Speakers
Jeri Erling
Jeri Erling has been working in the shopping center industry for 20 years and currently serves as Senior Director of Sales Support at Westfiled where she manages and operates integration for multiple departments creating business logic and process compliance. She has a diverse background with Westfield where she began as administrative assistant at Westfield Eastland in Southern California; she was promoted to Assistant Accountant for Westfield West Covina where she cross trained as Assistant General Manager as well as being responsible for the Specialty Leasing Department.
From there she moved to the role of Specialty Leasing Manager in 1997 for Westfield Santa Anita in Arcadia, California and was promoted to Regional Specialty Leasing Director in 2001 for the Los Angeles Region and was responsible for 13 centers. As a Regional Director, Jeri assisted the Vice President of the West Coast in creating sound and efficient business processes and forecasting procedures. During this time Jeri also cross trained for the development of a portfolio wide Customer Relationship Management (CRM) integration system for the Specialty Leasing, Partnership Marketing and the Media departments.
Mary Sullivan Harper
Mary Sullivan Harper is senior vice president of leasing for AmericasMart Atlanta, the nation’s leading gift, home furnishings and rug marketplace and the largest trade/tradeshow complex of its kind in the world. Mary has been with AmericasMart for since 1997 as vice president of leasing in the gift franchise where she was responsible for sales, leasing and management of AmericasMart Building Two. In March of 2009, she assumed additional responsibility for the leasing of the tabletop category on two floors and oversaw the category’s repositioning and restaging as the “Living and Entertaining Center”.
She is responsible for sales and leasing of one million square feet; generating and developing new prospect leads which she generates through traveling and prospecting. She is also responsible for directing the marketing, special events and category appropriate seminars in conjunction with the marketing team. She manages an extensive on-line prospect database for utilization in leasing space. Prior to AmericasMart, Mary was the specialty leasing manager at Perimeter and South DeKalb Malls in Atlanta from 1989 to 1997. She managed one of the most well merchandised and productive specialty retail programs within The Rouse Company portfolio.
Arleen Dalton
Arleen Dalton is Vice President, Business Development at General Growth Properties, Inc. in Chicago and currently oversees the specialty leasing activities for the Northeast Region. Arleen has worked in the shopping center industry for over thirty years holding positions at The Rouse Company, Westfield and GGP.
She has extensive experience and expertise in specialty and permanent leasing, strategic planning, merchandising and sales training.
Dan Kelliher
Dan Kelliher, co-partner in Kelliher & Saltzer, LLC will be the instructor for this course. Kelliher, well regarded as a real estate attorney, formed The Law Office of Daniel P. Kelliher, LLC in May of 2005. In January 2008, the firm became known as Kelliher & Salzer, LLC. Prior to forming his firm, he was an attorney with The Rouse Company in Columbia, Maryland where he was the “go to” attorney for all specialty retail, marketing/sponsorship deals. He was responsible for transactional real estate issues, leasing and specialty retail leasing documentation, as well as, operational issues for mall properties.
Sharon Loeff
Ms. Sharon Loeff is President of Shopworks, Inc., an industrial design retail consultancy that she founded in 1992. Ms. Loeff has been involved in every aspect of shopping center management, leasing, retailing, merchandising and design. Her shopping center career began in 1979 when Ms. Loeff operated a pushcart at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, Massachusetts. During her tenure in the industry has owned and operated her own retail businesses, created and managed specialty leasing programs for shopping center developers, created industry manuals and merchandised thousands of retailers. Ms. Loeff works internationally and has designed and sold over one hundred million dollars in fixtures and common area structures for shopping malls airports, hotels and Casinos. Shopworks, Inc. has worked with many notable clients, including Pokémon, DDR, Avon Products, Tupperware, Simon Property Group, Sky Harbor International Airport and Disney. Ms. Loeff is on Specialty Retail Report’s Advisory Board and is a contributing writer for the magazine.
Stacy Turchin is Assistant Vice President of Business Development Eastern Property Group for Macerich, where she leads a team of Business Development Managers in creating new and innovative specialty tenants, media, events and sponsorship opportunities for their properties. She has worked in the shopping center industry for over 25 years, starting in marketing and management with The Rouse Company and then in various management and specialty leasing positions with Homart, GGP, and Simon. She has extensive experience in creating business relationships while enhancing the merchandise mix and revenue streams for the company.
Kendyle Peters is the Director of Retail Licensing for Hickory Farms®. Kendyle is responsible for managing and marketing the seasonal retail kiosk licensing program. Prior to joining Hickory Farms®, Kendyle worked for General Growth Properties, Inc. as a Director, National Accounts in the Business Development Department and with The Rouse Company as a Manager, National Accounts. She has also worked as a Group Specialty Leasing Manager for Westfield Corporation, a Marketing Manager for JMB Retail Properties, and has owned her own specialty business. Kendyle is a graduate of Loyola College in Maryland and holds an MBA and a BS Degree in Sales and Marketing. She resides in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband and twin daughters.