Retail Site Selection in a Mall Context

In the forty-plus years since malls first appeared, these shopping centers have evolved into an integral part of the American culture. However, in recent years the number of malls has increased so dramatically that competition between malls, and even mall closures have become commonplace. Although there is not a large body of work that studies malls from a marketing perspective, the vast majority of what has been published adopts a consumer rather than a managerial perspective. This paper uses the literature, when available, to explore how malls are evaluated and perceived by retail managers. Since there are no formal studies that examine this area, this paper concludes by discussing several issues that should be addressed by future research.