Strodtman returns to his management roots

Rusty Strodtman recently became a senior general manager at General Growth Properties, the company that owns the Columbia Mall and is the second-largest shopping mall owner in the United States.
Many local business people know Strodtman from his work with Forum Development Group during the past five years. He was the senior leasing manager for the company, which has about 500,000 square feet of retail shopping space in Columbia. But those with longer roots in the community will realize that Strodtman’s move to GGP is a professional homecoming of sorts.
After Strodtman graduated from Fayette High School and Baker University, he went to work for Kmart Corp. and managed six stores in the Kansas City area. GGP hired him in 1995 to manage the Columbia Mall and later promoted him to group manager, a position that put him in charge of three shopping centers with 150 employees in Nebraska and Iowa.
Managing commercial retail space seems like a job that requires a lot of juggling and teamwork, and you obviously are mastering the job after 15 years. What are a couple of the lessons you’ve learned — and did your football experiences play a role?
Mastering, I’m not for sure if that will ever be the case, but I do believe that I have a strong background of running large commercial retail developments and look forward to expanding my knowledge with the Columbia and Capital malls. At both properties, I have a strong group of department heads who take care of the operations, housekeeping, public safety, accounting, guest services and leasing, which allows me to assist them all but more importantly challenge the group to be their best. I learned a long time ago that the most successful managers always were the ones with the strongest team surrounding them.
Many of the skill sets that you see being utilized in successful business practices are the same as the skills being used on the football field. Teamwork is the No. 1 contributor to a strong, successful business, just as it is for any team sport to win. I was fortunate to play collegiate football and now am even luckier to coach my children’s football and basketball teams. As I tell the fourth-grade Chiefs CYFL team that I coach currently, it takes 11 boys on the field working together to make a successful, competitive football team. Even if we had the best athlete in the league on our team, he is only going to be successful when he has 10 other teammates all communicating and working together toward the same goal.
What was it like to work for Jose Lindner?
I had the pleasure of working with Jose for the past five years and had the chance to witness one of the most passionate businessmen that I will probably ever encounter in my professional career. Once Jose made his mind up, there was no backing him down. Even toward the end of his life, he still had more passion and energy for his company than I ever thought possible. He was a forever optimist and would try anything if he thought it was the right thing to do.
Jose and his sons, Jay and Scott, are responsible for bringing me back to Columbia in 2005 when my family and I were living in Omaha. I owe a lot to Jose, Jay and Scott for re-introducing me to the people of Columbia, and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction. I will miss Jose.
Let’s clear up any misunderstandings some people might have with the relationship between GGP and Columbia Mall. GGP has restructured, received financing commitments and is about to emerge from US Bankruptcy Court. Has the Columbia Mall been affected by the bankruptcy proceedings?
I don’t think the average customer or Columbia Mall retail owner has noticed anything different at the mall during the past 19 months of GGP’s bankruptcy. The mall has successfully continued its normal day-to-day operations without any delays during the bankruptcy, even though the mall team has had a lot of distractions to deal with from the bankruptcy courts. GGP is to exit bankruptcy in the next few weeks, a day that will mark the birth of two new companies, each in excellent positions for business success. The new General Growth Properties and the new Howard Hughes Corporation represent great new opportunities for employees, investors and future customers.

The vacancy rate at US shopping centers rose in the third quarter to nearly 11 percent, according to a Bloomberg report citing Reis Inc., and rents were just about unchanged. The private research group said the situation is a bit better at malls, where the overall vacancy rate of 8.8 percent is down from the previous quarter but up from 8.6 during the same period in 2009. How has the Columbia Mall weathered the recession?
The Columbia Mall has done better than the average mall during the past couple of years. That’s not to say we are happy with the results because we are always striving to gain more of the market share of the retail dollars being spent than we currently get. Although sales are not double-digit increases like we saw several years back, the Columbia Mall has been able to show small increases in comparable sales, and our occupancy level is at or near its all-time highest levels. We currently only have a couple of spaces vacant that are available for lease. I would welcome any potential retailer to call me and inquire about how you might be able to get one of these last available spaces. The Columbia Mall continues to be a very stable asset for GGP.
The city and state are about to start improving Stadium Boulevard and the I-70 interchange. Has congestion had an impact on the mall?
Congestion on Stadium and surrounding streets continues to be a major concern of ours, and we look forward to the construction that is scheduled to start next summer. Fortunately, the three major developers in this area of Stadium have gone together and created a TDD that will allow the city of Columbia to help alleviate some of the pressure from the busiest commercial area in the city. The first phase of work will be on the side roads such as Bernadette and Fairview. The roads leading up to Stadium will have improvements made to them that include additional turn lanes, new sidewalks, bike lanes and raised medians. The biggest negative impact to the mall will probably be when the work on Bernadette requires closing two current parking lot entrances and relocating those entrances farther to the west on Bernadette. Work on actual Stadium and the I-70 interchange is scheduled to take place in 2012 once all the ancillary side street work is completed. We see the widening of Stadium and the new interchange at Stadium and I-70 as one of the biggest critical projects in the city of Columbia’s immediate future.
Any final comments for CBT readers?
To the current Columbia and Capital Mall customers and retailer owners: What more can we do to keep your business? To the customers and retailer owners who are not going to the Columbia and Capital malls: What more can we do to earn your business? Your opinion means a lot to me, so I am asking that you call me directly and let me know how we can improve our services to you, our customer. My office number is (573) 445-8459 extension 7101 or [email protected]. I look forward to talking with you in the near future.