2018 began Concerts in the Village at Genesee Valley Center. The free concert series was hosted every Thursday during the summer months of June, July and August. For the past two years we have hosted the event to bring community engagement and drive traffic to our mall. Concerts in the Village is an event held for the whole family — with food, drinks, live bands, kids’ activities and more. With an average attendance of 300-500 per concert, this event had a significant impact on tenant traffic and sales.
Programming Highlights
An annual concert series, in partnership with locally-renowned musicians, designed to engage the local community, activate mall’s outdoor space, and provide an opportunity for tenant participation.
The concerts were held outdoors, using a portable stage trailer, allowing the flelxibility for quick setup and breakdown, without permanent impact to mall’s hardscape and drive aisles.
Stage location and concert seating were strategically located outside the mall’s primary entrance, adjacent to Barnes & Noble, Bar Louie, Mo Pete’s and Wahlburgers (2019). Attendees were able to utilize restaurant’s patio seating, which contributed to increased sales.
Morris Peterson, founder of Mo Pete’s Sports Retreat restaurant at Genesee Valley Mall, served as the MC each week to introduce bands.
Weekly concerts provided a captive audience and an opportunity for Morris Peterson to promote the restaurant.
Through SREG’s tenant support initiative, GVC partnered with H&M to help increase awareness and drive physical traffic through H&M’s Recycle Program. Encouraging attendees to bring their unwanted clothing to receive an in-store discount on their next purchase.
In August 2018 Tegan Marie, a young Radio Disney star who grew up in the Flint area, took the stage.
The concert also marked the launch of a new program “GVC Flint’s Finest” and surprised two area kid teams with a donation of $1,000 to their fundraisers.
- Organizers from Tegan’s hometown rented busses to bring families to the event.
- There was face painting, balloon artist, Wahlburger T-shirt giveaways, and food vendors.
- Families arrived at the mall ahead of time to shop and dine with tenants.
- Estimated attendence: 1,000+
Promotional strategy consisted of an integrated communication campaign, consisting of:
- Social Media
- Live Radio Remotes
- Radio on-air interviews with performing bands
- Community Calendar Listings
- Cross promoting with mall restaurants
Additionally, the live concert series provided a perfect opportunity to announce the opening of Wahlburgers at GVC – a community and media event with Mark Wahlburg revealing the big news; a dealmaking journey of commitment. It allowed us to give a sneak peek to community members of what the restaurant would bring to Flint, Michigan — a sense of family, laughter and loyalty. The announcement event helped ignite the concert series and brought in large crowds that generated lots of enthusiasm within the community.
I’m so excited! This is huge for us. We want to be part of the community. I want to bring our family experience to yours. This is a big, big deal for us! I want to be in Flint. I want to be in communities where people work really hard, they have love for their community, family. It’s all about working together and celebrating and spreading the love. I’m so excited I can’t wait. –Mark Wahlberg
Genesee Valley Center is an enclosed shopping mall with 1.3 million square feet of leasable area. Located outside of Flint, MI in the heart of Genesee County, GVC features an open-air shopping, dining and entertainment plaza, The Village, including 120+ shops and eateries like Macy's, Torrid, JCPenney, Wahlburgers, Victoria's Secret, Mo Pete's Sports Retreat, Box Lunch, Kay's Jewelers, H&M, Bar Louie, The Buckle and so much more.
