The shopping center is another postwar development. The growth of suburbs made some sort of suburban central shopping inevitable. By 1960, the shopping center was no longer a phenomenon, but a large majority of those in operation were less than five years old.
The total number of shopping centers in operation in the United States and Canada has been estimated at between 4,000 and 5,000. Indeed, in 1960, the city of Portland, Oregon, announced the opening of a downtown shopping center with 82 stores, parking space for 8,000 cars, covered malls, escalators carrying shoppers from door to door, restaurants and recreation areas. This concept goes far beyond the earlier shopping centers which brought together from four to ten stores of different kinds.
Based on the kind of market for which the shopping center was designed, shopping centers fall into different types. These are regional, community and neighborhood shopping centers. The regional center services a fairly wide region, pulling customers from many miles around. Some regional shopping centers serve areas from 20 to 40 miles away. The community shopping center serves a community. Shoppers will come from three to ten miles away. The neighborhood shopping center draws most of its customers from a relatively compact neighborhood.
While there are some indications that shopping centers may not fulfill all the optimistic claims made for them by their proponents, it is certain that, as a type of retail merchandising, the shopping center will continue to grow and assume greater importance in the American consumer shopping picture. Some warnings have been posted that they have grown too fast and too big. But the shopping center definitely has pleased the consumer with its wide one-stop type of shopping facilities. Most department stores, and the more important chain stores, especially food, drug and clothing, as well as the variety chain, vie vigorously for space in new shopping centers. This competition is good and the consumer is the likely beneficiary.
