Retail Trends, Part III – Hispanic Shopping Malls



Hispanic Shopping Malls provide event spaces as well as entertainment and shopping experiences.

In Part I Craig Slocum, AIA covered general trends; in Part II I introduced the fastest growing segment – Hispanic Shopping Malls.  In Part III we delve deeper into how successful developers are responding to the Hispanic trend.

Demographics.  Smart developers study the local demographic and adjust days and hours of operation to reflect the culture.  In Hispanic culture extended family units spend time together and of the 50 million Hispanics in the US today 25% are under 18.  The younger population especially enjoys "domingeo" or hanging out.  Hispanic malls are open late, until 9 or 10 pm, and definitely on Sundays.

Culture.  Mall owners pay for entertainment and host community events.  They observe and celebrate Latin holidays and customs in plaza spaces built for entertainment, music, dancing and participatory activities.  Pool tables, foos ball and big slides entertain multiple generations, and ample benches and chairs are provided for customers to sit and linger.

The right retail mix.  In Phoenix, Arizona at the Desert Sky Mall Hispanic-centric stores are mixed with major retailers with training available for mainstream retailers to learn more about Latino preferences and purchasing styles.  An empty 77,000 sf Mervyns was re-purposed into a traditional Latin Mercado housing 220 small shops.  These shops include fast-food and bakeries, beauty salons and flower shops, carnicerias or meat markets, and many other retailers.  Short-term and temporary leases are offered and the Mercado acts as an incubator for new stores to get their footing before moving to the regular mall.  The mainstream theater company was replaced with Cinema Latino.

Ideal locations.  Many Hispanic malls have been situated in older malls where the previous management failed to acknowledge changing demographics and then lost market share.  These ‘distressed retail’ locations may not be poor locations after all.  Sometimes all they need is the right vision.  –

Jorge Pierson, AIA, LEED AP is an Associate with CSHQA and Regional Manager of CSHQA's Phoenix office.  He has practiced architecture in Phoenix for over 30 years providing planning, design and project management of retail, resort, residential and industrial projects throughout the Southwest.