A shopping center (shopping centre in Commonwealth English), shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza, or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof."Shopping centre", Oxford Learners Dictionary

The first known collections of retailers under one roof are public markets, dating back to ancient times, and Middle Eastern covered markets, bazaars and souqs. In Paris, about 150 covered passages were built between the late 18th century and 1850, and a wealth of shopping arcades were built across Europe in the 19th century. In the United States, the widespread use of the automobile in the 1920s led to the first shopping centers consisting of a few dozen shops that included parking for cars. Starting in 1946, larger, open air centers anchored by department stores were built (sometimes as a collection of adjacent retail properties with different owners), and then enclosed shopping malls starting with Victor Gruen's Southdale Center near Minneapolis in 1956.

A shopping mall is a type of shopping center, a North American term originally meaning a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s began to be used as a generic term for large shopping centers anchored by department stores, especially enclosed centers. Many malls in the United States are currently in severe decline ("dead malls") or have closed. Successful exceptions have added entertainment and experiential features, added big-box stores as anchor tenants, or are specialized formats: power centers, lifestyle centers, factory outlet centers, and festival marketplaces. Smaller types of shopping centers in North America include neighborhood shopping centers, and even smaller, strip malls. Pedestrian malls (shopping streets) in the United States have been less common and less successful than in Europe. In Canada, underground passages in Montreal and Toronto link large adjacent downtown retail spaces.

In Europe shopping malls/centers continue to grow and thrive. In the region distinction is made between shopping centers (shops under one roof), shopping precincts (pedestrianized zones of a town or city where many retail stores are located),"Shopping precinct", Cambridge Dictionaries the High Street (street – pedestrianized or not – with a high concentration of retail shops),"High street", Oxford Dictionaries and retail parks (usually out of the city center, 5000 sq.m. or larger and anchored by big-box stores or supermarkets, rather than department stores).

Types Most English-speakers follow a mix of the United Kingdom's and United States's naming conventions.

In the UK, a "center for shopping" is commonly the center for a settlement. More recent shopping dedicated areas outside the main center are known as "shopping centers" (with understanding of the synonym shopping mall), "shopping villages", or "retail parks".

According to author Richard Longstreth, before the 1920s–1930s, the term "shopping center" in the U.S. was loosely applied to any group of adjacent retail businesses. A city's downtown might be called a "shopping center". By the 1940s, the term "shopping center" implied — if not always a single owner — at least, a place sharing comprehensive design planning, including layout, signs, exterior lighting, and parking; and shared business planning that covered the target market, types of stores and store mix.

The International Council of Shopping Centers classifies Asia-Pacific, European, U.S., and Canadian shopping centers into the following types:"Canada Shopping-Centre Classification and Typical Characteristics", ICSC, accessed January 8, 2023"Asia Shopping-Centre Classification and Typical Characteristics", ICSC, accessed July 15, 2020"Europe Shopping-Centre Classification and Typical Characteristics", ICSC

Abbreviations: SC=shopping center/centre, GLA = Gross Leasable Area, NLA = Net Leasable Area, AP=Asia-Pacific, EU=Europe, Can=Canada, US=United States of America *does not apply to Europe Type US GLA ft2 US GLA m2 EU GLA m2 EU GLA ft2 Can GLA ft2 Can GLA m2 AP NLA ft2 AP NLA m2 # anchors* Typical anchors Large general-purpose centers (US/AP) / traditional shopping centres (EU/Can) Mega-mall (AP) n/a 1,500,000+ 140,000+3+Department stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, multicinemas, major entertainment/leisure Super-regional mall/centerEU: Very large SC 800,000+ 74,000+ 80,000+ 860,000+ 800,000+ 74,000+ 800,000–1,499,999 74,000–139,9993+Regular/discount department stores, in Europe and Asia also supermarkets, hypermarkets, cinemas, major entertainment/leisure Regional mall/centerEU: Large SC 400,000–800,000 37,000–74,000 40,000–79,999 430,000–859,999 300,000–799,999 28,000–73,999 500,000–800,000 46,000–74,0002+ Small & medium general-purpose centers (US/AP) / traditional shopping centres (EU/Can) Sub-regional SC (AP)Europe: Medium SC n/a n/a 20,000–39,999 220,000–429,999 n/a n/a 200,000–500,000 19,000–46,000 0–3 Supermarket, hypermarket, small/discount department stores Small comparison-based SC (EU) n/a n/a 5,000–19,999 54,000–219,999 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Apparel, home furnishing, electronics, gifts, etc. Small convenience-based SC (EU) n/a n/a 5,000–19,999 54,000–219,999 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Supermarket, hypermarket, pharmacy, convenience store, household goods, etc. Community shopping center 125,000–400,000 11,600–37,000 n/a 100,000–400,000 9,300–37,000 n/a n/a2+ Discount store, supermarket, drugstore, category killer. a.k.a. large neighborhood shopping center in US, Can Neighborhood shopping center 30,000–125,000 2,800–11,600 40,000–99,000 3,700–9,200 20,000–200,000 1,900–19,0001+ (US/Can)0–2 (AP)Supermarket, in Asia also hypermarket Convenience centerUS/Can also "Strip mall" <30,000 <2,800 10,000–39,000 930–3,600 n/a n/a0–1Convenience store anchor or anchorless Type US GLA ft2 US GLA m2 EU GLA m2 EU GLA ft2 Can GLA ft2 Can GLA m2 AP NLA ft2 AP NLA m2 # anchors* Typical anchors Specialized shopping centers Power centerEU: a.k.a. "Retail park" 250,000–600,000 23,000–56,000 S:5,000–9,999M:10,000–19,999L:20,000+ S:54,000–109,999M:110,000–219,999L:220,000+ 100,000–1,000,000 9,300–93,000 >50,000 >4,600 3+ (US/Can)n/a (AP) Category killers, warehouse clubs, large discount stores. In Asia 90% of NLA must be these. Lifestyle center (US) 150,000–500,000 14,000–46,000 n/a n/a 150,000–500,000 14,000–46,000 n/a n/a 0–2 Large-format upscale specialty stores Outlet mall/center 50,000–400,000 4,600–37,000 5,000+ 54,000+ 50,000–400,000 4,600–37,000 "no max. size" "no max. size" n/aManufacturers' and retail outlet stores Theme/Festival (US)(Festival marketplace) 80,000–250,000 7,400–23,000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Restaurants, specialty stores catering to visitors, entertainment Leisure/entertainment centre (AP)Leisure-based SC (EU) n/a n/a 5,000+ 54,000+ n/a n/a <500,000 <46,000N/A Entertainment and/or F&B (food and beverage) (in Asia, 50%+ of tenants are these), plus specialty stores catering to visitors, fast fashion, electronics, sports. Europe: usually anchored by a multiplex cinema and also may include bowling, fitness. Excludes centers at transport hubs. Specialty SC (AP) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a <500,000 <46,000 0 Specialty shops with general product mix (apparel, F&B, electronics, etc.) Single category SC (AP)Non-leisure-based themed SC (EU) n/a n/a 5,000+ 54,000+ n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Dedicated to single product type other than F&B, groceries or fashion, e.g. information technology, homewares/furniture. In Asia, 80% of NLA should be dedicated to the theme. Major transportation hub SC (AP) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a >50,000 >4,600 n/aRetail at public transportation hubs including airside airport retail Limited-purpose property Airport retail 75,000–300,000 7,000–28,000 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 Speciality retail and restaurants Shopping centre hybrids (Canada only) Hybrid SC (Can) n/a n/a n/a n/a 250,000+ 23,000+ n/a n/a varies Has characteristics of two or more shopping center types e.g. convenience + regional

General-purpose Multiregional

A superregional-scale center is commonly called a city centre. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers it is over of gross leasable area. These have three or more anchors, mass and varied merchant trade and serves as the dominant venue for the region () in which it is located.

Note that ICSC defines indoor centers above net leasable area in Asia-Pacific as mega-malls.

Regional

A regional-scale shopping centre (commonly known as a town centre) is typically larger with to gross leasable area with at least two anchor stores and offers a wider selection of stores. Given their wider service area, these tend to have higher-end stores (department stores) that need a larger area in order for their services to be profitable. Regional centres have tourist attractions, education and hospitality areas.

Indoor centres are commonly called Shopping Malls in the U.S. or Shopping Centres in Commonwealth English.

Community

Community-scale shopping centres are commonly called Main Streets, High Streets or town squares in wider centres or in English-speaking Europe as retail parks for certain centres. These offer a wider range of goods and has two anchor supermarkets or discount department stores. They may also follow a parallel configuration, or may be L- or U-shaped. Community centers usually feature a retail area of and serve a primary area of .

Local

Local-scale shopping centres usually have a retail area of , and serve a primary area in a radius. They typically have a supermarket as an anchor or a large convenience shop and commonly serve large villages or as secondary centres to towns.

Car-dependent centres in the U.K. and Europe, if larger than can be termed a small retail park, while in the U.S. and some other countries it is known as a neighborhood shopping center.

Convenience

Convenience-scale centers, independent of other centers are known as strip malls or as shopping parades. These centers are less than of gross leasable space and commonly serve villages or as parts of larger centers commonly called small squares, plazas or indoor markets. They are also called strip centers or convenience centers. Strip Malls, despite the name, are not considered "malls" in North America.

Sector-focused Power centers and retail parks

Power centers, in North America, are open-air single-level shopping centers that almost exclusively feature several big-box retailers as their anchors (although newer urban power centers have adopted enclosed and/or vertical formats while retaining the strong big-box emphasis). They usually have a retail area of and a primary trade area of .

A retail park, in the United Kingdom and Europe, is a type of shopping centre found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in the United Kingdom, and some (but not all) other European countries. In Europe, any shopping center with mostly "retail warehouse units" (UK terminology; in the US the term is "big-box stores"/superstores), or larger is a retail park, according to the leading real estate company Cushman & Wakefield. This would be considered in North America either a power center or a neighborhood shopping center, depending on the size.

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.

Theme/festival center

Theme or festival centers have distinct unifying themes that are followed by their individual shops as well as their architecture. They are usually located in urban areas and cater to tourists. They typically feature a retail area of .

Outlet centre