Ana Espinosa Segu

Human Geography
Department
University of Alicante (Spain)
Ana.Espinosa@ua.es
MALL OF AMERICA
Source of Wallpaper: www.hangingoffthewire.blogspot.com

CONTENTS OF THE SEMINAR

1.Definition of the shopping mall or shopping

centre (USA versus Europe)
2.The malling process
3. The demalling process
4.The consequences of malling and demalling
urban spaces

1. Definition of the shopping mall or shopping centre (USA versus Europe)

A shopping center is a group of retail and other

commercial establishments that is planned,
developed, owned and managed as a single
property, typically with on-site parking provided.
The center's size and orientation are generally
determined by the market characteristics of the
trade area served by the center
International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
(http://www.icsc.org/index.php)

1. Definition of the shopping mall or shopping centre (USA versus Europe)

-What does planned, developed, owned and

managed as a single property mean?
- And what does center's size and orientation
determined by the market characteristics of the
trade area means?
- Why is the unique management so important?
- Which types of shopping centres or shopping
malls can you classify? According to which
criteria?

U.S. Shopping Center Definitions

(according to ICSC)

1. Malls: Regional or Super regional

2. Special purpose: Airport retail
3. Open-air centres:
- Strip /convenience
- Neighborhood
- Community
- Lifestyle
- Power center
- Theme /festival
- Outlet
Source: http://www.icsc.org/srch/lib/2010%20S-C%20Classification.pdf

Source: http://www.icsc.org/srch/lib/euro_standard_only.pdf

Any other classification?

According to which criteria?
1.- According to the preexistent offer: opposition or
complement of a urban shopping area
2.- According to its location: suburban, interurban or on the
edge of urban areas
3.- According to the agents involved in the process (only
private or private/public): private investors or private investors
with the help and advice of public representants who want a
mall as part of a bigger urban management plan

Power on sales and consumer decision influence

2. The malling process and the demalling process

Life cycle theory

in retail
3. Maturity

2. Accelerated
Growth

4. Decline

1. Innovation

Source: own elaboration based on Davidson et al, 1976.

Evolution of time

ba
M

sp alli
ac ng
es ur

a llin

Life cycle theory

in retail

m
De

Power on sales and consumer decision influence

2. The malling process and the demalling process: the beggining

Source: own elaboration based on Davidson et al, 1976.

Evolution of time

SOME QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSING WITH YOUR PARTNERS

* Shopping malls or shopping centres were

born in Western countries in a particular
social, cultural, economic and urban
context. Describe their features in more
detail.
* Describe the state of the society, economy,
retail offer and city shortly before the
malling process.

The malling process began with

- Suburbanisation of wide territories
- The increasing mobility of citizens
- Rise of the number of cars per household
- Advertising era
-The lack of service centres in the new suburbia
- The traffic congestion in urban centres
- The growing distance between retail activities and houses, which
slowed down the act of purchasing consumer goods.
- Popularisation of the One Stop Culture concept

The malling process began with

- Mass society / mass consumption demanded a larger market
with a larger assortment
- Producers needed a large net of distribution for their higher
production
- Lack of spaces for socialisation in
suburbia That's the Only Place Where
You Can Hang Out (Vanderbeck &
Johnson, 2000)
- Shopping malls become the Main
Street of many suburbia areas
Source: www.cartoonstock.com

Street mall

Source: www.boomerbabesrock.com

1 phase
(USA)

tw
e
B

n
ee

tw
e
B

n
ee

10
9
1

2 phase
(USA)

)
30
9
1

Community Shopping Center

COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA

OF KANSAS CITY

3 phase
(USA)

)
50
9
1
02
19

PLANNED SHOPPING
MALL
Source: http://www.tripadvisor.es/

om
Fr

40
19

Source:
www.informationduniy
a.blogspot.com

Sun City suburbia

Source: google maps.

http://www.icsc.org/srch/rsrch/scope/current/num_shoppingcenters06.pdf

SOME QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSING WITH YOUR PARTNERS

* Was it the same structure in every Western country?

* Are there any differences between the malling
process in Europe and USA?
* Did every Western country have the same patterns in
the malling process?

And the malling process continued with

- In Europe This shopping centre growth corresponded with
rising incomes, increased consumer mobility and the emergence
of new retail chain stores (ICSC)

Source: The importance of shopping centres to the European economy, 2008, ICSC

Source: Cushman and Wakefield.

Gross
Leasabl
e Area
(GLA)
per
1.000
populatio
n

Source: Cushman
and Wakefield.

THE DEMALLING PROCESS IS

To convert an indoor mall into an open-air shopping center
where stores have street-level access, and which may also
include non-retail buildings (such as apartments)
(Source: wordspy.com)

It can be also the

transformation of old
fashioned shopping malls
for introducing other
services.
Source: www.dutycalculator.com

The consequences of malling and demalling urban spaces

- Growth of suburban

centralities
- Lighten the pressure of the
Main Street
- Approach of shopping
activities to suburban
consumer residences
- Increase of retail space for
consumers and offer

- Reinvestment in the city

centre or at least, in other
spaces with more centrality
- Recycle old shopping malls
for other uses
- Reduction of retail
competition for the city
centre
(if there is a public/private investment
in the city centre)

The consequences of malling and demalling urban spaces

- Large dependence on private

mobility

- Disposable city

- Scarce use

- Generation of greyfields

of the city

centre for shopping and urban

public spaces
- Incentive to revalue housing in
suburbian areas
- Consumers forget the city life
- Local government can not invest
in city centre if it allows more and
more shopping malls in the
outskirts

- Demalling shows the quick

speed of changes and need
for innovations of the retail
sector, irrespective of the
urban patrimony or the mix of
uses of the city centre

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urbanistica, Alinea editorial, Florencia.
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Gazzette, n 436/4.
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pblico, Ediciones Gustavo Gili SA.
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Business Review, Vol. 54 No. 6, pp. 89-96.
- DAWSON, J. (1980): Retail Geography, Halsted Press, Londres.

- DAWSON, J. (2000): Retailing at century end: some challenges for management and
research, en International review of retail, distribution and consumer research, n 10.
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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1038/is_n1_v40/ai_19369689/