| 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 | 
