\n Published: February 14, 2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tKemper Freeman, Jr., received the inaugural Icons of Retail award from the UW Bothell School of Business at a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tFreeman is CEO and Principal Owner of Kemper Development Company. As the owner of properties such as Bellevue Square, Lincoln Square and Bellevue Place (including the four-diamond Hyatt Regency Hotel), Freeman is the central force behind the explosive growth and sustained dynamism of downtown Bellevue
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\n\tHere are highlights from the question and answer session with Freeman, led by Tom James, a managing member of the Opus Law Group.
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\n\tHow did your childhood influence you?
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\n\t\u201cFrom my dad, I learned what is right and what isn’t and how to tell the difference. That\u2019s important in business and in life. I had three sisters and I was the only son. I think I was disciplined more than they were.\u201d
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\n\tHow did Snowflake Lane come to be?
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\n\t\u201cI had a meeting with chair of Saks 5th Avenue the first week of December. As I was walking around New York City one evening, I rounded the corner and saw the front of Saks \u2026 lit up with lights and Christmas music. I knew then I wanted to do something on the street to join the Bellevue Collection.\u201d
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\n\tSnowflake Lane is now in its 8th year; it is conducted for thirty consecutive nights. The event includes 122 high school and college students.
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\n\t\u201cEvery time I speak, someone comes up to me to say, \u2018my son or daughter was one of your drummers.\u2019 It changes their lives.\u201d
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\n\tIs it an advantage to have local ownership?
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\n\t\u201cRates are driven too much by bean counters. It\u2019s not the right motivation to be in this business. Kemper says his staff knows its customer. \u201cWe live here. We spend 30 percent of our time on community building (hospitals, parks, schools, etc.) \u201cWhen my grandfather got here there wasn’t a water system. We live here, our kids go to school here. For others, it’s just one of 50 or 100 shopping centers. Each customer base is unique.\u201d
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\n\tHow has the Internet affected \u201cbricks and mortar\u201d retailing?
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\n\t\u201cThe media has been saying bricks and mortar retail will be gone, and everyone was alarmed. We found the Internet isn’t our enemy, it’s our friend. The customer uses the Internet to become informed about products they are interested in. The emotional fulfillment of brick and mortar shopping is important. As humans, we like to act on emotions. Shopping is an emotional experience. If they can come and see product and talk to someone, you\u2019re ahead. In that sense, Internet and bricks and mortar are a team.
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\n\t\u201cToday\u2019s customer is more knowledgeable than ever. If your clerk is not knowledgeable and the customer finds the clerk doesn’t know, it has the opposite effect. This puts pressure on retail to know what they’re selling.\u201d
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\n\tFreeman notes that the Apple and Microsoft stores are two best retailers at Bellevue Square. \u201cThey have done everything on the Internet,\u201d he says, \u201cand they have \u2018mind boggling\u2019 sales. They provide total customer satisfaction.
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\n\tIf bricks and mortar retail isn\u2019t winning (against Internet competition), \u201cits\u2019 because we’re not training our staff to keep up with the informed customer,\u201d Freeman noted.
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\n\tWhat do you look for when you are hiring?
\n\t\u201cI believe in the concept of a team,\u201d Freeman says. \u201cI want people who are smarter than I am at what they know.\u201d As a family business, Freeman notes that of 180 employees, five are family. Freeman looks for people who have a great attitude and work ethic. \u201cMost developers see themselves as the high water mark of the brainpower. It precludes them from being as successful as they could be.\u201d
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\n\tReflect on success and failure
\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve had plenty of opportunity to make myself humble,\u201d Freeman says. \u201cI used to carry a 4×6 card. Every time I made a mistake I would write it down and how much it cost. My dad allowed me to make mistakes and learn from them. Sometimes you have to fall on your face a few times.\u201d
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\n\tWhat part of leading do you enjoy?
\n\tLeadership is a continuous education of learning and thinking. You need to let employees know what we’re trying to do, and let them figure out how to do it.\u201d
\n\tFreeman says he learned important leadership lessons from his uncle that he uses to this day. \u201cEmployees want to know \u2018do I have the ball or not?\u2019\u201d
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\n\tWhat’s the story of Bellevue Square?
\n\t\u201cEddie Debartolo (famed real estate developer) came to Seattle and announced he was building a shopping center. We were redeveloping Bellevue Square at the time. There was no money for a salary; I was working three jobs at the same time. It was far from clear how it would work out.\u201d Three years later, Debartolo sold his land to Microsoft. Once Bellevue Square opened, the value of Bellevue Square went from $3 a square foot to $75 a square foot. After five years, it was assessed at $500 million.
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\n\tPlusses and minuses of family business
\n\t\u201cFamily businesses usually do not work,\u201d Freeman says. \u201cThere\u2019s all the emotion of business and family. It\u2019s really hard. When they work, it’s the most beautiful form of business. I’m the third generation; my daughters are the fourth.
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\n\tWhat\u2019s coming in 10-20 years?
\n\t\u201cAll the things we believe work are still there. The Internet is a tremendous additive.
\n\tIf we are on our job, we provide a great emotional experience. When you read the mall is dead, it’s only true if it’s being run by people who don’t understand it in the first place.\u201d
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\n\tThe Bellevue Collection consistently posted double-digit increases in the midst of the recession, Freeman noted. In December, they reported a 19.8 percent increase.
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\n\t\u201cWe never stop doing what works,\u201d he concluded.
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\n\t <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Published: February 14, 2013 Kemper Freeman, Jr., received the inaugural Icons of Retail award from the UW Bothell School of Business at a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue. Freeman is CEO and Principal Owner of Kemper Development Company. As the owner of properties such as Bellevue Square, Lincoln Square and Bellevue Place (including…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":5757,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9249","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":null,"link_2":null,"link_3":null,"link_4":null,"link_5":null},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":null,"button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"","email":"uwbnews@uw.edu","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\n