It’s no secret that as online commerce continues to skyrocket, shopping malls around the world have experienced declines in customer traffic and revenue, even forcing some malls to close. This trend was reinforced by numerous COVID-19 restrictions in many global regions.
However, a movement born not long before the pandemic began is now burgeoning: the installation of attractions and leisure entertainment offerings that are credited for a resurgence of visitors to malls.
In the United States, which still has more than 1,000 enclosed malls, Coresight Research reported in June 2023 that for the first time since 2016, more stores opened in U.S. shopping malls in 2022 than closed. In addition, sales grew more than 11% to almost $819 billion. Consumer traffic increased 10% to 12% at malls in 2022 over 2019 pre-pandemic levels.
“Attractions are absolutely having an impact,” says David Goldfarb, founder of Elev8, a Florida company that’s installing attractions in shopping malls to attract customers. “They’re bringing in families—kids that come with a parent who might want to get a facial or shop for clothing. A lot of this traffic had stopped coming to malls. What we’re doing is taking something that was becoming nonexistent and helping to make it popular again.”
Goldfarb is also president and owner of Prime Time Amusements in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He says when Xtreme Action Park, a family entertainment center (FEC) he co-owns, won FEC Location of the Year in 2019, presented by the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA), Goldfarb had an inspiration: “Xtreme Action Park is in a warehouse in a major metro location that we converted. Why don’t we try doing this in department stores? So, we’re actually buying store properties at malls.”
The first was previously a Sears store in Sanford, Florida, north of Orlando, which his company purchased in September 2019. This Elev8 location opened Dec. 31, 2021, followed by a second opening in Tampa in May 2023. Elev8 has since purchased a property in Miami and three additional stores in Stuart Beach, Florida.
“Basically, what we’ve done is put together several major attractions under one roof,” says Goldfarb. “These include eight indoor go-karts, 12 lanes of bowling, 150-plus arcade games, indoor minigolf, laser tag, ax throwing, full food and beverage, and a team-building lounge. We do it in an area approximately 125,000 square feet. The malls are excited because it’s bringing additional traffic.”
Creating Opportunities for M&S
Goldfarb adds that the attractions industry should be pumped about what Elev8 and other entertainment companies are doing in shopping malls: they’re purchasing equipment from manufacturers and suppliers (M&S) and introducing mall shoppers to attractions who might not otherwise visit an amusement facility. “The largest shopping mall property owner is Simon Properties, and they have a lot of interest in us because of the traffic we bring to the malls,” he reveals.
Walltopia in Sofia, Bulgaria, has installed attractions in shopping malls in Europe, North America, Asia, and Latin America, and is equally excited about what attractions are doing for shopping malls.
“Attractions in malls boosts consumer spending by drawing more visitors, especially family with kids, and increasing dwell times,” says Ivaylo Sotirov, Walltopia’s sales director. “Kids’ attractions effectively allow parents more shopping time. Together‑time spent meaningfully and joyfully builds a real connection between guests and the shopping mall, which brings them back repeatedly.”
Walltopia installs suspended ropes courses, artificial caves, climbing walls, rollgliders, and other attractions in malls. Sotirov asserts that if visitation at a mall is declining, the main reason is the lack of any new experiences.
“Struggling malls cannot afford not to invest in attractions. Malls can deliver the only thing people cannot get online—experience,” says Sotirov.
The Winning Formula
Bringing attractions to shopping malls can make a significant impact globally. 360 Karting in Koper, Slovenia, installs go-kart tracks in shopping malls and says its clients share visitors who wouldn’t otherwise visit the malls are willing to travel more than an hour to experience the go-kart attractions.
“Take for example the Gravity Wandsworth multi‑attraction center [in London], whose main attraction is karting,” says Mateja Becela, 360 Karting’s head of marketing. “In the first eight weeks after it opened, it attracted an impressive 200,000 visitors, with 10,496 visitors on the busiest day (on average, karting accounted for 40% of traffic). This also led to a 30% increase in footfall across the Southside shopping center in London following its opening.”
Becela adds that 360 Karting strongly endorses the concept of clustering, combining a variety of attractions under one roof. She says investors in this business model can expect revenues of 9 to 13 million euros and an ROI within a year.
Like 360 Karting and Walltopia, Goldfarb at Elev8 isn’t excited just about his own company’s success, but also what it’s doing for struggling malls. “There are many, many shopping malls outside of Florida that have contacted us. I think we have something that’s really dynamic and is good not only for malls but for real estate. The world is changing on so many levels, and we’re adapting to the new times.”
