Term Shopping Mall

What is a Mall ?
A shopping mall, shopping center/centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct, or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area – a modern, indoor version of the traditional marketplace.
Modern "car-friendly" strip malls developed from the 1920s, and shopping malls corresponded with the rise of suburban living in many parts of the Western World, especially the United States, after World War II. From early on, the design tended to be inward-facing, with malls following theories of how customers could best be enticed in a controlled environment. Similar, the concept of a mall having one or more "anchor store" or "big box stores" was pioneered early, with individual stores or smaller-scale chain stores intended to benefit from the shoppers attracted by the big stores.[1]
Regional differences
In most places, the term shopping center (shopping centre in British Commonwealth English) is used, especially in Europe, Australia, and South America; however shopping mall is also used, predominantly in North America.[2] Outside of North America, shopping precinct and shopping arcade are also used. In North America, Gulf countries, and India, the term shopping mall is usually applied to enclosed retail structures (and is generally abbreviated to simply mall), while shopping center usually refers to open-air retail complexes; both types of facilities usually have large parking lots, face major traffic arterials, and have few pedestrian connections to surrounding neighborhoods.[2]

Shopping arcade in Tokyo, Japan
Shopping centers in the United Kingdom can be referred to as "shopping centres" or "shopping precincts". Mall primarily refers to either a shopping mall – a place where a collection of shops all adjoin a pedestrian area – or an exclusively pedestrianized street that allows shoppers to walk without interference from vehicle traffic. Mall is generally used in North America to refer to a large shopping area usually composed of a single building which contains multiple shops, usually "anchored" by one or more department stores surrounded by a parking lot, while the term arcade is more often used, especially in Britain, to refer to a narrow pedestrian-only street, often covered or between closely spaced buildings (see town center).
History

Cabot Circus in Bristol city centre, England
One of the earliest examples of public shopping malls come from Ancient Rome . One of the earliest public shopping centers is Trajan's Market in Rome located in Trajan's Forum. Trajan's Market was probably built around 100-110 AD by Apollodorus of Damascus, and is thought to be the world's oldest shopping center and a forerunner for the shopping mall.[4][5] Numerous covered shopping arcades, such as the 19th-century Al-Hamidiyah Souq in Damascus, Syria, can be considered precursors to the present-day shopping mall.

Advantages and disadvantages of a mall
At shopping malls, you can end up buying more things than you'd planned, thanks to the abundant availability of goods and services.
Mall culture has become big business, as shopping malls have evolved into multi-storied structures housing a large number of stores that sell diverse products and services. Shopping malls house a collection of retail stores and restaurants, adjoined by pedestrian areas or an exclusive pedestrian street. In 1928, the Arcade in Providence, Rhode Island was the first to introduce the shopping mall concept to the United States. However, the concept was not new, if you consider the indoor, multi-vendor shopping of Isfahan, Iran's Grand Bazaar in the 10th century. 1. Availability of Parking * Parking is one of the major hassles for people who go into the city to shop. Shopping at malls eliminates this problem, because parking is provided either free of charge or for a nominal fee. Shopping malls incorporate vast parking areas into their design and construction. This makes it advantageous for people to choose to shop at a mall rather than a single store. Families who choose to visit a mall on the weekend or holiday for a family outing find it to be a more convenient option mainly because parking is provided.
One-Stop Shopping and Entertainment Center * Visiting a mall is advantageous because of the numerous stores housed in one complex. Groceries, clothes, shoes, reading material, food courts, cinemas and entertainment arcades are available in one place. It is possible to spend an entire day out at the mall, shopping, eating, taking in a movie or playing games. Malls make great meeting places for friends to catch up over coffee at a café or a meal at the food court. Families get to do their weekly shopping, pick up odds and ends and keep the kids entertained at the mall. *
Inconveniences of a Mall * One of the major disadvantages of shopping malls is their inconveniences. These include excessive crowding, especially on weekends and holidays. Sometimes it seems that everyone has the same idea---to congregate at the mall. Crowded aisles and stores make shopping very difficult; people often end up forgetting items they needed to buy. Senior citizens with mobility problems may have difficulty in traversing the mall, because of the largeness of the place. Parking can also be a problem when the mall is very crowded.
Shopping Malls are a Drain on Resources * Shopping malls incorporate a large number of products and services inside them. It is not always easy to go to a shopping mall and exit with only what you came to purchase. The temptation to browse is always present, and browsing often leads to buying things that are not needed. Keeping to a monthly budget becomes increasingly difficult every time you visit the mall. With all the sales and special offers intended to tempt buyers, saying "no" becomes very hard.

Chennai Citi Center - for Shopping Lovers!!!

(History) About Chennai Citi Centre:

Chennai Citi Centre is an exclusive shopping mall in the heart of the City, spread over four floors-nearly 150,000sq.ft. Established by the group of B.S. Abdur Rahman Buhari on March 3rd 2006 it is a “must go” place for all Chennai shopping lovers. It is very near to Marina Beach, Kapaleeswarar temple and Santhome Bascillica which are tourist spots and naturally Chennai Citi Center also attracts many tourists.

Location | Mylapore, Chennai, India | Opening date | 3-Mar-06 | Developer | ETA Star Properties Ltd. | Management | Chennai Citi Centre Holdings (P) Ltd. | Owner | Chennai Citi Centre Holdings (P) Ltd. | No. of stores and services | 400 shops, 100 dining establishments | No. of anchor tenants | 9 | Total retail floor area | 10,925 m² | No. of floors | | 5 |

Lifestyle and Landmark, which together occupy more than half of the mall.
Lifestyle International (P) Ltd, part of the prestigious Dubai based Landmark Group, started its operations in India with the launch of the first Lifestyle store in Chennai in 1999. In little over a decade’s time, Lifestyle has established itself amongst the leading retail companies in India.
Positioned as a youthful, stylish and a vibrant brand, Lifestyle Departmental stores offers its customers not just the ease of shopping but also an enjoyable shopping experience. Each Lifestyle store brings together five concepts under one roof – Apparel, Footwear, Children’s Wear & Toys, Furniture & Home Furnishings, Beauty & Fashion Accessories - offering a convenience of a one-stop shop and a wide choice of national & international brands.
Home Centre by Lifestyle is a one stop destination for Furniture, Home Décor and Soft Furnishings that truly represent style, comfort and individuality. Home Centre uses a unique ‘Concept Room’ display model to give customers a practical idea of how each piece of furniture would look in a particular room.
In keeping with the Group’s tradition of making every shopping experience rewarding and memorable, The Inner Circle – Landmark Group’s Loyalty program allows members, to enjoy exclusive benefits and privileges such as reward points and exciting offers. The Inner Circle is today recognized amongst the leading Loyalty Program in the country with an ever increasing base of customers. The card is accepted across all Landmark Group Stores in India including Lifestyle, Home Centre by Lifestyle, Max Fashion, Bossini, Spar Hypermarket, Polynation Food Court & Gloria Jean’s Coffees.
Lifestyle and Home Centre offer a truly international shopping experience
Landmark, a TATA Enterprise, is India’s largest book and music retailer. Started in 1987 as India’s first large-format book and music store, Landmark was all about building a generation of well-informed people. Since then, Landmark has expanded into toys, stationery, gaming, electronics, gift articles, home decor, art & craft and sports accessories. Now a part of Trent, the retail arm of the Tata conglomerate, Landmark has 18 large format stores, 1 hotel store, 1 airport store, and 1 IT Park store, across 10 locations in India..
Known for its multifaceted and popular events, quiz's; Landmark has been a destination for book and music launches, hosting authors and artists from across the world. The guest list boasts of writers like Jeffrey Archer, Ken Follet, Wilbur Smith, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, and Kiran Desai, film personalities like Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Shyam Benegal, and Karan Johar, and music artists like MLTR, Swarathma, Sukhwinder, and Soulmate, among others. Landmark has also been at the forefront of holding events that present children with their favourite characters like Ben 10, Barbie, DORA, and Doraemon.

The rest of the mall has designer shoe shops like Mochi, Titan, a Health and Glow outlet, Cookie Man, Foodworld and a few accessory shops. There are many food stalls serving coffee, fresh corn, samosas and other snacks and is a great place to take a break during shopping. There is also a food court serving various cuisines and a large play area for children. Citi Center is a one-stop shop to shop, dine and watch a movie, or just hang out with friends. Citi Center is a unique host of flagship outlets of the top brands.

Food

For movie lovers there is INOX. For food lovers there are various spots starting from Pakistani Kebab, Arabian Hut, Little Italy, KFC to south Indian Sangeetha – so try out anything you want!!!

For Kids

Kids will love the Fun City with its electronic rides and various arcade games.
There is a new facilty for practicing cricket with state of the art bowling machines.

Parking

Most important you need not worry about parking – there is a huge parking lot exclusively for Citi Center shoppers. If you don’t want to take your car or your own vehicle, you can travel in comfort by MRTS or any one of the air-conditioned buses which stops opposite Chennai Citi Center.