area joining the likes of DOC Wine Bar and Capital Grille.
“It was an exciting and tough competition between all 12+ chefs, but Ofrenda was the fan favorite and had a unique taste that we know will thrive here at Yorktown Center,” said Najla Kayyem, senior vice president of marketing for Pacific Retail Capital Partners, the operating group for Yorktown Center. “Taste for the Space™, the first culinary and community event of its kind at Yorktown Center, brought together the community to support its local culinary scene. Because of this event, there is an exciting possibility of having one or two other contestants join the line up at Yorktown Center.”
Taste for the Space™, a family-friendly, community-focused culinary event, took place on Saturday, June 16 featuring a cooking competition and experience that brought together food trucks, local restaurateurs and chefs to showcase signature dishes to the local community, and share why their taste should win the space. The event also featured games, kids’ activities, beverages from D.O.C Wine Bar, entertainment and more. Taste for the Space™ was sponsored by U.S. Foods, who generously provided all food and paper products for the competing chefs on event day. For more information about Yorktown Center and the Taste for the Space winner, please visit yorktowncenter.com/tasteforthespace-winner/.
About Yorktown Center
Yorktown Center, a 1.5 million square-foot two-level shopping center with over 150 specialty stores and 15 restaurants, is located in the heart of Chicago’s western suburbs. Anchored by a top-performing Von Maur, JCPenney, Last Chance (by Nordstrom) and its new Self-Care Precinct, Yorktown Center offers a wide array of convenience and destination shopping, dining, fitness studios and entertainment.
About Clifton Realty Management
Clifton Realty Management, founded by Bill Cappelletti and Steve Cassella, is a fully integrated retail real estate firm specializing in regional malls and lifestyle centers throughout the United States. The firm has aligned interest in the venture and is the leasing agent for the property. With over 50 years of combined experience with various major shopping center owners and REITS, Clifton Realty Management provides advisory and consulting, retail leasing, development and tenant coordination services. The firm is currently responsible for over 4 million square feet of retail space in Illinois and New York. To learn more, please visit us at: cliftonrm.com
About Pacific Retail Capital Partners
Pacific Retail Capital Partners (PRCP) is one of the nation’s premier retail operating groups of large open-air and enclosed shopping centers, with more than $1.3 billion in retail assets presently under management in the United States. Based in Southern California, PRCP provides end-to-end sourcing, assessment, underwriting, valuing, developing, and asset management of retail real estate with a proven track record of repositioning properties. PRCP strategically manages over 9.5 million square feet of retail destinations. The executive team has over 150 years of collective real estate expertise in leasing, marketing, operations, design, development, investment, and finance. With a keen focus on enhancing the value and quality of its growing portfolio, PRCP is dedicated to creating a unique, strategic vision for each property and exceeding the highest expectations of retail investors, retailers, and consumers.
To learn more visit pacificretail.com or follow social media at:
Facebook: pacificretailcapitalpartners
Instagram: @pacificretail
09
Jul
Jul
Sears is closing stores. Carson’s is going out of business. But discount retailers are expanding and racking up sales.
Hailey MensikContact ReporterChicago Tribune
Idris Seghilani doesn’t mind the stuffed racks or long lines at Last Chance in Lombard’s Yorktown Center.
He doesn’t even mind the 45-minute drive from Chicago to get to the Nordstrom-owned clearance store. In fact, he said he does it at least twice a week.
“I could spend three, four hours here,” he said during a recent visit, admiring a black velvet Ralph Lauren robe he found for $15, marked down from around $100.
The Last Chance at Yorktown — one of only two locations in the country — is a discount shopper’s mecca. The store and another in Phoenix are where most of Nordstrom’s inventory that’s outdated, returned after being worn once or even smells of someone else’s perfume is marked down nearly 70 percent.
As retailers scramble to find solutions to the e-commerce-fueled bricks-and-mortar crisis, department store chains like Nordstrom and Macy’s are embracing off-price models. Last Chance, Nordstrom Rack and Macy’s Backstage — along with traditional discounters like T.J. Maxx — have continued attracting shoppers with the promise of a treasure hunt, something online merchants can’t quite replicate. Sears, Carson’s and other onetime retail giants are closing stores or going out of business, but off-price chains have plans to open hundreds of new stores in the coming years.
READ MORE: Chicago’s last Sears closes for good »
However, some industry experts caution that a lack of emphasis on online sales, coupled with problems obtaining enough high-quality merchandise to meet demand, could disrupt the discounters’ momentum, which may already be slowing down. At Nordstrom Rack, T.J. Maxx, Ross Dress for Less and Burlington Coat Factory, for example, sales at existing stores have been growing at a slower pace over the past three quarters.
Moody’s Investors Service predicted in October that off-price retailers would remain the top performers in the U.S. retail industry over the subsequent 12 to 18 months while department stores would continue to struggle. Christina Boni, vice president and senior analyst at Moody’s, said those predictions are on track.
“Off-price continues to do well, and I don’t think there’s anything that ultimately changes our view,” Boni said.
Although Last Chance is primarily a vehicle for Seattle-based Nordstrom to sell off excess merchandise, the retailer’s other off-price concept, Nordstrom Rack, now has twice as many locations as its traditional department stores. Nordstrom plans to open 12 new Rack locations in 2018, including a 30,000-square-foot store in Vernon Hills in September.
The Rack is the No. 1 source of new customers for Nordstrom, and it gained 6 million new customers in 2017, the company said in a March news release.
“Nordstrom Rack is able to leverage our full-line stores to offer customers a mix of quality merchandise from Nordstrom stores, or from many of the top brands that are carried in Nordstrom and then sell directly to Nordstrom Rack before other off-price retailers,” spokeswoman Meliz Andiroglu said in an emailed statement. The company did not respond to a request for comment at its Last Chance stores.
Rival Macy’s, meanwhile, announced in January that it’s closing seven more department stores this year. But rather than waiting for more of its stores to fall victim to consumers’ changing shopping habits, Cincinnati-based Macy’s is repurposing space in its stores for its “on-mall, off-price concept”: Macy’s Backstage.
Spokeswoman Andrea Schwartz said Backstage doesn’t sell overstock merchandise from its full-price stores but rather has its own buying team, similar to T.J. Maxx.
“We always see an increase in traffic and sales overall when we open off-price in a department store,” Schwartz said. The company doesn’t break out sales from Backstage in its earnings reports, she said.
Macy’s has seven free-standing Backstage stores in the U.S. and plans to roll out the discount section in 100 Macy’s stores this year. In the Chicago area, there are Backstage sections at its Westfield Old Orchard mall store in Skokie and its River Oaks Center store in Calumet City.
Framingham, Mass.-based TJX Cos., parent of T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls, currently operates more than 4,000 stores in nine countries, and it wants to add another 2,000. This year it expects to open about 65 additional T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores.
Ross Stores has announced plans to open about 100 new stores in 2018, 25 of which will be its dd’s Discount concept, offering even lower prices on apparel and home goods. In the Chicago area this year, four dd’s Discount stores and four Ross stores have opened. The new Ross stores opened July 21 in Broadview, Elk Grove Village, St. Charles and Chicago Ridge.
Discount fashion stores absorbed the most available commercial space in the Chicago area in the last year, and three discount fashion retailers signed leases at former Kmart stores closed by Hoffman Estates-based parent Sears Holdings Corp., according to a report this past spring from real estate firm CBRE.
Ken Perkins, president of Boston-based Retail Metrics, says off-price retailers have largely benefited from the demise of traditional department stores by gaining more market share, but that can’t continue indefinitely.
In fact, sales at stores open at least a year have been slowing down at major off-price chains. In the first quarter of this year, Nordstrom reported an increase of 0.4 percent at its off-price stores compared with 0.7 percent growth at full-price stores and online. During that same period the year before, off-price sales increased 2.3 percent, while sales at full-price stores and online decreased 2.8 percent.
Perkins said the rise of e-commerce also poses a threat for the off-price sector because the internet offers price transparency on any product from hundreds of retailers, providing a different kind of treasure hunt.
Some off-price stores don’t even display their items for purchase online, likely because of how rapidly inventory changes.
In 2017, just 2 percent of TJX Cos.’ sales were made online.
“It’s been the one area they haven’t invested heavily in,” Perkins said. He added, “Off-price needs to have a more fluid, seamless experience for the consumer online that doesn’t feel like going into the store and going through racks.”
Nordstrom has found a way to somewhat replicate that experience through its off-price website, Hautelook.com, which hosts events when new merchandise from certain brands is released, selling out in seconds in some cases. Although they make up a much smaller share of Nordstrom’s revenue than its full-price website, the company saw a 25.5 percent increase in sales from Nordstromrack.com and Hautelook.com last fiscal year, according to its 2017 annual report.
Perkins said another concern among industry experts is that off-price retailers could face obstacles acquiring quality merchandise.
In an effort to protect their brands and profit margins, designers such as Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors have cut back on production, providing less of their highly sought-after merchandise for retailers such as T.J. Maxx.
Nordstrom Rack and Last Chance are somewhat immune, given their parent company’s long-standing relationships with apparel brands and its need for that merchandise in department stores, wherever it eventually ends up.
As Nordstrom expands its Rack stores throughout the country, the company hasn’t announced plans for another Last Chance location, making the Yorktown Center store a novelty. People often line up outside before it opens, hoping to get their hands on that day’s inventory before anyone else.
Victoria Kostecki, 14, of Naperville, loves the store so much that she goes at least once a week. She even made a YouTube video showing off her greatest finds. Her favorite so far: a pair of Prada heels for $130.
The treasure hunt can be intense, she said.
“You have to keep your cart with you at all times,” Victoria said. “If you find something really good, people will steal it from you.”
While the ease of online shopping is rapidly changing consumer behavior, off-price stores will always have something to offer, even to younger demographics, Perkins said.
“Longer-term, that underlying demand for value from the consumer will always be there,” he said.
See original story HERE
09
Apr
Apr
Every shopping center needs a “selfie station,” where visitors can create a social media moment. Street mural artist Kelsey Montague made just such a display recently, at Chicago’s Yorktown Center: a health-and-wellness-inspired mural done live before shoppers on April 14 and 15.
Strategically situated between Yorktown’s Amazing Lash Studio and European Wax Center tenants, in the center’s new, 12,000-square-foot self-care precinct, the mural is intended to serve as a permanent selfie station for the roughly 8.5 million people who visit annually.
“Visitors to destination shopping centers today are looking for more than a quick trip to the store or a dinner out — they want an adventure,” said Najla Kayyem, senior vice president of marketing for Pacific Retail Capital Partners, which operates Yorktown Center. “Incorporating art that doesn’t just beautify the space but that also creates an ‘Instagrammable’ moment is one of those mini experiences that will delight visitors. We thrive on doing things differently at Yorktown Center and at the various shopping destinations we operate across the country.”
Montague’s street art first gained traction in 2014, when pop music stars Taylor Swift and Vanessa Hudgens took a selfie with her “What Lifts You” wing drawings, in New York City. Since then, her work has been featured at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and in such publications as Forbes, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
“I’ve always been fascinated by how public art, interactive art and social media intersect, and that is what I want to explore in my work,” Montague said in a press release. “I created my first street-art piece in New York City. People immediately responded to the art and the #WhatLiftsYou message. I now get to create street-art pieces around the world. I’m excited to work at the Yorktown Center’s ‘self-care precinct,’ because the purpose of this center is so in line with my work. I want my work to uplift and inspire, and the Yorktown Center’s focus on self-care does exactly that.”
Yorktown Center is a 1.5 million-square-foot, two-level shopping center with about 150 specialty stores and 20 restaurants. It is located in the heart of Chicago’s western suburbs and is anchored by Carson’s, JCPenney and Von Maur.
By Brannon Boswell
Managing Editor/SCT
The full article can be found HERE