Mar 2, 2011

Simon Exec Receives Lifetime Honor

Hanover, Mass., – For the first time, Specialty Retail Report has presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to an outstanding leader of the specialty retail industry. The award honors Jim Allen, Executive Vice President, Local Leasing at Simon Property Group for his outstanding contributions to the specialty retail industry. The award was presented on February 17, 2011 at a ceremony hosted by Specialty Retail Report at Simon Property Group headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Each year, Specialty Retail Report honors industry leaders with a variety of awards that make up the Specialty Retail Hall of Fame. This year, Specialty Retail Report created the Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the specialty retail industry during their lifetimes.

“In the 25 years that Jim has worked in the industry he has invariably forged a trail where none existed—by creating processes, developing a fantastic team, and implementing best practices that led to even greater levels of success,” said Patricia Norins, Specialty Retail Report publisher.

During the last 16 years, Allen has built the biggest specialty retail program in the industry today, taken his department from 12 to 80 specialty leasing reps, and grown the program from a few hundred cart tenants into a robust 3,485 cart locations.

“He is a loyal friend and colleague to hundreds of people across the country. He’s someone you can always call on when you need some friendly advice. Even as his program grew over the years he remained very accessible and very humble,” said Norins, “He has led his program through some good times and bad, never giving up, always seeing the glass as half full.”

“This is a great honor for me. There are many worthy people in the industry and it is wonderful to be singled out for the Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Allen. “The acknowledgement and recognition is very special. I am humbled by this award because I am an average person who has been lucky to have been surrounded by a group of very talented people. After 25 years, I can’t imagine doing anything else. Working to guide and assist sales representatives and retailers is my business passion.”

Specialty Retail Report, dedicated to the promotion, growth and success of the specialty retail industry, is the voice of the industry (carts, kiosks and temporary in-line stores). The magazine has a readership of more than 75,000 and hosts SPREE, the only annual trade show for the cart & kiosk industry. Simon Property Group is an S&P 500 company and the largest real estate company in the U.S. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Simon employs more than 5,000 people worldwide.