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General terminology
Anchor
stores: the largest retail outlets, usually located
at the ends or corners of shopping centers, and chosen
in part for their potential to attract customers to the
shopping center generally; departments stores usually
anchor regional and super-regional malls and
supermarkets are typical anchors in community centers
Arcade: an entertainment area offering coin-operated
computer games and other amusements
Back
of the house: the office, stock room, and other
non-retail areas of a store
Big
box: a large stand-alone store that specializes in a
single line of products, such as home improvements,
toys, or office supplies; no-frills discount stores that
sell in volume and category killers are often big box
stores
Cart:
a wheeled display from which merchandise is sold in
pedestrian areas of a mall, often fitted out with
shelves, display racks, and the like
Cash
wrap: the front counter with the cash register and
often a wrapping or packing area
Category killer:
a large national chain
store specializing in one line of products, such as home
improvements, office supplies, or toys, that can
overwhelm both smaller and more diverse competitors
because of its size, variety of merchandise, and prices
Community room: an area available for public use,
ranging from a bare meeting room that can accommodate
folding chairs and tables to a more elaborate hall with
stage, adjacent kitchen, and other services
Double dumbbell shape:
a cross-shaped shopping center with anchor stores at the
end of each cross
Draw tenant: a
store that attracts a large number of potential
customers to a shopping center, often an anchor store
Dumbbell: a
linear shopping center with anchors stores on each end
Factory outlet: a
retail store that sells merchandise direct from the
manufacturer, usually atreduced
Food
court: a separate area of a shopping center
containing fast-food outlets and a common seating area
Free-standing store:
a retail outlet not associated with a shopping center,
especially those at a distance from congested shopping
areas and downtown
Gross leaseable area (GLA):
the total area
of floor space (usually cited in square feet) leased for
retail shops, consumer services, and entertainment,
including restaurants. The total floor area of any
shopping center or mall is inevitably larger than the
gross leaseable area; the difference can be accounted
for by mall offices, utility areas, storage, rest rooms,
interior plazas, and other non-revenue producing spaces.
Areas that are not let on long-term leases, such as
assembly halls, exhibition space, public meeting rooms,
and the like are usually not included in GLA figures,
though they may produce some rental revenue.
Irregulars:
salable merchandise with minor imperfections sold a
reduced prices
Junior department store:
(1) a small department store offering a limited
selection of goods; (2) a scaled-down version of a
full-sized department store
Kiosk:
a semi-permanent booth placed in pedestrian areas of a
shoping center and used to sell small items or to offer
specific services, such as jewelry repair
Mall
rat: young person who frequents a shopping center
primarily for socializing and entertainment, rather than
for shopping L-shaped:
a shopping center with two linear strips of stores
connected at right angles, forming the letter
L; anchors are
typically located on the two ends or at the apex, with
parking inside the apex;
L-shaped is a common design for community-sized
centers
Mall manager: the
person employed by the owner or a management company to
supervise daily operations of a shopping center
Mall mayor: the
retailer who acts as the informal spokesperson for the
tenants of a shopping center
Mall
walker: person who walks in a shopping center for
exercise, especially during a period set aside for this
purpose before stores have opened in the mornings
Market area: the
geographical area from which a shopping center draws its
customers
Off-price center:
a retail store that sells brand-name clothing or other
goods (often with labels removed) at reduced prices
Outparcel: (1) a physically separate store or
service, such as a restaurant, bank, office, or motel,
included in a shopping center’s property; (2) unoccupied
land on a shopping center's property
Outlot tenant: a
free-standing retailer or service located on a separate
parcel in front of a shopping center; also called a pad
tenant.
Shrinkage: (1) difference between value of
inventoried merchandise and merchandise book value,
attributable to waste, shop wear, carelessness, fraud,
theft, and so on; (2) more specifically, loss of
merchandise due to shoplifting, usually reported as a
percentage of sales
T-shaped: a
shopping center comprising two linear arrays of stores
forming the shape of the letter
T, with anchor
stores at each of the three ends and parking on all
sides
Tall-wall stall:
a temporary retailing display and counter built against
an empty wall
Temporary tenant:
typically, a retailer that rents space in a common area
for a cart, kiosk, or tall-wall stall for less than a
year U-shaped:
a linear array of stores forming the shape of the letter
U, with anchors
placed in the center or on the two ends and parking
inside the U
From
American Studies at Eastern Connecticut State University |
