Peter Lowy: branding of retail malls as "Westfield Shoppingtowns" served the company in attracting shoppers.

Portfolio: How has the branding of your retail malls as "Westfield Shoppingtown[s]" served the company in attracting shoppers?
Lowy: We invest in key markets and own 'clusters' of malls in those markets. With these multiple investments in cities, the Westfield Shoppingtown brand allows us to advertise our assets on network television. By offering citywide sidewalk sales, for instance, we can entice the consumer to drive past other forms of retail to shop at our Shoppingtowns. Once we get them into a Westfield Shoppingtown, we believe they will have an exceptional shopping experience.

Portfolio: Are the red sport-car strollers in Westfield Shoppingtowns indicative of your sporting interests?
Lowy: No. They are part of our branding. Once we designed them, we saw they were a hit. Kids sit in the them and pretend they're driving a car and that entices mothers to bring their children to our Shoppingtowns.

Portfolio: What role did your company play in building double digit sales in women's fashion at Westfield Shoppingtowns for year-end 1999?
Lowy: About six years ago we noticed a trend that indicated consumers were moving away from women's ready-to-wear. Following that, the teen demographic grew along with a boom in teen-age spending. As those teens aged, their styles changed from grunge to women's ready-to-wear. During that time, we identified women's ready-to-wear retailers and began leasing space to them ahead of the trends.

Portfolio: Westfield Australia is a sponsor of the 2000 Summer Olympics. What's your favorite Olympic event? Who's your favorite Olympian?
Lowy: Being Australian, it's swimming. My favorite Olympians are Australian swimmers Dawn Fraser [gold medalist 1956 Melbourne, 1960 Rome, 1964 Mexico] and Shane Gould [5 medal winner (3 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) 1972 Munich].

Portfolio: You are an outspoken advocate of e-fairness. How would you propose to level the playing field between online and on-site retailers?
Lowy: The best way to level the playing field would be to have the states simplify the sales tax systems by having one rate for remote sales (out of state sales). If you don't level the playing field you could get stuck in a ludicrous situation where the retailer not only has a [taxable] store, but a connection to the [tax-free] Internet within the store.

Portfolio: What do you do to keep mentally and physically fit to lead Westfield America?
Lowy: I box three times a week to keep fit.

Portfolio: What have you learned in the ring that can be transferred to running your business?
Lowy: That you are nowhere as good as you actually think you are.

Portfolio: Many movie fans visit Westfield Shoppingtowns to watch the latest releases from Hollywood. Do you have a favorite movie[s]?
Lowy: Star Wars, the original is always the best. And, The Usual Suspects.

Portfolio: When you shop at Westfield Shoppingtowns, what stores do you most often visit?
Lowy: Nordstrom, Banana Republic. Pottery Barn if I need stuff for the house.