---
title: "Some ideas for shopping and entertainment centers"
author: "Stan Voo"
url: https://www.99rabbits.com/blog/ideas-for-shopping-and-entertainment-centers
published: 2010-10-10
summary: "Shopping centers are turning into places to spend the day. A few ideas from 2010 for keeping people there longer: café islands, free Wi-Fi, corners for teenagers."
---

# Some ideas for shopping and entertainment centers

Modern shopping centers are more and more becoming shopping and entertainment centers.

Have you noticed the trend?

The idea is to **keep a person in the shopping center (SC) as long as possible** by turning it into a shopping and entertainment center, an S**E**C. Let it be a place for relaxing and shopping, a place to meet friends and talk.

*The trend is all too obvious; forgive me for playing a little Captain Obvious.*

I think a good idea for an SEC is to borrow the practice of city cafés' summer terraces: a stretch of sidewalk gets filled with tables and comfy armchairs. Have you seen how popular these cafés are in summer?

So why not put the same kind of terraces in a shopping center, and not in a separate area on the second or third floor but right between the shops? Café islands of a sort, instead of meager benches.

I think it'd be great!

And, of course, one more idea that's very popular these days: **free Wi-Fi.** I suggest covering the whole shopping center with it.

You can let your imagination run here: either the nearby shops provide the internet, earning the respect and gratitude of potential customers that way, or **the SEC itself provides the coverage to attract visitors.**

Young people love spending time in shopping centers, finding **secluded corners** there that security keeps chasing them out of. At least I know of one such center in Odesa.

Why not **provide such places when planning the space**? Put sofas and armchairs there, with suitably soft, not too bright lighting.

Sure, they leave litter and so on behind, which has to be cleaned up, and the furniture wears out. But maybe part of the advertising budget for billboards along the lines of "Do your shopping at our mall" could be redirected to this?

On top of everything else, a person in an SEC is constantly bombarded with advertising over the in-house radio.

Add some **interactivity** to that: all sorts of **interactive advertising game panels**, for example. For details, you can google ["interactive advertising"](http://www.google.com.ua/search?hl=ru\&source=hp\&q=%D0%B8%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%8F+%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0\&btnG=%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA+%D0%B2+Google\&aq=f\&aqi=\&aql=\&oq=\&gs_rfai=).

This way we create a loyal audience that associates our SEC with a pleasant time, relaxation and entertainment.

I think that's the future of shopping centers.