THE RELATIVE ATTRACTIVENESS OF ANCHOR TENANTS IN SHOPPING MALLS

Abstract

Shopping centres are increasingly becoming an integral part of modern day living – offering shoppers more than a venue for the purchase of goods of services, but also a venue for a wide range of hedonic and social experiences. Contributing to these experiences are the constituent elements of these shopping destinations, such as its location, amenities, ambience, sales staff, range of goods, tenant mix, and the types of anchor tenant. Different anchor tenants are found to attract different groups of shoppers across different socio-economic groups. Gender differences generated the greatest differences in anchor tenant choices – displayed by a ranking of anchors tenant types. The result, however, showed that the attraction of certain anchors tenants did not necessarily translate into higher patronage frequencies. Department stores were rated highly by consumers in terms of their attractiveness, but were not shown to be amongst the top choices that consumers would frequent.