FashBlog.com

By Simon Woodhouse

Shopping malls are not a modern phenomena. Covered shopping areas, known as grand bazaars, have been around in the Middle East for over a thousand years. Europe saw its first shopping malls spring up in the 18th century, and America got in on the act in 1828. But these shopping areas differed from what we call a mall today; in so much as they were located in city centres. It wasn't until the 1950s, when human beings began to really fall in love with their automobiles, that the out of town mall was born.

In some ways, the presence of a shopping mall denotes how far up the modern social scale a particular location might be. For instance, when most people think of shopping malls, they think of America. Malls are as much apart of American life as corrupt politicians and MacDonald's hamburgers. But the largest mall in the world is no longer in the States - it's in China. At a whopping 7.1 million square feet, the South China Mall in Dongguan is currently the world's largest. But it's not going to keep this illustrious title for long, as there are already two more malls under construction in China that'll both be bigger.

Perhaps it's because malls are turning into such giant, all consuming monsters, that a recent trend is suggesting their reign as all-conquering shopping hubs might be coming to an end (in the West at least). Lifestyle centres, specialty retail centres or hip strips as they are variously known, are what's coming up to de-thrown the mall.

So what is a lifestyle centre, and how does it differ from a mall? To start with, size isn't important in a lifestyle centre, which means they're often located in more suburban areas. There are fewer shops, less land to occupy and so therefore less investment needed for the initial construction. What lifestyle centres lack in size they make up for in quality. Retail giant Gap are starting to move away from traditional malls, and instead eyeing lifestyle centres as the place to be. Another surprising element in lifestyle centres is weather. That's right, it rains, the wind blows and you can almost get wet. Unlike malls, where the outside world is kept outside, lifestyle centres are modeled on the old Main Street shopping experience. There's no roof, there are real trees, cars drive past (though pedestrians always have right of way). The very thing that shopping malls killed off - downtown retail, is now coming back to get its revenge, all be it in a rather sanitized version

Lifestyle centres have been called 'genuinely fake'. Another buzz term used is 'neo-village', there's none of the sky-high glass and steel that denotes a mall, but rather the buildings are two or three stories high and laid out like conventional city blocks. Street side cafes are big in lifestyle centres, as are small plazas and intimate meeting places. It's not all shops either. Small businesses, theatres, bandstands and even residential units break up what would otherwise be wall-to-wall retail outlets. But perhaps their biggest appeal to the over eighteens amongst us, is the fact they don't seem to attract hoards of slouching teenagers.

At the same time as trying to convince shoppers the buying experience is taking a step backward toward something more intimate, retailers are lining up high-tech ways to peddle their wares. Most people have a mobile phone, and mobile phones are easy to track by the signals they send and receive via the nearest transmitter. As you might expect, phone manufacturers are very aware of this, and in the near future intend to make good use of it. Imagine this, you're walking along your favorite street in the lifestyle centre, and your mobile phone bleeps to say you've got a new text message. You flip up the screen, and read about a bargain pair of shoes now on sale in the boutique you're just about to pass - welcome to the world of LBS (Location Based Services). By taking information from the store's loyalty card database, and using it in conjunction with LBS, the retailer will be able to hit you with a text style advert right at the very moment you're walking past the shop. Your phone will also be able to tell you how far away your friends are, so it you want a second opinion on the shoes, you'll know just how long you'll have to wait for your gal-pals to arrive.

Expect more of this sort of thing in the future. With the advent of online shopping, we consumers are becoming more and more discerning. Retailers know this, and they also know they're going to have to work harder to get our money.