It’s one challenge to analyze changing retail trends and demographics on a theoretical basis -- it’s quite another to deal with the shifts and the customers every day by running an iconic open-air regional center.  Sharron King, general manager of Primestor's Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, the Los Angeles shopping center that pioneered providing quality retail to ethnic communities, talks with GlobeSt.com about her center’s evolution, its adaptation to its changing market demographics, and the changes going on in retail overall.

GlobeSt.com: All retailers are dealing with challenges from technology. What challenges are the stores at your center facing?

As much history as there is in this community, it once again is an emerging market. Our task is to help our existing and potential retailers understand that there’s a wealth of opportunity in this market right now. Our research is telling us the potential buying power of our market is something like $6 billion or $7 billion. There’s a wealth of opportunity here, and it’s a matter of understanding who it is you’re dealing with and being able to understand and meet the demands of that consumer. That’s retailing 101. If you don’t know your shoppers are looking for, you’d better find out quick, fast and in a hurry.

In this case, we have a Latino consumer that is 400,000-plus strong. They are aspirational and brand-conscious shoppers. We need to be prepared to meet the needs of that consumer. You can call it a challenge, but I certainly see it as a phenomenal opportunity for anyone who is smart enough to steer right now as this market begins to emerge here.

GlobeSt.com: When this center was built, the market had been predominantly African-American, and now increasingly is Latino?

The African-American certainly is entrenched here. There is a very long, rich cultural history in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw community of African-Americans. There is that emerging Latino market that brings that strength to the potential buying power of this community that we have not seen for a long time. Right now, we are just scratching the surface of the potential growth we’ll see in this shopping center.

GlobeSt.com: How is the project adapting to this evolving community?

Our task is going to be to educate the retailers and certainly Primestor has a wealth of experience in Latino markets. Among so many other wonderful things that they [and] we are bringing to the table now is that expertise in Latino consumers [to] find a way to present a product, meaning our shopping center, that offers all of the things those communities, which have a lot in common, are looking for in terms of services. With a community of very aspirational, brand-conscious shoppers, there’s a lot of opportunity there.

GlobeSt.com: Your third market, of course, is the University of Southern California community. How are you accommodating them?

It was an interesting experience for me –even before the renovation, as I noticed as I walked the mall that at certain times of the day I’d see a lot of college students, and they were all carrying Walmart bags. It struck me that we’re the closest Walmart to a major university that has a ton of kids who may be accustomed to shopping Walmart – or are on a college budget.

We have really dug a little deeper in how we market to that University, whether it’s making sure that incoming students know that the closest Walmart is the one here, to the fashion retail. We’re building out a 15,000-square-foot Forever 21 now. [Another is] Movie theater. Last year when the new Harry Potter came out, it was amazing to see all of the college students come out; for the midnight show, easily 85% of the audience were college students. It was just a fun thing to see, just a year after closing the Magic Johnson theater in 2010, and opening a state-of-the-art Rave theater to great acclaim, the folks at USC and even local colleges have a great time. Now [the theater] is an integral part of the shopping experience at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. For us, it’s making sure any customer who comes here – the family of four, the customer who comes for the weekly shopping at Albertson’s or Walmart, or the student from USC – has a first-class experience. Over the last year, we’ve begun, with the theater, the restaurants and the new retailers, to fill those components.

GlobeSt.com: What is Primestor looking to accomplish at RECon?

As I mentioned before, there is a wealth of opportunity with this emerging market. Our research tells us there are more than 400,000 brand-conscious shoppers in this community. That’s a lot to work with. Primestor has certain expertise in this area and Arturo Sneider has spent a lot of time working with retailers who may be new to the Latino market on building their brand in that community. We think we’re poised in excellent fashion to present Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza as a great opportunity for anyone who’s looking to grow in that market.

GlobeSt.com: Are there still misperceptions about the area?

I think so. If you haven’t been to Baldwin Hills Crenshaw lately, you haven’t been. We’re reintroducing that not only to potential retailers, but even to folks in this community who may in years past given up on having a great shopping experience at the mall. We’re educating them and getting them to come back in, continually putting out all the positive changes that have happened at this center [such as] the new retailers [including] Southern Girl Desserts opening this weekend (featured on the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars). When people come back here, and when retailers come back after taking a pass on it, we’re hearing a very different response. They’re excited at what they’re seeing, excited at what we’ve done. We’ve got a lot more to accomplish, but we’re incredibly proud of what’s here so far. This is really becoming a great story we’re telling, and that others are helping us tell here at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza.