Shopping Mall Craze Draws Buyers from beyond Israel-s Borders

by Daniella Ashkenazy

The shopping mall craze got off to a slow start in Israel, but has since made up for lost time. The country's first mall, built in 1978 on Dizengoff Street in the heart of Tel Aviv, sat half-occupied for almost seven years until it managed to amass enough attractive businesses to fill all of the center's shops. On the other hand, recent years have witnessed a boom in mall building as Israelis discover the convenience - and perhaps even more, the comfort - of air- conditioned shopping centers.

Today there are some 75 malls in Israel, with another 30 under construction. By the year 2000, Israel will have one mall for every 60,000 inhabitants - equal to Great Britain, says Moshe Rosenblum, chairman of the Israel Mall Association, with undisguised pride.

Israel already boasts the largest mall in the Middle East - the five year-old, 100, 000 square meter Malha Mall in Jerusalem, with its 200 stores and parking facilities for 3,000 cars. Malha has not only become a shoppers' Mecca, but also a symbol of peace, a place where Jerusalemites of different backgrounds - Jew and Arab, ultra-orthodox and secular- amiably coexist. The mall has also proved to be a site that attracts visiting tourists from all over the world - including the Middle East.

According to Malha's director-general, Arik Arad, the peace process was felt in a surge of Arabic-speaking shoppers two years ago - following the signing of the peace treaty with Jordan and the establishment of the first commercial and diplomatic contacts with other Arab states. A number of wealthy tourists, who literally bought out the store, arrived from the Persian Gulf Today, Arad notes, the volume of shoppers from Arab countries has tapered off a bit, but it has also become more stable, as citizens of neighboring countries like Jordan begin to see Malha shopping sprees as more than a onetime deal - perhaps a sign of normalcy in relations whose significance goes beyond questions of consumer behavior. "Malha," says Arad "has become a drawing point and has a distinct international flavor. The volume of traffic," he stresses, "is high by any standard - 30,000 visitors a day, reflected in sales volumes of $700 a meter per month."

Israeli shopping malls - kanyonim in Hebrew (from the root liknot, "to buy") - have their own flavor, quite different from their American counterparts. In an Israeli context, the "consumer" is not necessarily a "shopper." Meir Abutbul, manager of the 60-shop Nes Tziona Mall - a neighborhood mail located between the Tel Aviv bedroom suburbs of Rishon Lezion and Rehovot - explains that according to surveys, about 40% of those who visit Israeli malls seek entertainment and socializing, not shopping. Mall entertainment in places like Nes Tziona includes consuming fast food, meeting friends, going to the movies or keeping the kids busy while shopping - maybe.

Shopping centers like Nes Tziona conduct what Abutbul calls "exhibitions" - a hodgepodge of constantly changing bazaar booths set up in the aisles, selling anything from African "safari coloring books" to exotic spices manufactured in the Galilee. "Forty percent of the bona-fide stores are devoted to fashions, twenty percent to other retail outlets - electronic gadgetry, gift shops and stationary supplies - anchored to one or two large attractive outlets, such as a supermarket chain," explains Abutbul. "But a full forty percent of our rental space is devoted to entertainment." This includes kiddy rides, video games, food vendors, fast food counters, a movie theater, and a raised stage-like cafe in the center. The overall atmosphere is closer to a humidity-free Mediterranean market and mini amusement park than an exclusive shopping center with muzak in the background.

In outlying towns where stores and even most cafes are closed on Friday nights, movie theaters in the malls - but not shops - are open. Formally "open to the public" but not exactly "open for business", these malls attract young people, who prefer to sit and gab at the tables of closed fast food chains than to hang around outdoors. On Saturday night, when stores open, these local malls are literally packed with milling crowds of all ages who wish to "get out of the house" - to bump into friends, have a pizza, go to the movies, and perhaps even to pick up a few items at the stores. Market surveys show that on a Saturday night, 18,000 visitors mill in and out of the Nes Tziona mall, while on a weekday it attracts perhaps 8,000-10,000 consumers. In most kanyonim - even the swankiest like Gan Ha'ir in North Tel Aviv - eateries are located strategically in the center of things, allowing clientele to "people watch", rather than being delegated to a special section of the mall, as is customary in many places abroad.

During the mornings, the benches for tired shoppers are also occupied by pensioners who seek company ... or just relief from the heat, which seems to play a major part in luring Israelis out of the hot, often humid outdoors. The Nes Tziona mall uses small children as "bait" during slow morning hours, offering free activities such as story-telling, puppet shows, and arts and crafts for pre-school tots. "We come several times a week with the kids," says Mira Sultan from Rehovot, strapping her two children into a kiddy ride. Sultan, who comes from a low-income family, says the retail stores are too high-priced for her pocket, but she comes with a handful of loose change for the kiddy rides. Sultan and her friend Anat Suissa explain that they spend the morning taking the kids up the escalator and down the elevator, stopping for rides here and there, and feeding the children snacks from home. "The main attraction of the mall is the air conditioning," they revealed - a feeling shared by shoppers and strollers alike.