Thirdcloud Publications Surf City Strand Mag January 2016 | Page 14

With  retail  outlets  and  restaurants  already   opening  and  Paséa  Hotel  &  Spa  coming  in  May,   anxious  locals  are  starting  to  see  the  big  dreams   and  collective  hard  work  that  went  into  Pacific   City  becoming  a  reality  in  our  once  small  beachy   oceanfront  village.   [Huntington  Beach]  hasn’t  been  an  upscale   destination.”   After  reading  catch  phrases  like  “upscale   destination”  describing  Pacific  City,  we  started   to  wonder  whether  we’d  see  Saudi  royalty,   billionaire  Russian’s  dining  with  their  girlfriends   and  busloads  of  Mandarin  speaking  tourists   wearing  branded  visors  arriving  straight  from   John  Wayne  Airport  to  buy  post  cards  and   crowd  around  the  MAC  Cosmetic  counters.           So,  we  reached  out  to  Kitchen  Table,  Pacific   City’s  PR  agency  and  spoke  with  owner  Carrie   Williams  to  get  a  few  details  about  the  current   marketing  strategy.    Specifically,  we  wanted  to   know  what  countries,  airline  magazines  and   foreign  demographics  were  being  targeted  so   that  we  could  tell  our  local  readership  more   about  who  they  might  expect  to  see  arriving  in   the  years  to  come.                 Online  shopping—by  computer  or  mobile   phone—has  largely  revamped  the  development   dynamics  of  shopping  malls.    These  days  the   creativity  of  mall  developers  like  DJM  Capital   Partners,  are  challenged  by  that  reality  simply   because  people  need  a  solid  reasons  to  get  in   their  cars  to  shop.         “We  are  really  trying  to  change  the  adjectives   about  Huntington  Beach”  DJM  President   Lindsay  Parton  told  the  OC  Register,  who  was   also  quoted  to  have  said  that  “Traditionally   When  quizzed  about  the  demographics   targeted,  Carrie  Williams  enthusiastically   affirmed  Pacific  City’s  commitment  to  the  local   culture  of  the  community.    Deflecting  the   question  when  press,  Williams’  PR  efforts  are   predictably  focusing  on  the  task  at  hand,  which   is  informing  locals  about  the  restaurants  and   retail  store  openings  while  working  with  Visit   Huntington  Beach—the  City’s  destination   marketing  organization.           Williams’  wasn’t  able  to  share  much  in  the  way   of  details  about  long  term  strategy  and  couldn’t   speak  for  Visit  Huntington  Beach,  but  she  did   make