HAVE you noticed how different the shopping malls are come Christmas time? Is it due to the fresh daubs of paint or the effect of the vigorous cleanup they pulled off last month? Is it the sparkly décor put up as early as November? Is it the wide array of items on display to entice the most unwilling shopper? Maybe it?s all of these?and more!

Malls are like that: they are a mirror of the times. You can set your calendar by the décor in a mall. January is shown in firecrackers and sparklers galore. February ushers in the red hearts and cutout cupids. March is for the rolls of diplomas and mortarboards.

April is for colorful eggs and fluffy bunnies. May is the month for sunshine and flowers. June always means notebooks and back-to-school stuff. July and August focus on the rain and umbrellas. October always brings out the spooks and ghouls. And the end of the year highlights every Christmas icon you can imagine.

Reflection

Malls are also a reflection of the community they serve. In malls with upscale shops, you will be awed by towering Christmas trees adorned with crystal globes and shimmering satin poinsettias. In the tiniest shops and lowliest snack stands, you will at least find cardboard snowmen or lanterns of Japanese paper. Store windows will likewise exhibit the theme of its valued merchandise.

In specialty shops, you will gawk at mannequins garbed in designer lamé gowns or fur-lined jackets, leaving you wondering whenever the mass of regular shoppers could use such duds. But even the more pedestrian shops lay out the brightest finery of the season, enticing people to buy, buy and buy some more.

This is a trick the mall has down pat, the bait that brings the shoppers in and keeps the cash registers ringing. But what really goes into the planning of a mall, not just its seasonal trimmings and awesome merchandise? How do you deck a mall even while it is still bare?

What to consider

For designers, there are several considerations in drawing up the initial plans of a mall, some of the important ones are:

? Exterior architecture vs surroundings: stand-out or blend?

The form of any structure will depend on the vision of the owner and developer. If they want their establishment to act as a trailblazer in an area, they may choose a less traditional design, perhaps even avant-garde or maximalist. With a standout building, the venture is already assured of some initial curiosity from otherwise jaded patrons. It can eventually become a landmark for the locality, a recognizable meeting place, a well-known hangout.

On the other hand, if the call is for preserving the total look of the neighborhood, the structure must conform to the given look. This is particularly felt in themed areas and heritage sites, or in strictly zoned districts. Here, keeping to the general trend will encourage patrons to move freely between separate establishments, balancing out the business opportunities among all.

? Internal layout: shoppers? space or sellers? store?

Within a mall, have you noticed how the stores are arranged, with those selling similar type of merchandise found in the same section? This technique benefits purposeful shoppers, those who already have something in mind to buy. The plus side of this arrangement is that foot traffic is more controlled and displays, shows, or exhibits can be synchronized or coordinated.

Interspersed between, you may find shops catering to a compatible market or selling supporting goods. If you scatter similar stores throughout the mall, those shops in less visible sections could suffer because the more easily accessible ones will get to corner the buyers. The far-flung areas will eventually become dead spaces, uninteresting, ergo unmarketable.

Another point to watch out for is the developer?s priorities. They could favor partitioning larger spaces for stores, which means higher rentable spaces. This could mean, though, that some smaller establishments will be discouraged to rent such huge floor areas for fear of sacrificing their net income to the high fixed cost of rent.

The strategy of planning for bigger cuts of store space could mean that the mall?s priority is the higher-end stores or those selling big-ticket items. On the other hand, some developers want to prioritize their shoppers by giving them the convenience of wider corridors, seating areas and comfort rooms. In this case, all the tenant-stores will share in the cost of the larger public areas, on top of their rent per square meter.

? Miscellaneous spaces: highlight or hide?

The design of the building?s public areas is also a great consideration. Some developers want such areas to be very utilitarian, sacrificing style and public convenience. For instance, parking spaces may be cramped, poorly ventilated, and bare, making maneuverability a tricky business and creating a furnace-like ambience for waiting drivers.

Toilets may be small and limited, such that queues and crowds are a common sight. Hallways may be sparsely lit, with minimal to no seating provided. Developers have the notion that this move will push shoppers to cool their heels inside their tenant-restaurants, but they lose on the intangibles, the goodwill and favorable word-of-mouth from their public.

On the other end of the scale is the conscientious developer who takes the shoppers? side first. These enlightened ones choose the customers? comfort by way of generous public seating, several ideally situated toilets, acceptable parking and even interesting and beautiful décor in public areas. Their investment in the public good will surely earn them greater patronage and positive feedback later on.

Truly, the malls are the places to be, not just this season, but as often as there is a need for people to shop, to eat, to gather, to be entertained. They have become a staple of city living. Let us hope that owners, designers and developers will realize just how valuable a contribution they will be making to the community with every mall they build?and may that contribution be a beneficial one for all.