Consumer Services
Bob MacIntosh
President and CEO, PIER 39
By Mike Cottrill
Smart Business Northern California | July 2007
Page 1 of 2
"The only surprise in this world is a birthday party, so keep me informed." - Bob MacIntosh, CEO, PIER 39
It doesn’t matter if you have good news or bad news, just tell Bob MacIntosh what’s going on. MacIntosh, president and CEO ofmarketplace PIER 39, knows that the key to keeping his people heading in the right direction is to avoid surprises. Instead ofplaying off the major brands that most malls in America have, PIER 39 has created a niche market with unique shoppingattractions and a scenic location on the San Francisco Bay, with its own famous sea lions. To keep that niche, MacIntosh has toconstantly keep his finger on the pulse of both the industry and his customer base. Relying on his employees for feedback,MacIntosh has led PIER 39 to more than $189 million in annual revenue.
Smart Business spoke with MacIntosh about theimportance of staying informed and of understanding a market.
Talk to your staff to stay informed. My direct reports know that theonly surprise in this world is a birthday party, so keep meinformed. Whether it’s good or bad, I just want to know what’sgoing on. To make sure that’s happening, I have lunch meetingswith all of my direct reports, and we discuss specifically what’shappening in their world and if things are going well.
What I do on a weekly basis is I have two meetings with people; the first is Monday morning, and we discuss the weekendresults from what we own and operate, and that gives us all asense of what direction we are going. That’s very important.Even if one of those guys is in construction, I think it’s veryimportant that he knows how our sales are going, so it keepsthe building team’s spirits up.
On Wednesday, I have my direct reports and expand it toinclude other key people in our organization, and at that meeting, we discuss the busiest areas of current activity — what’sgoing on in your world, so to speak. By having those kinds ofmeetings — and they don’t have to be super long — it’s just agood way to get things out and keep everybody informedbecause that’s so valuable.
I talk with different people every day — not just my directreports but other people, too. I feel free to talk to anybody. Idon’t necessarily have to go through the leasing person to talkto the people that work in that office.
Again, the thing is communication and to make sure everyone knows what they’re doing and they are staying on target.The worst thing that can happen is people go off in the wrongdirection, and you aren’t aware of it.
Get feedback from the outside. I also am out in the public a lot and justmeeting people, and I hear comments about PIER 39. So I can seeif we are accomplishing what the vision is. I think that’s veryimportant to do. You can think you are doing a great job, but whenyou go out and talk to other people, they’ll say something like, ‘Ilike going to PIER 39 because ... ‘ and you can get a feel for whereyou stand.
