High concept shopping
The Arkadia centre, due to open this fall on the edge of downtown Warsaw, has decided to resort to magic in an attempt to lure perhaps indifferent shoppers.
Arkadia, to be the city's largest mall with a retail area of 110,000 square meters, will be divided into four passages which will resemble the street grids of early modern cities, and will symbolise "both the physical and metaphysical aspects of life." The four sectors will consist of binary oppositions such as nature-culture and science-magic, and so "create a microcosm of human experience," as the mall's marketing materials declare.
The shopping centre will be further divided into various 'worlds,' such as the 'fashion world' or 'sports and recreation world,' while the food court will go under the name of the 'world of flavours.' This aspect of the design is somewhat reminiscent of the plan of Blue City, a competing mall, which is scheduled to open around the same time as Arkadia.
"It is true that all retail centres are fundamentally similar," said Grzegorz Pękalski, managing director of Cefic Polska, the mall's developer, "But we differentiate ourselves through a direct reference to the various aspects of our customers' lifestyle." In this way, he added, "we can help you spend time enjoying yourself and we can help you spend money." But he was also keen to emphasise the element of culture in the mall, which is represented by the country's largest cinema with 15 screens, operated by Israel's IT International Theatres.
Arkadia's stress on entertainment and lifestyle reflects global trends, experts say. UK's Selfridges has been likened to 'a retail theme-park,' with vibrant events designed to encourage people to come. Last year, the store staged an art exhibit under the name of Body Craze, which involved 600 people riding up and down its escalators. The retailer called this "an uninhibited celebration of the human form" in a style echoed by Arkadia's management. There is no indication of Arkadia nurturing plans for a similar event, but the company's desire to differentiate from its competitors is clear.
"Differentiation is crucial," says Szymon Wojciechowski, the president of architectural company APA Wojciechowski. "But retail centres tend to work from the inside; the outer appearance is not as important." He goes on to say that the technology of dispersing customers around the centre necessitates fairly strict rules and thus limits the opportunities retailers have to differentiate architecturally. That does not, however, stop them trying.
Whether highly rhetorical marketing will convince consumers remains to be seen, but prospective tenants seem to have already been won over. 82 percent of the space has been leased and 150 contracts signed, Pękalski says. A further 40 deals are under negotiation, while 30 units are yet to find takers.
"There is enough time (to fill the whole space)," Pękalski asserts, "We are expecting to give birth to a healthy baby."
Arkadia, to be the city's largest mall with a retail area of 110,000 square meters, will be divided into four passages which will resemble the street grids of early modern cities, and will symbolise "both the physical and metaphysical aspects of life." The four sectors will consist of binary oppositions such as nature-culture and science-magic, and so "create a microcosm of human experience," as the mall's marketing materials declare.
The shopping centre will be further divided into various 'worlds,' such as the 'fashion world' or 'sports and recreation world,' while the food court will go under the name of the 'world of flavours.' This aspect of the design is somewhat reminiscent of the plan of Blue City, a competing mall, which is scheduled to open around the same time as Arkadia.
"It is true that all retail centres are fundamentally similar," said Grzegorz Pękalski, managing director of Cefic Polska, the mall's developer, "But we differentiate ourselves through a direct reference to the various aspects of our customers' lifestyle." In this way, he added, "we can help you spend time enjoying yourself and we can help you spend money." But he was also keen to emphasise the element of culture in the mall, which is represented by the country's largest cinema with 15 screens, operated by Israel's IT International Theatres.
Arkadia's stress on entertainment and lifestyle reflects global trends, experts say. UK's Selfridges has been likened to 'a retail theme-park,' with vibrant events designed to encourage people to come. Last year, the store staged an art exhibit under the name of Body Craze, which involved 600 people riding up and down its escalators. The retailer called this "an uninhibited celebration of the human form" in a style echoed by Arkadia's management. There is no indication of Arkadia nurturing plans for a similar event, but the company's desire to differentiate from its competitors is clear.
"Differentiation is crucial," says Szymon Wojciechowski, the president of architectural company APA Wojciechowski. "But retail centres tend to work from the inside; the outer appearance is not as important." He goes on to say that the technology of dispersing customers around the centre necessitates fairly strict rules and thus limits the opportunities retailers have to differentiate architecturally. That does not, however, stop them trying.
Whether highly rhetorical marketing will convince consumers remains to be seen, but prospective tenants seem to have already been won over. 82 percent of the space has been leased and 150 contracts signed, Pękalski says. A further 40 deals are under negotiation, while 30 units are yet to find takers.
"There is enough time (to fill the whole space)," Pękalski asserts, "We are expecting to give birth to a healthy baby."
