The Daily Mall Reader: Mall Makers

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

The Visionaries
How a handful of people shaped the way we shop

Shopping Centers Today - May 2004

(Excerpt) Most Americans no longer gaze in wonder at the landscaped center court of a super-regional mall. For many, power centers have become just another part of the daily or weekly shopping routine. The affluent have long come to expect trendy shops and good restaurants in now-familiar lifestyle centers. Bus rides get shorter for bargain hunters as factory outlet malls proliferate. Food courts, once remarkable for bringing together such a range of choices, are now just a place to refuel. Even the mammoth shopping and entertainment centers, West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America, have been around for a number of years.

But nearly every element of today’s diverse retail landscape once represented the radical notion of some visionary.

Read the full article here.