1. Ashawnte’ Sibley
Dr. Heiden
MCS 298
22 April 2015
Mall Assignment
While visiting three malls in Dallas, the Galleria, Grapevine Mills, and Firewheel
Town Center, I could quickly notice the similarities and differences between them
although they are all owned by Simon Property Group. The three different malls vary in
their type, target market, positioning strategy, atmosphere, layout, level, store layout,
and the positioning trends. Comparing the malls was interesting to see because it
showed how malls cater to the region it is placed as well as the people.
The Galleria is a regional mall which houses a diverse group of stores located in
Dallas, Texas. The mall is 43 acres big and contains three levels. The Galleria includes
retail stores, restaurants, as well as fun activities for not only kids but families as well.
Although the mall has activities for children to participate in, such as ice skating, infants
and toddlers are not ideal for this mall. I say this because there is always a high number
of tourist or local visitors in the mall and getting baby gear up and down escalators is
the best way to shop in one of the biggest malls in Dallas. The mall is positioned to
cater to upper income households of over $100,000! It includes stores such as
Forever21 and Foot Locker all the way up in price to Fendi and Cole Haan! There did
not seem to be any particular way of strategizing how the layout of the stores were
placed. Just like all other stores, the most appealing garments were placed in the

2. windows along with bold colors to draw in customers. With the mall being enclosed,
there is lots of natural lighting from the tall ceilings, lots of greenery with tall/average
sized plants.
Firewheel Town Center was a fun mall that we also visited in Garland, Texas.
This mall is considered to be an open air shopping center. Open-air malls, the latest
attempt to provide a fast, comfortable atmosphere for shoppers, are a cross between
traditional enclosed center and a town square. Firewheels’ target market is catered
toward young adults to mid-life because of some of the stores that they carry. Stores
such as Pier 1 Imports and Trimester Maternity let me know that the mall is geared
toward new families and the essentials. Young kids who are now old enough to run and
play might not be the best shopping partners at this mall because of streets running in
between two sides of the mall at all times. The positioning strategy at Firewheel has
similarities and differences to other familiar malls. Just like any other mall, the products
and merchandise are placed in the store’s display window to attract people to come in.
The stores are also going to put their best selling items near the front (especially if it is a
private/exclusive brand). This will also happen with items that are on sale. What better
way to lure consumers in a store other than sale promotions? Most stores in Firewheel
had sale promotions plastered on their display windows so that you feel compelled to go
in and see what they have. Something that I did not see in any other mall was most
stores at Firewheel had an employee standing by the front entrance to either
immediately greet you (even if you are not going into the store), or telling you about the
sales; this was very enticing as well because a person is less likely to walk away if
someone is talking to them rather than reading the sign. Most of the stores competed

3. with each other by having buy one get one, buy one get one half off, or a certain
percentage off. Obviously, there was lots of natural lighting. Most of the stores probably
did not run their air conditioning as much because they would leave the front entrance
doors open. This mall is perfect for shoppers as well as well non-shoppers because
there are other amenities to distract them. The town center includes a gazebo, park with
lots greenery and flowers, and an apartment complex right next door for residents to
easily commute. Another difference between the malls with Firewheel is that most of the
restaurants had an outdoor eating area with music playing. With over one million square
feet of retail space, the super-regional mall offers a children’s play area as well as a
movie theatre. This is a great bonus for families because one parent can shop while the
other parent is tending to the kids at a near-by park. The only disadvantage of this mall
is that the quality of your visit is determined by the weather. However, Firewheel Town
Center was a very good mall for everybody.
Last but not least is Grapevine mills. This mall is known as the “racetrack”
because of the circular form of the building. Grapevine is a diverse shopping mall
catering to anyone who wants to shop and find great items. The mall is currently over
1,600,000 square feet in size and is an enclosed regional mall. Unlike the other malls,
Grapevine loves kids by housing a Rainforest Café, aquarium and AMC theater.
Although I did not notice any difference in the layout of the stores, I did see that Sears
Outlet and Burlington Coat Factory were on the opposite side and an endpoint. My
theory was that these stores were the largest and could possibly bring in the most
money consistently. I noticed that Grapevine housed a lot of discount stores, unlike the
other two malls, such as: Neiman Marcus Last Call, Sears Outlet, and more. Although

4. Grapevine is a single level mall it was designed with the consumers in mind. There were
nice hardwood floors, bright and natural lighting, as well as ramps that were easily
accessible for handicap customers. Everyone is welcomed at Grapevine Mills.
Firewheel Town Center, the Galleria, and Grapevine Mills were all unique malls.
Each mall had differences and similarities that made them unique from one another. All
of the malls were very spacious (regardless if single or multi leveled), included
shopping, food court areas, entertainment, and attractions of some sort. Obvious
differences are that Firewheel is an outdoor mall (meaning you have to go out and in to
each store), and Grapevine and the Galleria were not. The Galleria is more of an tourist
attraction by being the largest mall out of the three. The Galleria also had the largest
entertainment area with the ice skating rink. All malls targeted a specific consumer but
were inviting and appealing to shoppers.
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