Lifestyle center

A lifestyle center (American English), or lifestyle centre (Commonwealth English), is a shopping center or mixed-used commercial development that combines the traditional retail functions of a shopping mall with leisure amenities oriented towards upscale consumers. Lifestyle centers were first labeled as such by Memphis developers Poag and McEwen in the late 1980s [1] emerged as a retailing trend in the late 1990s. Sometimes labeled "boutique malls", they are often located in affluent suburban areas.

The Shoppes at Arbor Lakes, a lifestyle center in Maple Grove, Minnesota

The Shops at Friendly Center, a lifestyle center in Greensboro, North Carolina

The proliferation of lifestyle centers in the United States accelerated in the 2000s, growing in number from 30 in 2002 to 120 at the end of 2004.[2] They lie on the upscale end of commercial development, with discount-based outlet malls on the low.

Lifestyle centers typically require less land and may generate higher revenue margins, generating close to $500 per square foot, compared to an average of $330 per square foot for a traditional mall, according to the president of Poag and McEwen.[2] Other advantages lifestyle centers have over traditional enclosed malls are savings on heating and cooling and quicker access for customers.

Lifestyle centers typically look like strip shopping centers turned inside out, with their formal storefronts facing each other across a landscaped pedestrian walkway or a low volume two-lane road. Those with a more extensive street grid and more multifunctional (offices, hotels, residential, retail and entertainment) and dense development, often with a designated function to act as the community's center, may be dubbed an ersatz downtown.[3] One of the earliest proponents of Lifestyle centers was RED Development, which built centers primarily in the Midwest and Southwest United States.[3]