Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/390025
is often not just to acquire goods, it's to be social," he said. Such is even more the case in emerging markets, and this is discernible by sound, he notes. In a U.S. mall one may hear the squeak of sneak- ers, whereas in a mall in South America, Eastern Eu- rope or the Middle East, one hears the clatter of high heels of young women who are going to the mall to be seen. And any commercial threat from the online side will work only in markets where delivery is easy and reliable, Underhill says. "One of the promises in an emerging market that a mall of- fers is secure delivery," he said. "If you think about commerce, it depends upon reliable delivery and trucking services as an alter- native to people going to the store. And that reliable, inexpen- sive delivery process exists here in the U.S., it exists in parts of Europe, it does not exist in most of the rest of the world." But even in the developed world, e-commerce is highly unlikely ever to replace the physical shopping space to any considerable degree, says Underhill. "I think the relationship between the bricks-and-mortar world and the online world is still getting settled," he said. For durable goods, "often the online is not able to deal with installation issues and delivery issues in the same way that a bricks-and-mortar merchant is, and that discon- nect is basically making a lot of people very unhappy." Malls are changing, of course. "Almost no developer is talking about building malls now — they're talking about building 'alls,' which is to make sure that a new shopping mall has residential and commercial spaces that are built into the plan so that a certain class of shoppers, if they wanted to, could shop in their bedroom slippers," he said. These next-generation shopping centers will be more attractive, too; they will have much more natural light, he predicts, and not just in the concourses but also in the stores, where the merchandise can be shown off just the way it is to be used. The job of a shopping center manager will undergo change as well, he says. "Historically, mall management has been pas- sive," he said. Shoppers traditionally have only interacted with mall personnel when something has gone "radically wrong." By contrast, "the modern shopping mall is a much more cu- rated space, where management is actually making an effort to be able to touch people's experiences positively." Shopping center managers will need to experiment more as they try to serve distinct segments better, whether an age demographic, an ethnic group or even a niche of dedicated hobbyists, he says. And shopping enter developers will need to think about amenities that can build communities, Underhill says. "If you think about The Grove, in L.A., there's that wonderful lawn on which all of the toddlers meet," he said. "That's a great in- centive for mothers to drive past numerous other properties to get to that one, for the joy of watching their kids play." Nor will the pop-up phenomenon go away. Instead, smart developers will design more-flexible spaces, something prac- ticed at General Shopping, a Brazilian shopping mall firm at which Underhill is a board member. "All of our parking lots are wired for power, meaning that we can throw up a Christ- mas fair or run a trade show in a parking lot," Underhill said. "We are actively looking for ways in which we can use the con- courses of our malls," he said. Such experiments can create lasting value. Underhill cites one General Shopping mall that turned a motorcycle parking lot into a showplace with power to draw not just devotees of the machines, but even motorcycle icon Harley- Davidson, which requested space there for a dealership. That sort of creativity, says Underhill, is sure to keep shop- ping centers thriving long into the future. SCT 80 S C T / O c t O b e r 2 0 1 4 "It is a comfortable place. Whether it's very hot outside or very cold outside, or whether it's very rainy, you can always go to a shopping mall, and it's perfect."