Shopping malls have long been a cornerstone of communities, providing a central hub for people to shop, socialize, and access services. They can act as a platform for local businesses, create jobs, and bolster the local economy. In addition, they generate tax revenues for schools, health services, and police and fire departments. Choosing the right spot for a small business is no easy feat.
There are numerous options and factors to consider. However, shopping malls have been deemed one of the best places to open a shop. This article focuses on the real estate development and community interaction aspects of American malls. Existing research on the development and remodeling of shopping malls can more comprehensively address the importance of malls for the communities in which they are located.
Studies on existing shopping centers concentrate on the valuation of leases, the location of tenants, the economies of retail agglomeration, the externalities of retail demand, and the value of intangible assets. To a large extent, the overlooked areas of research are the community and economic contributions of shopping malls. These are essential issues given the age of shopping malls around the world, the need to redevelop adjacent areas, and the need for large public subsidies for the construction of infrastructure. Shopping malls are not just places where people stay for entertainment; they can start by creating seamless transactions, using smarter technologies and innovations to provide a secure and personalized shopping experience. As consumers increasingly prefer to browse or shop online, retail real estate owners should improve their online presence and offer customers a smooth and consistent BOPIS experience. Shopping mall establishments also offer more job opportunities for community members.
These new buying drivers highlight the need to transform malls but also create unique opportunities for the industry. In addition, they highlight how retailers and mall owners should learn from shopping habits during the pandemic and use that knowledge to their mutual benefit. I/O modeling is an effective tool for evaluating publicly supported infrastructure to accompany the remodeling of shopping centers and retail stores. Consumers say they plan to work more from home than before the pandemic, so they expect to cook more and buy more from home in the near future. They should reconsider how they approach stores not only because of what customers buy but also because of how they shop and how they plan to buy to cover other areas of their portfolio.
However, as the world begins to reopen, people want to shop where they can have a real conversation with store staff and employees. The first stores in malls were designed to cater to the elite but this is no longer the case. This article reviews existing research on shopping malls and economic contributions of retail to communities, along with how remodeling shopping centers can be a catalyst for revitalizing urban core and suburban areas. The main purpose of shoppers and party goers when going to malls is to buy what they need or want and then leave.
