Shopping Mall

A shopping mall is a collection of stores in one location, with a single parking area for the stores and the stores easily accessible on foot. Malls can be indoors or outdoors. Malls enable convenient shopping without having to drive between locations or find separate parking for each store one shops at. Malls no longer require large anchor tenants, typically department stores, as more recent mall design has moved to attracting people to the malls with many speciality stores.

The shopping mall is in part responsible for the decline of small, downtown business areas by attracting people away to the suburbs. Downtowns have changed over to introduce high-end speciality stores and other attractions (such as arenas, aquariums or parks)