By Kim D. McHugh
Photos By Vanessa Miranda
SENIOR GM STEVEN SAYERS champions Park Meadows Mall’s longstanding tradition of supporting local community organizations
SENIOR GM STEVEN SAYERS
As Mark Twain once quipped, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” For Steven Sayers, starting in retail mall management began when he saw a posting for a training program offered by Simon Property Group (SPG), an Indianapolis, Indiana–based firm involved in the ownership and management of premier shopping, dining and mixed-use properties.
“My interest was born out of pure necessity because I started job searching in 2009, a terrible time given the economy was being impacted by the Great Recession,” Sayers says. “I just fell into it completely by accident. [Simon] had an eighteen-month training program that would train how to be a general manager, so I applied for it, got it, and the rest is history.”
Originally from Massachusetts, he earned a Business Administration degree from the University at Albany, SUNY in New York. Soon after completing his training program, he became the assistant general manager of West Town Mall in Knoxville, Tennessee. Sayers spent the next seven years with SPG rotating between three malls in California, one in Florida, one in Massachusetts and one in New York, before hiring on with Brookfield Properties, which placed him in Southern California for six-plus years. Today, he is the new senior general manager of Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree.
Distinguished by its award-winning, eye-catching Colorado grand mountain lodge architecture, the iconic mall opened in August 1996 and remains the go-to place for patrons drawn to retailers from Apple, Crate & Barrel, Nordstrom, Tesla and Williams-Sonoma to restaurants like Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse, Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and Seasons 52.
“Compared to other malls in America, it’s a completely different experience. This property is already at a very high level but having the “retail resort” tagline gives it a whole other feel,” Sayer says. “We have resort-style seating and amenities, and last year, we had the first annual Unlock the Holidays in early November to build momentum around the holidays with the community.”
Appreciating that The Hahn Company, the original builders of the 1.58-million-square-foot landmark, commissioned more than $1 million in unique art from Colorado artists only serves to enhance that level of sophistication. As he looks forward ten years, ideas include expansion based on a multi-phase plan.
“We’re looking at integrating elements that could include an inviting public plaza, more retail and restaurants, multi-family residential, maybe an ice-skating rink, and a four- or five-star hotel at some point, so there’s further densification of the asset and even more compelling reasons to make the mall a destination,” Sayers explains.
A good corporate neighbor, Park Meadows Mall has consistently demonstrated a willingness to support meaningful causes. “We’ve partnered with various organizations for a long time and have recently been very supportive of the Lone Tree Arts Center,” says Sayers.
Among others, the mall donates to or arranges fundraising events for the Cancer League of Colorado, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Food Bank of the Rockies, The Gabby Krause Foundation, Hide in Plain Sight, Junior Achievement, 4-H and numerous Douglas County entities including libraries, schools, law enforcement agencies and hospitals.
Park Meadows Mall
8401 Park Meadows Mall Center Drive
Lone Tree
303.792.2999