Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect the retail rent of shopping centres in Wuhan, an important city in central China.

The study uses a data set of 68 shopping centres in urban Wuhan. A regression model is constructed to estimate the impact on retail rent of a composite range of variables that would capture the physical characteristics, spatial characteristics, potential attractiveness of shopping centres and market condition.

The empirical findings suggest the ceiling height, closeness to metro line station, being situated in commercial central area, vacancy rate and income have significant impact on rental level. Unexpected, the retail mix has a significant negative impact on rent. The impact of the more determining factors found in Western research – size, age, parking space and anchor tenant – is not supported in the Wuhan study.

While 68 shopping centres are included in the test, the sample size is relatively small. The comparatively short history of retail market in Wuhan would not allow to test the rent adjustment process.

This is the first paper to investigate retail rent determinants in a second-tier city in China. The results of the study give designers, developers and investors critical insights into the determinants of retail rent in an emerging market.

Presents theoretical and methodological considerations and techniques which bear directly on the valuation of retail properties in Australia and, to lesser extents, the UK and the USA. Surveys the Australian retail sector in terms of its overall significance for the national economy as well as the relative performance of the sector’s constituents. Considers the current domination of the sector by the regional and local shopping centres and the correlative decline in importance of retail outlets in traditional shopping streets. Contends that the dominance of shopping centres has produced an oligopolistic situation with regard to the supply of retail space in regional shopping centres because of the high regard in which such centres are held by major investing organizations. Despite the ability of shopping centres to produce income flows with apparently substantial year‐by‐year increases, this trend has been bucked in recent years by below replacement cost sale prices achieved by a number of shopping centres. Raises the crucial question of which factors should be considered most influential by valuers in assessing the capital worth of retail properties. Provides exemplary calculations by which realistic assessments are achievable. Casts a critical eye over entrenched “axioms” of the trade, such as that retail tenants can pay increased rents annually regardless of economic considerations and irrespective of the actual profitability of their retail activities. Considers the difficulties which now beset the position of specialty retailers in relation to the shopping centres in which they rent space. Argues for the importance of partnership relationships between landlords and tenants and predicts that the constant quest to maximize the rentals of individual retail outlets within shopping centres may seriously threaten the long‐term security of those centres. Presents recommendations for improving the prospects of successful trading by shopping centres against a consideration of potential developments of other purchasing means (warehouse retailing, TV retailing and catalogue shopping). Concludes that many shopping centres currently regarded as prime investments may appear less attractive when reconsidered in the light of the developments here outlined.

The purpose of this paper is to identify shopping centre attractiveness dimensions from the point of view of the Mexican shopper and then segment shoppers according to these perceptions of attractiveness.

Data were collected through a survey of 1,500 regular shopping centre consumers from the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (MAG), Mexico. This research study was carried out from January to April 2010. Five of the largest shopping centres, including a lifestyle centre, a community centre, a regional shopping centre, and a small regional shopping centre participated voluntarily in this research study.

The attractiveness attributes of six shopping centres were identified through a factorial analysis: mall essence, popularity and promotional programs, personal service, recreational options, internal atmosphere, and external atmosphere. Also, a cluster analysis of these factors revealed three types of consumers with significantly different perceptions of shopping centres: serious, enthusiast, and basic. The outcomes were validated by a multiple discriminant analysis. Multiple discriminant results suggest that the dimension of popularity and promotion programs is the first to be distinguished among segments, followed by internal and external atmosphere.

From a managerial perspective, the study provides practical advice to managers in order to support marketing and positioning strategies for their shopping centres, focusing on a particular segment of consumers.

This study contributes to the body of research on shopping centre attractiveness and shopper segments by providing information regarding Mexican consumer perceptions of shopping.

Shopping is a popular tourist activity. While a person might not travel for the purpose of shopping, many tourists shop while traveling. This study aims to examine travel motivation as a predictor of the importance assigned to desired shopping center attributes for three different shopping centers, and their effect on satisfaction, and re‐patronage intention.

Data were collected via mall‐intercept surveys from 624 tourist shoppers at seven shopping centers. A tourist was defined as a person who traveled a distance of at least 50 miles from their home.

Desired shopping center attributes are influenced by travel motivation. For the superregional center, a linear relationship was computed for the exploration travel motive, mall environment, overall satisfaction and re‐patronage intention. Interestingly, overall satisfaction with the shopping center was not a significant predictor of re‐patronage intention in the theme/festival or super off‐price centers.

Given the importance of shopping in the travel agenda, identification and consideration of different travel motivations can facilitate development of the shopping center environment for maximum customer satisfaction. All of the motivations may co‐exist in the same family or tourist unit (e.g. convention attendees). These findings can be particularly useful in designing amenities and targeting promotional campaigns to different audiences.

The concept of space is commonly transcending the binary separation between materiality and abstraction structuring social theory, being both a built, immutable environment and what is derived from uncoordinated spatial practices embedded in social norms and instituted behaviours. As a consequence, organization theorists have been only marginally interested in organized spaces and spatiality, examining primarily office spaces and other visual, symbolic spaces in organizations. Organized space is relational and transductive, constructed to be able to both accommodate various needs and demands and to be able of responding to emerging information. Organized space is thus transient and fluid, only temporarily stabilized, and fundamentally open to external influences. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A study of shopping center development practices demonstrates how various actors representing heterogeneous interests collaborate to balance various interests such as the need for both commercial and public spaces in a community, rendering social space a politicized space wherein disputes and interests are settled.

Social spaces such as shopping centers are unfolding as relational and transductive spaces capable of being modified and changes as new social needs and demands emerge. Shopping center spaces are developed in the intersection of a variety of professional domains of expertise and social interests and needs.

The paper combines a theoretical framework of social spaces as being what is produced in collaborative efforts and what includes both technical and material as well as social and cultural components with an empirical study of shopping mall development.

This study aims to examine the relationships among some important factors and perceived personal safety in public places, using Nigerian urban shopping centers as case studies. Following the evidence from previous studies, the present study hypothesizes that individual characteristics influence perceived personal safety in shopping centers, and users’ perceived safety is affected by the shopping centers’ environmental attributes.

Two shopping centers were selected as cases for the study. Systematic sampling technique was used to select participants. Respondents were asked to answer closed-ended questions pertaining to environmental-design satisfaction, socio-economic and demographic characteristics and shopping center use. In total, 784 users participated in the survey. However, only 440 users properly completed the interview: 219 from Aleshinloye and 221 from Gbagi. Environmental design, socio-economic and demographic characteristics and shopping center use are independent variables, whereas perceived safety is a dependent variable. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis and Man–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests.

Results show that fear of crime is the most important factor, explaining 28.16 per cent of the total variance in perceived safety. Nevertheless, findings show that demographic factors have a significant impact on perceived safety as well. There is also a strong association between perceived safety and the use of shopping centers, as Aleshinloye, which is perceived safer, has been more frequently used than Gbagi. Furthermore, environmental design appears as a significant factor for perceived safety in shopping centers, as users of Aleshinloye’s facilities have a better perceived safety from crime, better way-finding ability and more environmental-design satisfaction than users of Gbagi.

The study recommends the provisions of design or security precautions that prevent the fear of crime and improve way-finding capacity and environmental-design satisfaction in urban shopping facilities. Specifically, it is important to have environmental security precautions such as closed circuit televisions, good and functional lighting and private security staff, especially for women and the elderly, in urban commercial centers as these precautions could enhance their sense of personal safety.

Previous studies on shopping centers’ security have mainly concentrated on the relationship between fear of crime, perceived safety and associated factors. No studies to date have explored how way-finding ability affects perceived safety of users of shopping centers. This study contributes to the existing literature, revealing way-finding anxiety to be another important dimension of perceived safety in urban shopping centers.

The process of suburbanisation produced the great flowering of the American shopping centre during the 1950s and 60s, although they started even earlier. They evolved into three major types — regional, community, and neighbourhood, and in the 1970s these were augmented by specialty theme, multi‐use, and factory outlets type centres. But US shopping centres are now facing a number of problems: department stores (their principal tenants) are in decline; regional malls are finding difficulty in adapting to new retail conditions; and the malls themselves are becoming very expensive to operate. David Rogers looks at the “mid‐life crisis” of the American shopping centre and makes some comparisons with the situation in the UK.

Focuses on the effect of both proximity and size of shopping centres on surrounding residential property values, using hedonic modelling. States that the data bank consists of a subset of some 4,000 single‐detached, owner‐occupied housing units transacted all over the Quebec Urban Community territory between January 1990 and December 1991. Tests several functional forms and uses up to 60 descriptors. Reveals that in line with previous studies, findings indicate that shopping‐centre size exerts a positive contributory effect on values; they also tend to confirm the non‐monotonicity of the price‐distance function. Concludes that, in that respect, resorting to the gamma function for distance variables yields most interesting results and provides consistent estimates of optimal distances for various shopping‐centre size categories.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of anchor stores on the performance and results of shopping centres and on the prices practiced by other stores. It analyses the customer spill‐over effect of the anchor stores on the Sonae Sierra shopping centres. Incorporated in Portugal in 1989, Sonae Sierra is an international corporation specializing in shopping centres. It is co‐owned by Sonae (Portugal) and Grosvenor (UK) who each own 50 per cent.

The data collection targeted 35 shopping centres in Portugal and Spain with 1,200,000 square feet (or more), for three consecutive years (2005‐2007). The anchor stores provide about 41 per cent of the total gross lettable area and on average pay only 18 per cent of the total rent collected by the developer. The ordinary least squares and Kruskal‐Wallis statistic (in order to avoid ANOVA assumption violations) are used to test the hypotheses.

The empirical analysis shows that a greater presence of anchors in a mall directly increases the sales, and consequently the rents of non‐anchor stores in a mall. The authors demonstrate that externalities are internalized by efficient allocation of space and incentives across stores, and also show that the anchor stores increased the malls' customer drawing power, measured as the number of people who visited the mall at a given time, although lately they have had less impact on the sales per person visiting the centres.

This study is limited in that it surveyed only Sonae Sierra shopping centres, hence the results can only be generalized using this model as a basis. Other limitations were an inability to gather data on customer purchasing power in the areas surrounding the Sonae Sierra shopping centres, and the need to safeguard the confidentiality of the information, which did not allow the use of more independent variables for the models.

It is demonstrated that the total sales of the shopping malls are directly influenced by the number of anchors, and that the area allocated to them is a strategic tool.

The paper uses unique data consisting of mall store contracts to study the complex economic issues that arise when stores co‐occupy a large shopping centre.

Tenants generate the income for a shopping centre and the value of this type of retail property to the property owner or landlord thus depends on the forecast of consumer demand for the products or services sold by tenants. Through balanced tenancy, the stores in a planned shopping centre complement each other in the quality and variety of their product offerings, and the kind and number of stores are linked to the overall needs of the surrounding population in the centre’s catchment areas. Whereas there is frequent reference in retailing literature to the importance of tenant mix for shopping centres, published research about the so‐called “ideal” tenant mix is almost non‐existent. Aims to rectify this situation partially and suggests a practical research method using a consumer preference weighting methodology based on three parameters, namely tenant category preference, tenant category ranking preference, and tenant shopping likelihood, consolidated into a single composite tenant choice index. The emphasis is on describing the logic of the research methodology, using a real‐life example of a planned‐to‐be‐erected shopping centre in South Africa, but due regard is given throughout to the relevant theoretical underpinnings in order to also contribute to this aspect of the young science.