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...build it and they will come" mind-set. Feasibility reports or market surveys are rare. Plans often stress sheer size over appropriate locations. "A lot of [China's] wealth remains concentrated in the metropolitan bases, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen," says Arthur Kroeber, director of the market-research firm Dragonomics. "But that doesn't mean that those areas can support an infinite number of malls...
...will meet expectations," Parker says. "China's most important cities are literally littered with spaces that are dark and underperforming." Statistics detailing nationwide vacancy rates for retail centers are hard to find, but in the economic powerhouses of Beijing and Shanghai, rates hover around 8%, according to real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle. That's twice as high as rates in the strongest U.S. markets; in Singapore, less than 2% of retail space lacks tenants...
...easy to forget that the country's stock markets in Shanghai and Shenzhen are less than two decades old. They may be barely out of adolescence, but they are already among the largest in the world. According to a forecast this month from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), a global consulting firm, Chinese companies will raise $52 billion this year through initial public stock offerings in Shanghai and Shenzhen, more than double the amount forecast at the start of the year. Remarkably, this makes it likely China will generate more IPO money in 2007 than any other major market in the world...
...Caterpillar's reman business is also influencing the design of the company's original parts. The firm's reman engineers now work closely with designers to produce components that will be easy and profitable to revitalize years later. "That's an absolute key," says Fisher. "It's designing for several life cycles." Take those cylinder heads, for instance. When they're first cast, they're now given a slightly thicker layer of metal on top in expectation that they will ultimately be milled down several times. Fisher says that makes the original manufacturing a bit more expensive...
...mastered the art of influencing shoppers through sight (with alluring displays) and smell (say, by piping the odor of fresh coffee throughout a store), few have focused on the smart use of sound, says retail psychologist Tim Denison of the British Retail Think Tank. But that's changing. U.S. firm Muzak used to be the butt of jokes for its bland elevator music, but it now supplies some 400,000 shops, restaurants and hotels around the world - including Gap, McDonald's and Burger King - with songs tailored to reflect their identity. "What we're trying to capture is a brand...