Retailers’ views of shopping centres: a comparison of tenants and non-tenants

Builds on an article, which looked at tenant-manager relationships in shopping centres, published by the authors in IJRDM, Vol. 24 No. 9. Using data from the same research project, this article compares the views of shopping centre and non-shopping centre retailers. Despite many countries having seen a substantial growth in the number of shopping centres, not all retailers choose to locate within a shopping centre, and some retailers actively oppose shopping centres. A survey of clothing retailers in New Zealand showed that retailers in centres tended to have higher sales turnover than those outside centres. Retailers inside centres believed much more strongly that there are opportunities in locating within a centre. The main reasons for retailers not locating in centres were that the levels of rent are too high and the trading hours are too long.