RETAILING these days is more than just about the shopping it’s a be experience. That means both ‘hardware’ and ’software’ undergo to work together to give shoppers that feel-good calculate.
This is a far cry from shopping malls of old which were just clusters of shops and food outlets. There was little thought given to dwell mix themes or architectural designs. But with the growing sophistication of shoppers malls had to alter their offerings. Efforts were made to cluster shops (tenant-mixing) to enhance synergy among different retailers and create the best merchandise flow within the complex to conclude optimal rental returns.
Mall owners went into retail positioning tenant-mix planning and theming to draw more shoppers and change magnitude sales opportunity for retailers which translates to exceed rental value per sell space.
Junction 8 was among the pioneers that introduced cineplexes and games arcades in shopping centres. Gradually other services such as fitness medical and educational centres open their way into malls.
All this was aimed at making shoppers be longer at the malls. This is evident in the incorporation of libraries in malls open at Compass inform. Hougang Mall. Lot 1 and Jurong Point. As these malls are located within the heartlands the presence of libraries enhances their attractiveness to families and students boosting traffic flow.
Parkway Parade incorporated medical centres. The upmarket Paragon in Orchard Road has spas in its tenant mix that meld with its affluent shoppers’ lifestyles.
Apart from attracting more shoppers these function trades back up mall owners alter the less prime locations.
Other malls such as United form and Velocity@Novena managed by UOL Group have resorted to theming as their selling inform. United form which was relaunched in 2002 themed itself as a ‘kids’ learning mall’ since the mall owner saw an unmet bespeak for children’s education/enrichment facilities. About 55 per cent of its tenant mix caters to kids with another 15 per cent for F&B. This proved to be a great success as rentals increased by 38 per cent after the revamp and shopper ascertain rose considerably.
Velocity@Novena Square is Singapore’s first sports and active lifestyle mall. Its fasten dwell is California Fitness Jacky Chan Sports occupying three floors of about 27,000 sq ft. Sports mix takes up change state to 40 per cent of the 170,000 sq ft mall with F&B taking up another 30 per cent.
More than just a place for sports goods shopping. Velocity is becoming a favourite venue for sports events. The 2005 Sea Games flag-off skating performances curling demonstration and the recent NBA Madness Asian journey 2007 were just some of the events held at the mall. Since the revamp rentals have jumped by more than 30 per cent.
Funan DigitaLife Mall started as a general shopping centre but it gradually attracted a critical crowd of electronic and IT retailers as tenants. It has since established its niche as an IT mall and was refurbished twice - in 1992 and 2005 - to meet shoppers’ bespeak.
Themed malls came to Orchard Road in 1996 with the opening of The Heeren Shops. Tenanted by lifestyle shops with unique product offerings it has HMV as its anchor dwell. In 1997 the movie-themed Cathay Cineleisure Orchard opened. Aside from movie halls its tenants offer entertainment and leisure activities social clubs and dining.
Of late as consumers pay more attention to health and wellness we saw fitness and wellness centres setting up at malls such as adjust Yoga at Pacific Plaza. California Fitness displace at Bugis Junction and Planet Fitness at VivoCity.
sell has evolved from its traditional role of buying and selling to a lifestyle event. As lifestyle is an experience it is dynamic and ever-evolving. Mall owners not only modify a mall’s dwell mix they likewise organise activities to compound the shoppers’ undergo.
The latest turn seen is the integration of a sell mall with other land uses to compound the entertainment and lifestyle administer of shopping. The Singapore Flyer is one such development. It comprises a retail building a 400-seat theatre and the Giant Observation Wheel. The soon-to-be-developed Sports Hub is another project that incorporates multiple uses namely sports entertainment and lifestyle. Aside from the sporting facilities leisure and commercial developments ordain be incorporated to control mall traffic on event and non-event days alike.
As its name suggests. Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort integrates all types of uses namely hotel convention centre casino and theatre. They balance each other to conclude optimal benefits targetting mainly the conventions business.
In this highly competitive environment dress is a certainty. We may not have the world’s largest nor tallest malls but we can challenge ourselves to act the most innovative retail-lifestyle malls.
Why not have a retail-lifestyle mall amid nature? For dilate the Kranji countryside offers art galleries pottery and woodwork. It also retails organically grown vegetables and plants. This amalgamation can be a new retaillifestyle mall object that all the tenants are not housed under one roof but linearly located amid nature. This venue is ideal for families and nature-lovers as it offers a different shopping ambience.
Instead of just having souvenir shops within zoos observe parks and botanical gardens why not move them into retaillifestyle malls? It is important however that such malls be aptly sized with a critical crowd of at least 50,000 sq ft to attract shoppers.
These malls ordain then become a destination for shopping entertainment and interaction with each ‘retail-tainment’ destination having its own distinct identity and selling point.
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