To drive mall gift certificate sales, Huntington Beach Mall offered a free $10 gift certificate to any shopper who purchased four $25 gift certificates (to a limit of $50 in free certificates). It worked: gift certificate sales for December totaled just under $40,000 – a 310 percent increase over 1992.

To draw shoppers to its summer sidewalk sale, Southgate Shopping Centre gave them the opportunity to crack a safe and win valuable prizes. 1,658 of 60,000 “Crack the Safe” scratch-and-wins were returned, and month-end sales increased by 8%.

The Texas Department of Agriculture and Westwood Mall formed an indoor Farmer’s Market, featuring fresh produce, flowers, and wines from local producers. The mall found that shoppers were willing to travel for the locally-grown goods.

Magic Valley Mall reached out to more than 25 school districts with its own back-to-school infomercial.

Fox River Mall sought to alleviate some holiday stress that the 3,500 employees within experience with its “Stress-free Sweepstakes”. Employees were encouraged to fill out wish lists and enter them in a draw. Santa personally delivered five lucky employees everything they had wished for; and since the lists tore away to become post cards, more than 200 lists were mailed to the employees’ families to serve as gift hints (and to increase the likelihood of a visit to the mall).

People often don’t know what gift to get someone, or where to get it—so Meridian Mall hosted a 20-minute “Great Gift Ideas” show in center court. Gift suggestions were separated into price ranges of under $20, under $50, and over $50, and each viewer received a card that listed each item, its price, and its location in the mall.

The Mall at Sears annually sets up its “Hobbitland Children’s Shop”, catering to its youngest shoppers.

Belle Promenade tied into its rural community’s sense of values and traditions to increase holiday sales, traffic, and customer loyalty.

Speculation over new taxes on the rich contributed to a first-quarter sales slump at Cary Towne Center, in the affluent city of Cary, North Carolina. The solution was “Instant Tax Refund,” a gift-with-purchase program that focused on the benefits of using mall gift certificates as the premium for the promotion.

Mall Del Norte hosted a four-day “Shoe Trade-In Sale” during the 1992 back-to-school season. Shoppers could exchange used shoes for $5 towards the purchase of a new pair; the used pairs were then donated to the Salvation Army. The promotion produced an 1,120% return on investment, and compared to the year prior, sales increased 43%.