Anchor store must make the shift to a more varied experience focused services. These stores are not selling any items that consumers cannot purchase online or in a more convenient way. We believe that the issue is a direct effect of what we speak about in the section above.

Anchor malls are supposed to be what attracts consumers to smaller retailers within the shopping centres, so what went wrong? In recent years, we’ve seen many of these companies move to locations outside of malls, completely rebrand their company or in the case of Sears, go bankrupt and shut their doors for good. Retailers such as Hudsons Bay, Sears, Target and Nordstrom, along with many others, have acted as the bookends for malls across the United States and Canada for decades. The New and Improved Anchor StoresĪnchor stores have been a staple fixture in shopping centres since the first mall in North America opened its doors in 1956. This leads us to number two on our list of changes that must be made by retailers to keep shopping malls alive and well. Things like fresh food markets with a diversity of vendors that offer different products, services, and experiences are a great way to attract a wide variety of consumers. In order to provide this alternative retail experience shopping centres must incorporate various forms of entertainment, education, and services. This says so much about the altering narrative of modern-day consumers and what they are looking to gain out of the retail experience. The chairman of JGA, Ken Nisch states, “Retailers have to give people something to do, then they will shop. Consumers need to be enticed to visit the malls for other reasons aside from the purchase of material goods that they can now so easily buy online. It is imperative that malls begin to incorporate this concept into the designs of shopping centres. The importance of life experiences is now valued higher by the younger generation than that of something materialistic.

With millennials now becoming the driving force for many shifts in cultural trends, we see a transition from the importance of material things towards an emphasis on experiences.

Shopping mall construction