The attraction force of out‐of‐town shopping malls: a case study on run‐fun shopping in the Netherlands

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed a shift from central urban locations of shopping facilities to extra‐urban locations. This trend, which has become a prominent one in North America, is also increasingly observed in several European countries (e.g. France and Germany). The Netherlands has always had a discouraging policy for out‐of‐town shopping malls. Recently, however, a new experiment has been implemented, namely in the Greater Rotterdam area. This paper deals with the potential competition of such an out‐of‐town shopping mall in the retail sector with respect to the inner‐city of Rotterdam. Based on a survey questionnaire, this paper aims to identify the motives of visitors and buyers for such large‐scale shopping facilities. Analytical research into the nature (with a main distinction according to run and fun shopping) and the spatial market area of a particular shopping centre located in Greater Rotterdam (Alexandrium) shows that the anticipated policy goals are met, in the sense that the shopping mall concerned turns into a regional market for run shopping purposes rather than into a competing fun shopping centre.