Simon Property Group

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Simon Property Group, Inc.

Type	Public (NYSE: SPG)
Genre	Malls, Shopping Centers, Outlet Malls
Founded	1993
Founder	Melvin Simon
Headquarters	Indianapolis, Indiana United States
No. of locations	46 States, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and 5 European Countries
Industry	real estate investment trusts
Divisions	5 Platforms
Website	simon.com

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG), also known as SIMON, an S&P 500 company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the largest developer of shopping malls in the United States. Simon Property Group, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) engaged in the ownership, development and management of high-quality retail real estate, primarily regional malls, Premium Outlet Centers, Mills landmarks, and community/lifestyle centers. Through its subsidiary partnership, it owns or has an interest in at least 380 properties in the United States comprising more than 258,000,000 square feet (24,000,000 m²) of gross leasable area in 39 states, plus Puerto Rico. Simon Property Group also holds interests in 52 European shopping centers in France, Italy and Poland; five Premium Outlet Centers in Japan; one Premium Outlet Center in South Korea and one Premium Outlet Center in Mexico. It currently has ownership interests in some of the most high-profile shopping malls in the world.

1 History
2 Simon gift cards
3 Retail platforms
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Simon Property Group was formed in 1993 when the majority of the shopping center interests of Melvin Simon & Associates became a publicly traded company. Melvin Simon & Associates, owned by brothers Melvin Simon and Herbert Simon, had been founded in 1960 in Indianapolis, Indiana, and had long been one of the top shopping center developers in the United States.

In 1996 Simon DeBartolo Group was formed with Simon Property's merger with former rival DeBartolo Realty Corp.^[1] DeBartolo Realty had recently become a publicly traded company itself and encompassed the shopping mall interests of the Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. family, another leading developer. Simon DeBartolo rapidly acquired assets in the then fragmented industry, notably The Retail Property Trust and a group of properties held by IBM's pension plan in 1997 and Corporate Property Investors (CPI) in 1998. Following the CPI acquisition in 1998, the company announced it was reverting to its original name, Simon Property Group, as the DeBartolo family was resuming its private real-estate development operation, while retaining their interest in Simon.

Simon headquarters, opened in 2007

Simon continued to be a prolific acquirer of shopping centers, including a portfolio from New England Development in 1999, several prime properties from Rodamco North America in 2002 (including Houston Galleria and SouthPark Mall), several high-profile properties such as Dadeland Mall, Fashion Valley Mall and Stanford Shopping Center, and in 2004 Chelsea Premium Outlets. In 2003 Simon became a co-owner of The Kravco Company, which changed its name to Kravco Simon. After years of litigation, Simon's interest in Mall of America was sold in late 2006 and management rights were terminated in early 2007. On April 3, 2007, a partnership including Simon agreed to acquire the financially-troubled Mills Corporation.^[2]

Simon Property Group is the largest publicly traded retail real estate company in North America with a total market capitalization (equity and debt) of approximately $56 billion.^[3]

[edit] Simon gift cards

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Simon is also known for its line of VISA gift cards that can be used to purchase items anywhere a VISA card is accepted. In 2007, Simon reported over $500 million was spent on the cards^[4], which the company said made it the largest Visa bank-issued gift card program in the world^[5]. The Mills Landmarks have newer Simon Gift Cards branded by Discover Card.

In 2007, Simon's program was given the "Industry Achievement Award" at the 2007 Prepaid Card Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2008, it was awarded "Best in Category" in the "Retail Gift Card Program" category.^[6]

The cards feature a number of co-branding campaigns associated with local malls, such as Purdue University or the Boston Celtics, or use special designs related to such upscale properties as King of Prussia Mall, Stanford Shopping Center and The Forum Shops at Caesars. In 2006, Simon signed a two-year agreement with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization to create the "Simon Pink Ribbon Giftcard" to benefit breast cancer awareness efforts. From each gift card sold between Summer 2006 and Fall 2008 at select Simon malls, Simon donated $1^[7] from the card's $5.95 handling fee^[8] to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization.

Simon's gift card polices came under fire after several U.S. states filed lawsuits seeking to eliminate gift card expiration dates and "dormancy fees" -- monthly maintenance fees imposed on unused balances after specified time period.^[9] Simon sought to have the lawsuits dismissed, saying fees were part of federal, not state, regulations.^[10] In 2007, the New Hampshire case was partially settled after Simon agreed to reimburse customers for $440,000 in fees deemed illegal by the state.^[11]^[12]

[edit] Retail platforms

Simon Property Group functions from 5 retail platforms.

Regional Malls: over 190 malls from 40 states.
Community Centers: over 70 centers from 20 states.
International: over 50 properties in 6 European countries
Chelsea Premium Outlets: about 50 outlet malls including 40 in the United States, 6 in Japan, one in South Korea and Mexico.
The Mills:17 Mills malls acquired from the Mills Corporation in 13 states.