Mall management

A mall manager is responsible for everything in the mall, from planning its budget and promotional activities to developing its mix of tenants and building community relations.

Mall manager

On a given day, the mall manager is involved with marketing; tenant leasing; increasing capital; building improvements; construction; and tenant, customer, and staff security. What makes a mall successful is often the mix of stores available to the customer as shown in the image below.

The image and aesthetics of the mall reflect the type of tenants that mall management will seek out—from restaurants to retailers.

The mall manager examines the mall’s retail mix to determine its strengths and weaknesses. Incorporating interesting stores and concepts that are unique to the area, as well as balancing the number of apparel, home, service, and food retailers, is key to a mall’s success.

Mall managers calculate customer demand into the equation, striving to meet the needs of the current demographic segment and anticipate through research what the future demographics may be. They look at home ownership, income, and customer profiles within the community to understand what the customer is looking for and who that customer is. The ultimate goals of the mall manager are to grow the value of the property while improving tenant listings and leasing capacity.

To be 100% filled is the objective, as is finding ways to complement an already integrated mix of stores.

Assistant mall manager

In larger malls, the mall manager may supervise one or more assistants. An assistant mall manager is responsible for administering mall programs under the supervision of the property’s mall manager.

This person is critical in communicating operational issues to tenants, contractors, and staff.

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A classified advertisement for a mall manager is featured in the next step.