What are the Main Categories of Shopping Locations?

This type of retail outlet is one of the most complex types of stores that offer a wide range of products. The average size of grocery stores is currently 38,000 square feet, with small formats ranging in size from 12,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet, and even smaller microstores in urban markets. In recent years, we have seen several small-format grocery stores emerge, such as Aldi, DG Market and smaller versions of larger chain stores. Small in size and offering “fast travel experiences”, convenience stores are characterized by longer opening hours and convenient locations.

They generally offer a selection of basic foods and beverages, alcohol and everyday essentials. Many also have a gas station as part of their operations. Large stores typically occupy more than 50,000 square feet, with typical ranges between 90,000 and 200,000 square feet. They often have their own parking lots (though not always in metropolitan areas).

Specialty stores live up to their name by offering a wide variety of brands, styles or models within a relatively limited category. Examples include craft stores, furniture stores, garden centers, sporting goods stores, and bookstores. The average size of a specialty store will vary greatly depending on the type of store it is. You might have a small boutique of just 2,000 square feet or a large global brand that requires 60,000 square feet.

Specialty stores can use a wide variety of types of designs depending on the scale of their operations. For smaller stores, a free-flowing design inspires curiosity, while a grid, loop, or diagonal design is optimal for medium and large stores. A department store, usually found in malls, is a retailer that offers a wide range of consumer goods in different areas (or departments) of a store. Department stores have a reputation for being slightly more expensive than large stores and selling high-end brands.

Macy's, Kohl's and Neiman Marcus fall into the department store category. The average department store is around 250,000 square feet and often uses the circular design to connect customers to each department. These stores average 10,000 square feet in size and take advantage of the circular design to encourage customers to explore the entire store. Smaller format stores, such as TJ Maxx, measure approximately 30,000 square feet, while stores like Nordstrom Rack can have more than 120,000 square feet.

Smaller format stores are also becoming popular, averaging just 2,000 square feet. Most follow a grid or loop design, or a combination of the two. The average warehouse ranges from 84,000 to 146,000 square feet and generally follows a circular design. If you asked five people to describe a mall, you would most likely end up with at least 2 or 3 very different answers.

If someone were to describe a mall as a shopping mall with a grocery store, they would be correct. If someone were to describe a covered shopping destination with several large major stores, they would also be correct. A small strip of 5 or 6 stores would also be an acceptable example of a retail mall. The most common type of shopping mall is the neighborhood center with the appropriate name.

These properties use a straight-line strip configuration for outdoor use, typically have 1 anchor warehouse and generally range from 30,000 to 150,000 square feet. Its name is derived from its small 3-mile “neighborhoods centered” primary shopping area. Retailers in neighborhood centers primarily offer daily needs such as food, convenience items, personal services snacks pharmaceuticals and other health-related items. The most common element of the neighborhood center is a grocery store; according to the International Council of Shopping Centers more than 50% of neighborhood centers are anchored in a grocery store with one third having pharmacy presenters too.

Community centers are larger versions of neighborhood centers that are characterized by a wider range of retail stores. They typically offer 100,000 to 300,000 square feet of retail space with two main stores. With a broader focus the community center draws customers from a main shopping area of 3 to 6 miles. Of the 8 types of retail malls community centers come in most shapes and sizes; community centers include grocery stores super pharmacies discount department stores and in certain markets home improvement stores many community centers with discount department stores are also known as discount centers Regency Centers is one of the largest community center managers in the United States.

In most parts of the country the local mall is the definition of regional center in textbooks; these properties are enclosed shopping malls typically offering between 400 000 and 800 000 square feet of retail space and have at least 2 anchors they attract customers from a main shopping area of 5 to 15 miles in most cases a large percentage of the general merchandise available in regional centers is clothing; the traditional attraction of regional centers is the anchor stores Simon Property Group is the largest owner and operator operator regional centers in the United States due to the rise e-commerce many regional centers are considered to be problematic unhealthy or dying malls these centers have vacancy rates above 10% and at least one or more main stores are empty one big challenge facing retail property management industry how these properties will be reused future The largest type shopping mall superregional centers not surprisingly many largest malls United States super-regional hubs that's because superregional centers typically have 3 or more anchors least 800 000 square feet retail space they also rely larger population bases drawing visitors within 5 25 mile radius property key distinction between superregional centers regional centers size commercial area superregional centers larger more main stores based larger primary retail area Mall America Bloomington Minnesota American Dream East Rutherford New Jersey two largest superregional centers.