Malls & Shopping Centers

Statistics and facts on Shopping & Factory Outlets

Shopping and factory outlets represent significant institutions in modern Western culture. They are a conglomeration of buildings, or one large building, containing various businesses, stores and restaurants with a common interest in soliciting sales. The facilities are developed as planned commercial locations and typically offer private, off-street parking facilities.

Today, urban fabric and shopping mall integration is becoming more important. Open space and sustainable design for shopping malls are the rising trends in the world. Existing shopping malls are opening, integrating with urban fabric and continually updating themselves to compete with the emerging shopping places.

Shopping malls used to be very linear in their construction and they were anchored by the big department stores. That dynamic has changed for a myriad of reasons that include issues of urban sprawl, technology and the evolution of consumer habits. What we're currently seeing are more shopping malls that have a more circular construction to them. They almost look like giant spiders whose arms might have a department store or two. Entertainment activities, though, trump the mega-stores. Movie theaters, cafes, restaurants, comedy clubs, mini-putt and more have turned shopping centers into entertainment centers. The stores that are performing the best are becoming hyper-focused on providing much more than just something to buy.

Faced with the exploding popularity of buying online, shopping malls are emptying and are seeking new solutions to generate traffic. A number of brands have their own apps. Now shopping centers and malls are joining the fray.
Picture: istockphoto.com / aleksl

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