Supporters of America, Free Speach, and the Free Market Warrior have planned a final protest in support of the kiosk at the mall location.  Local News 14 has the story.  This is apparently a completely grass roots effort, as Kiosk owner Loren Spivack seems to have no idea what is expected.  If you are in the Charlotte/Concorn area, feel free to stop by and let us know.

EEOC is going after Simon Malls for their mistreatment of hispanic employees in the Housekeeping Department.  Maybe Mel should call his buddy Barack and have him shut this down as well?

Read the AP story here.

The Boycott Simon Malls team was provided with a series of emails between the Free Market Warrior and Simon Malls.  Notice in the emails, the lease is initiated and terminated by Ms. Tracey Hatley, the regional director out of Atlanta. Contrary to what Simon Malls is implying, the decision was made by a regional director in Atlanta in consultation with “senior management.”  The Simon Property Group press release says “the original decision not to renew Mr. Spivak’s lease was made by the local mall team,” but doesn’t discount that corporate was consulted.  Ms. Hatley either made the decision  was relaying it down from the Simon management group, or is lying in the email.

• Simon Malls Excited
• Lease Terminated
• Concord Mills AKA Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) Statement

Apparently, no-politics only applies to conservative voices. Another North Carolina store carries a Uniquely Obama kiosk.  In addition, many stores in the mall are selling plenty of pro-Obama merchandise.  Democratic Fundraiser Mel Simon’s Concord Mills Mall was willing to extend his lease by a mere 30 days to quell the controversy, and required him to remove his top selling items.

How nice Mel!

Concord Mills released a statement,

Today, we met with Mr. Spivak to discuss the possibility of extending his lease. As per the Concord Mills standard short term lease agreement: “Tenant agrees…not to make any use of the space which is offensive as determined by Landlord at its sole discretion.” Inlight of recent customer complaints related to the presentation of merchandise on the unit rented by Mr. Spivak, Concord Mills requested certain items associating the President of the United States with terrorists or terrorism (e.g., “Obama: Change Al Qaeda can believe in”) be removed.

We reserve the right to remove controversial items from our properties in an effor t to provide our shoppers, as a whole, a pleasant and a politically neutral environment in which to shop. Further, since Mr. Spivak’s rented space is in the middle of the common area walkway of the shopping center, customers who are offended by certain items cannot easily avoid the display. Mr. Spivak has not agreed to remove the limited merchandise, which was deemed inappropriate. Therefore, we have acted consistent with our contract rights and in the best interest of all our customers and determined not to renew his lease.
It is also important to understand that the original decision not to renew Mr. Spivak’s
lease was made by the local mall team and not at the behest of executives of Simon
Property Group. Reports to the contrary are completely false.

Simply, we met with Mr. Spivak in good faith to resolve the issue and offered what we
believe to be a fair and equitable solution. Mr. Spivak has not agreed to remove the
objectionable merchandise and will be moving out of Concord Mills at the end of his
lease.

The Mall denies that this decision was made by corporate, and claims that reports that this was influenced by Mel Simon’s personal involvement as a Democratic Party fundraiser.

Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) has not issued any statement beyond that of their subsidiary. The products that SPG/Concord Mills demands he stop selling are amongst his top sells.

Simon Properties Group (NYSE:SPG) was down around 2% today, and Google Finance’s list of coverage is listing a Google Finance Discussion of the Conservative Kiosk issue.  No clue if it’s related, but great to see Simon Property Group hurting today and this story being listed.  Come on Yahoo Finance, list it as well!

Apparently Simon Malls does negotiate when they are under pressure.  They are supposedly meeting with Loren Spivak at noon tomorrow.  While this doesn’t address all grievances with Simon Malls, it is clear that public pressure can be made to work.  Read the Fox News coverage, “Conservative Kiosk Owner Hopes for a New Lease at North Carolina Mall.”

According to WCNC, the Free Market Warrior, Loren Spivak, may be holding a press conference tomorrow, since the mall didn’t call him back as promised.  Looks like no answer from the mall will be forthcoming, and Mel Simon will get away with throwing out a store owner for being a conservative.  See WCNC’s coverage here.

According to the examiner, there were over 100 protestors at Concord Mills Malls, and Mel Simon called Loren Spivack personally.  Read their coverage here.  Hey, our Boycott products on Zazzle even made the article!

McClatchy has the Free Market Warrior Kiosk story as a major story, “Impeach Obama” bumper stickers spark a shopping mall protest, and Drudge has it as a top link…  Keep following the story, and keep the pressure up!