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Fluid malls and fixed real estate

Rick Hill
Rick Hill

The document discusses how the rise of internet shopping and new models of retail distribution require a rethinking of shopping center design. It argues that shopping centers need to become more fluid, flexible spaces that can quickly accommodate changing merchants and products. Specifically, it advocates for highly adaptable building structures and spaces within malls that allow for rapid rearrangement like "plug-and-play shops" in order to cater to varying consumer and business needs over time. Successful future shopping centers will also incorporate more community gathering spaces and integrate retail, entertainment, culture and art.

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48 | www.retailenvironments.orgR E T A I L E N V I R O N M E N T S s e p t e m b e r. 2 0 1 3 INTERNET SHOPPING, same-day delivery, and new channels of retail distribution require the complete rethinking of shopping center designs by architects, retailers, and developers. In response we must re-conceive the built marketplace through a different way of think- ingone that challenges the very notion of a fixed brick-and-mortar place. We must envi- sion something that is adaptable, varied, flex- ible, dynamic, and fluidsomething that can accommodate a far more dynamic mix of shops. This cannot be achieved by building more space that requires a sledgehammer to change it. A smarter, long-term strategy would be to re-engineer the malls DNA to create a fluid space that can accommodate a constant rota- tion of merchants, goods, and consumers. This would require creating a highly flexible envelope to allow for a rapid change of stores and merchandise, morphing displays, theat- rical lighting and sound, flexible to-the-point data-transmission lines, and better connec- tions to supply-chain delivery systems to accommodate stores with intentionally short lifespans, temporary brand showcases, and 足customized merchandising events. Such a dynamic place would cater to an ever-changing story line, unlike the modern mall with its tired tenant mix oper- ating under long-term leases, accessed by corridors cluttered with parasitic kiosks and temporary tenants operating in the shells of failed chain stores, along with their stained carpets, sagging ceiling tiles, and scuffed wallsnow called pop-up shops by mall 足marketing directors. PLUG-AND-PLAY SHOPS With their fly spaces, trap rooms, turntables, orchestra pits, and back-of-house staging areas, Broadway theaters have long been designed to allow for shows and their sets to change quickly within the fixed structure. Retail spaces in the mall should be perceived in the same manner to become similarly adaptable for quick scene changes, almost on the fly. In figurative terms, imagine a Rubiks cube: turntables, sliding walls, and elevators to allow plug-and- play shops with easily and quickly adaptable proportions to accommodate different presentations of merchandise for a chang- ing audience of consumersaccording to time of day, day of week, season, and citywide events. A real example is the newly announced Cultural Shed, planned to hold temporary events such as Fashion Week at Hudson Yards. The Island Maison Pavilion by Moshe Safdie and the interior designs by Peter Marino for Louis Vuitton at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, is another model of a varied and flexible structure that could accommodate retail change. Safdies 35-foot- high main pavilion is essentially a glass box, which surrounds Peter Marinos smaller modu- lar retail cubes that showcase the luxury goods of Louis Vuitton. The glass box is long term, but the modular cubes within the overall pavilion can be changed overnight. NEW RIBBONS OF COMMERCE Successful marketplaces of the future will be designed on a foundation of the senses, not on blocks of mortar or on data streams. Malls will become places of sensory magicwhole and complete places that are alive, vital, and culturally relevant. In addition to providing fashionable goods, dining, and entertainment, malls will showcase design, art, and architec- ture. The result will be adaptable and flexible public and private spaces layered with retail inner sanctums, intimate retreats, commu- nity gathering places, event spaces, theaters, showcases, galleries, and museums. All will be interconnected by landscaped vistas with lush gardens, dramatic atriums, sky bridges, grand staircases, and new forms of pedestrian streets and sidewalks. Hospitality, recreation, fashion, dining, lifestyle demonstra- tions, personal care, education, entertainment, and cultural pro- duction will be woven into a highly textured marketplace. New materials, innovative lighting, water, fire, music, and art will be the elements of a multi-layered and organic marketplace. Free of rigid urban grids, new ribbons of commerce will form hori- zontally, diagonally, and vertically to connect with new retail 足stepping-stones and floating cubes of commerce. Most importantly, future malls will restore and preserve some- thing fundamental to society: face-to-face interaction, socializing, creative expression, collective learning, and the open exchange of ideas. This vision is based on a simple premise: As more com- ponents of the digital consumer age become hardwired into the brain, the mall will respond in part to become somewhat of a 足consumer sanctuary for data detoxification, providing a more subtle nourishing of our senses and enhancing our experience of being human. Rick Hill is founder of J. Richard Hill & Co., a real estate consultancy, and a 30-plus-year veteran in the shopping center and retail market- place industry. Contact him at 502-417-4361, e-mail rick.hill@ jrichardhill.com, or through the website, www.jrichardhill.com. commentary The Fluid Shopping Mall Re-engineer the malls DNA to 足create a fluid space that can accommodate a constant rotation of merchants, goods, and consumers. RICK HILL founder of J. Richard Hill Co. sept13_48_commentary_final.indd 48 8/20/13 10:29 PM
Connected Are You to A.R.E.? A.R.E. is now available on all of your social networks! Follow us at twitter.com/A_RE to receive twitter-only discounts and links to valuable business intelligence and design inspiration. On Facebook, Like our fan page Association for Retail Environments and search the group Retail Environments Network on LinkedIn. Now you can find A.R.E. on Pinterest. Weve selected the most inspiring and innovative retail environmentsproducts and projects to showcase. pinterest.com/retailenviro RE_AREYouConnectedAd_JL.indd 1 3/13/13 8:15 AM sept13_49-50_Ads_digital.indd 49 8/22/13 5:55 PM
Do you know a young, talented, visionary who has a passion for their work and a drive to be an innovative leader in the retail environments industry? Retailers, designers, and industry suppliers are invited to make nominations for this years PAVE Rising Star award. PAVE is looking for individuals who are: proven visionaries uniquely innovative respected among peers 40 years or younger Nominations are free and they can motivate a nominee to do even more great things. All finalists will be recognized during the PAVE Gala on December 4, 2013 in New York City, where the winner will be announced. For complete details and nomination form, visit www.paveinfo.org. Deadline for nominations: October 9, 2013 4651 Sheridan St., Suite 470 Hollywood, FL 33021 954-893-7225 fax 954-893-8375 pave@paveinfo.org www.paveinfo.org PAVE is a 501(c)(3) educational foundation administered by A.R.E. Who will receive this years honor? RISING STAR 2013 Now Accepting Nom inations for sept13_49-50_Ads_digital.indd 50 8/22/13 5:38 PM
息2013ElevationsInc. 426 Little鍖eld Avenue | South San Francisco, CA 94080 | tel: 650 588 9115 | fax: 650 588 9118 | www.elevations.com elevations inc.elevations inc. Elevations.indd 1 8/14/13 11:20 PM
800.747.4665 or 815.877.7041 www.southernimperial.com We excel at creative problem solving. Have multiple store formats, but want a display that will work with all of them? No problem! We can create a custom solution that ships in a small kit, but expands to a variety of display options depending on the particular needs in each retail space. Put our 50 plus years of experience to work for you in creating the perfect custom display or fixture solution. Custom Displays from Southern Imperial! Get more for your money! MEMBER OF Providing quality display products and services for over 50 years. One display - multiple configurations Southern Imperial.indd 1 7/26/13 4:25 PM

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Fluid malls and fixed real estate

  • 1. 48 | www.retailenvironments.orgR E T A I L E N V I R O N M E N T S s e p t e m b e r. 2 0 1 3 INTERNET SHOPPING, same-day delivery, and new channels of retail distribution require the complete rethinking of shopping center designs by architects, retailers, and developers. In response we must re-conceive the built marketplace through a different way of think- ingone that challenges the very notion of a fixed brick-and-mortar place. We must envi- sion something that is adaptable, varied, flex- ible, dynamic, and fluidsomething that can accommodate a far more dynamic mix of shops. This cannot be achieved by building more space that requires a sledgehammer to change it. A smarter, long-term strategy would be to re-engineer the malls DNA to create a fluid space that can accommodate a constant rota- tion of merchants, goods, and consumers. This would require creating a highly flexible envelope to allow for a rapid change of stores and merchandise, morphing displays, theat- rical lighting and sound, flexible to-the-point data-transmission lines, and better connec- tions to supply-chain delivery systems to accommodate stores with intentionally short lifespans, temporary brand showcases, and 足customized merchandising events. Such a dynamic place would cater to an ever-changing story line, unlike the modern mall with its tired tenant mix oper- ating under long-term leases, accessed by corridors cluttered with parasitic kiosks and temporary tenants operating in the shells of failed chain stores, along with their stained carpets, sagging ceiling tiles, and scuffed wallsnow called pop-up shops by mall 足marketing directors. PLUG-AND-PLAY SHOPS With their fly spaces, trap rooms, turntables, orchestra pits, and back-of-house staging areas, Broadway theaters have long been designed to allow for shows and their sets to change quickly within the fixed structure. Retail spaces in the mall should be perceived in the same manner to become similarly adaptable for quick scene changes, almost on the fly. In figurative terms, imagine a Rubiks cube: turntables, sliding walls, and elevators to allow plug-and- play shops with easily and quickly adaptable proportions to accommodate different presentations of merchandise for a chang- ing audience of consumersaccording to time of day, day of week, season, and citywide events. A real example is the newly announced Cultural Shed, planned to hold temporary events such as Fashion Week at Hudson Yards. The Island Maison Pavilion by Moshe Safdie and the interior designs by Peter Marino for Louis Vuitton at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, is another model of a varied and flexible structure that could accommodate retail change. Safdies 35-foot- high main pavilion is essentially a glass box, which surrounds Peter Marinos smaller modu- lar retail cubes that showcase the luxury goods of Louis Vuitton. The glass box is long term, but the modular cubes within the overall pavilion can be changed overnight. NEW RIBBONS OF COMMERCE Successful marketplaces of the future will be designed on a foundation of the senses, not on blocks of mortar or on data streams. Malls will become places of sensory magicwhole and complete places that are alive, vital, and culturally relevant. In addition to providing fashionable goods, dining, and entertainment, malls will showcase design, art, and architec- ture. The result will be adaptable and flexible public and private spaces layered with retail inner sanctums, intimate retreats, commu- nity gathering places, event spaces, theaters, showcases, galleries, and museums. All will be interconnected by landscaped vistas with lush gardens, dramatic atriums, sky bridges, grand staircases, and new forms of pedestrian streets and sidewalks. Hospitality, recreation, fashion, dining, lifestyle demonstra- tions, personal care, education, entertainment, and cultural pro- duction will be woven into a highly textured marketplace. New materials, innovative lighting, water, fire, music, and art will be the elements of a multi-layered and organic marketplace. Free of rigid urban grids, new ribbons of commerce will form hori- zontally, diagonally, and vertically to connect with new retail 足stepping-stones and floating cubes of commerce. Most importantly, future malls will restore and preserve some- thing fundamental to society: face-to-face interaction, socializing, creative expression, collective learning, and the open exchange of ideas. This vision is based on a simple premise: As more com- ponents of the digital consumer age become hardwired into the brain, the mall will respond in part to become somewhat of a 足consumer sanctuary for data detoxification, providing a more subtle nourishing of our senses and enhancing our experience of being human. Rick Hill is founder of J. Richard Hill & Co., a real estate consultancy, and a 30-plus-year veteran in the shopping center and retail market- place industry. Contact him at 502-417-4361, e-mail rick.hill@ jrichardhill.com, or through the website, www.jrichardhill.com. commentary The Fluid Shopping Mall Re-engineer the malls DNA to 足create a fluid space that can accommodate a constant rotation of merchants, goods, and consumers. RICK HILL founder of J. Richard Hill Co. sept13_48_commentary_final.indd 48 8/20/13 10:29 PM
  • 2. Connected Are You to A.R.E.? A.R.E. is now available on all of your social networks! Follow us at twitter.com/A_RE to receive twitter-only discounts and links to valuable business intelligence and design inspiration. On Facebook, Like our fan page Association for Retail Environments and search the group Retail Environments Network on LinkedIn. Now you can find A.R.E. on Pinterest. Weve selected the most inspiring and innovative retail environmentsproducts and projects to showcase. pinterest.com/retailenviro RE_AREYouConnectedAd_JL.indd 1 3/13/13 8:15 AM sept13_49-50_Ads_digital.indd 49 8/22/13 5:55 PM
  • 3. Do you know a young, talented, visionary who has a passion for their work and a drive to be an innovative leader in the retail environments industry? Retailers, designers, and industry suppliers are invited to make nominations for this years PAVE Rising Star award. PAVE is looking for individuals who are: proven visionaries uniquely innovative respected among peers 40 years or younger Nominations are free and they can motivate a nominee to do even more great things. All finalists will be recognized during the PAVE Gala on December 4, 2013 in New York City, where the winner will be announced. For complete details and nomination form, visit www.paveinfo.org. Deadline for nominations: October 9, 2013 4651 Sheridan St., Suite 470 Hollywood, FL 33021 954-893-7225 fax 954-893-8375 pave@paveinfo.org www.paveinfo.org PAVE is a 501(c)(3) educational foundation administered by A.R.E. Who will receive this years honor? RISING STAR 2013 Now Accepting Nom inations for sept13_49-50_Ads_digital.indd 50 8/22/13 5:38 PM
  • 4. 息2013ElevationsInc. 426 Little鍖eld Avenue | South San Francisco, CA 94080 | tel: 650 588 9115 | fax: 650 588 9118 | www.elevations.com elevations inc.elevations inc. Elevations.indd 1 8/14/13 11:20 PM
  • 5. 800.747.4665 or 815.877.7041 www.southernimperial.com We excel at creative problem solving. Have multiple store formats, but want a display that will work with all of them? No problem! We can create a custom solution that ships in a small kit, but expands to a variety of display options depending on the particular needs in each retail space. Put our 50 plus years of experience to work for you in creating the perfect custom display or fixture solution. Custom Displays from Southern Imperial! Get more for your money! MEMBER OF Providing quality display products and services for over 50 years. One display - multiple configurations Southern Imperial.indd 1 7/26/13 4:25 PM