It’s one challenge to analyze changing retail trends anddemographics on a theoretical basis -- it’s quite another to dealwith the shifts and the customers every day by running an iconicopen-air regional center. Sharron King,general manager of Primestor's BaldwinHills Crenshaw Plaza, the Los Angeles shopping center thatpioneered providing quality retail to ethnic communities, talkswith GlobeSt.com about her center’s evolution, its adaptation toits changing market demographics, and the changes going on inretail overall.

GlobeSt.com: All retailers are dealing withchallenges from technology. What challenges are the stores at yourcenter facing?

As much history as there is in this community, it once again isan emerging market. Our task is to help our existing and potentialretailers understand that there’s a wealth of opportunity in thismarket right now. Our research is telling us the potential buyingpower of our market is something like $6 billion or $7 billion.There’s a wealth of opportunity here, and it’s a matter ofunderstanding who it is you’re dealing with and being able tounderstand and meet the demands of that consumer. That’s retailing101. If you don’t know your shoppers are looking for, you’d betterfind out quick, fast and in a hurry.