Park's creators offer attractions to lure mall-shy men

Sylvia Park's creators have tried to overcome a growing aversion to shopping malls.

Women are a pushover, but getting men and kids to the shops, then keeping them there, is a hard task.

The fear of not being able to find a carpark or a toilet, of losing the car, getting tired, bored, hungry, mobbed by mall rats, plagued by the banal music or simply growing sick of the endless corridors of seemingly identical shops creates impediments.

Owner Kiwi knows the snags and has worked out some answers to draw a possible 10 million shopper visits a year to its Sylvia Park mall.

Roy Stansfield, Kiwi's retail leasing manager, said women were the keenest shoppers but the rest of the family decided if they would join her and how long they would stay.

The strategy has been to create a type of shopping creche for men. And one for kids.

"The bulk of spending is done by females, and it's not uncommon for the guy to want to do his own thing, so we're providing a few options," Stansfield said.

The men's zone includes a multiplex cinema with 10 hi-tech theatres; a 2000sq m Dick Smith Powerhouse with big boys' toys; a two-level bookstore of 2000sq m, one of the country's largest; a food and tavern precinct with outdoor areas; a Kathmandu store of 900sq m with outdoor and adventure focus; mountaineering, fishing and sports equipment specialist stores; and men's clothing stores grouped together, including Hallensteins, Mark Richard and Meccano.

Similar areas in British malls provide areas for men to test-drive cars.

AUT associate professor of marketing Margaret Craig-Lees says it's not that men don't shop, but that they shop differently. They shop less frequently and try to cram in as much as they can each trip.

As society trends towards more single people, more men are shopping for personal items. Just as important as attracting these men is to ensure they are not alienated from the centre.

And the kids?

Stansfield says: "It's the children who have a bearing on whether mum can go to the shops, hence we have a family or kids' precinct."

To lure the children, Sylvia Park will offer a playground; a large-format toy store; an array of children's clothing and equipment stores; confectionary and entertainment shops, including sweet-making retail theatre; and a Wildlife Exchange selling animal toys and educational material.

Getting in and out of the park will be made easy by a ring-road of almost 2km around the centre, and a choice of 3100 carparks, all on ground level.