The Marketing Book 5th Edition

782 The Marketing Book

This section examines briefly shopping
centres, retail parks, superstores, hypermarkets,
department stores, variety stores and a number
of formats that use the term ‘discounter’.

Shopping centres and retail parks

The term ‘shopping centre’ is normally applied
to a coherent, planned and controlled group of
retail establishments, as distinct from the more
random grouping of a ‘shopping district’. In
Europe, the most typical location for shopping
centres is still within existing town centres.
Whereas out-of-town centres developed from
the 1920s in the USA, some 50 years elapsed
before they started to make an impact in
Europe. The differences between the USA and
European development patterns can be ascri-
bed in part to differences of economics, geo-
graphy and demography. Most of all, the more
restrictive planning regulations within most
European countries have served to restrict
developments out-of-town. The planning
debates revolve around a range of economic,
environmental and social issues ( McGoldrick
and Thompson, 1992).
The move out of town has been described
as three ‘waves’ of development (Schiller, in
McGoldrick and Thompson, 1992). The first

comprised the superstores, selling mostly food

and limited ranges of non-food items. The

second wave of decentralization involved

bulky goods, such as DIY, carpets, furniture,

large electrical items and garden centres. The

third wave involved clothing and other com-

parison shopping, representing the most direct

threat to existing town centres. The Metro

Centre on Tyneside was an early example of

this ‘third wave’, joined more recently by the

Trafford Centre near Manchester and Bluewater

in Kent. However, as suburban areas have

become besieged by sprawl and traffic, there

has been a policy shift in many governments

towards urban containment and public trans-

port (Ibrahim and McGoldrick, 2002). Town

centre management schemes have been another

response by some older shopping districts,

trying to emulate features of the newer, plan-

ned centres.

Table 30.5 illustrates again the enormous

diversity of retailing within Europe. In France,

Denmark and the UK, shopping centre devel-

opment was well under way by the early

1970s, whereas Italy, Spain, Finland and Swe-

den started rapid growth in the mid-1980s.

Portugal saw a surge of development in the

mid-1990s, followed by Hungary in the late

1990s.

Table 30.5 Shopping centre space in Europe

Country m^2 per 1000 population Country m^2 per 1000 population

Austria 160.6 Ireland 213.6

Belgium 66.4 Italy 80.7

Denmark 206.4 Netherlands 120.6

Finland 145.0 Portugal 100.0

France 211.9 Spain 139.5

Germany 51.2 Switzerland 97.7

Greece 13.3 Turkey 5.4

Hungary 37.5 United Kingdom 228.9

Sources: Advertising Association (2001) and others.