Willow Lawn
Open-air Neighborhood-Friendly Shopping Center
OUR ENGAGEMENT
Strategic Planning • Brand Identity • Digital & Print Collateral • Event Facilitation • Event Marketing • Email Marketing • Social Media • Photography • Videography • Website Design & Development • Copywriting • Brand Reputation Management • UI & UX • Signage Package • Lead Generation • SEO • SEM • SMM
When Willow Lawn opened in 1956, it was Virginia’s first shopping center and one of the earliest suburban shopping centers in the country. Over the decades, it evolved from open air to enclosed mall, and saw dynamic economic changes from boom to bust. But Willow Lawn retained a nostalgic charm for many in the Richmond region.
GOALS
Federal Realty purchased the property in 1986 and eventually began an ambitious project to return Willow Lawn to its open-air roots. We became Federal’s Agency of Record in 2014, and one of our first goals was to pull from Willow Lawn’s history to return it to its reputation as a lifestyle center – a place to shop, eat, and play. As greater Richmond’s retail environment morphed and evolved, resonating with consumers remained a moving target.
STRATEGY
When Willow Lawn opened in 1956, it was more than just a place to shop – it was someplace to go. For decades and through multiple iterations, the Shops were a place to buy, to eat, and to play. As the Willow Lawn area has added more and more new families, we highlighted the variety of stores, boutiques and restaurants at the shopping center, and invited families to enjoy inclusive events that brought together multiple generations and even their pets. People like dogs. We combined successful email marketing with robust social media engagement, and paired engaging community events with enticing signage and artful murals to once again bring life to this Richmond icon. Signage and custom murals mimicked the fonts and graphics of a bygone era, while emails, paid marketing and social media posts kept viewers abreast of all of Willow Lawn’s goings-on. A refreshed website allows online viewers to browse the offering of Willow Lawn from any device – mobile or desktop.
