Describing a shopping center
What is a shopping center?
A shopping mall, shopping center, shopping precinct, shopping arcade, or simply shopping mall is defined as one or more buildings that form a complex of shops representing merchants, which have interconnected walkways that allow visitors to easily walk between the different units. , along with a parking area. . Therefore, it can be simply defined as a modern indoor version of a traditional market.
The term “mall” is used primarily in Europe, South America, and Australia. In Hong Kong, the frequently used term is the same, but it can also contain words like “square”. However, in North America and the Philippines, the common term used is “mall.” There are places where other terms are used to describe basically the same thing, such as “shopping arcade” or “shopping area.”
How did the shopping center come about?
Shopping malls corresponded with the rise of suburban life in many parts of the Western world after World War II, especially in the United States. Modern shopping malls have developed from the 1920s onwards. The design had a tendency to be oriented inward from the beginning, where malls followed theories of how customers could be attracted in a controlled environment. Similarly, the concept of having one or more large stores in a shopping center was pioneered from the beginning, considering that other smaller-scale chain stores or individual stores would benefit from shoppers attracted by the large stores.
Types of shopping centers
There are different types of centers, depending on their size and where they are located.
1. Regional: A regional shopping center is a shopping center designed to serve a large area (15 miles), larger than a conventional shopping center. Therefore, it can vary between 400,000 square feet and 800,000 square feet. It also has at least two large stores and has to offer a wide selection of stores. The tendency of those shopping centers to have high-end stores, which need a larger area to have profitable services, and they can also have discount department stores. In holiday areas, these shopping centers are often tourist attractions.
2. Super Regional – This is a mall with more than 800,000 square feet of gross leasable area, probably 3 or more large stores, more variety, mass trade, and fashion clothing. This type of shopping center is usually the dominant shopping place in the region where it is located.
3. Outlet: this is a type of shopping center where manufacturers can sell their products through their own stores directly to the public. Some stores may be operated by retailers, mostly selling discontinued or returned products, and are therefore greatly reduced in price.
Components of a shopping center
1. Food Court – Usually consists of several fast food vendors surrounding a shared seating area.
2. Department Stores – They exist to attract retail traffic, causing people to visit smaller stores as well. Physically, those anchor stores are located as far away from each other as possible, to maximize the amount of traffic between them.
3. Standalone stores: consist of satellite buildings, generally located on the same land or nearby. Those stores may or may not have a legal connection to the central facility through ownership or contracts. They can use common parking lots or have their own. However, those stores and the mall are generally perceived as a single unit.
Regardless of how they are, today we could hardly imagine our world without shopping malls.