Between shopping and leisure - a new meaning of shopping centres

The tourism researchers point to the so-called trade tourism on one hand, white on the other they emphasize the close relation between leisure and entertainment. As for the subject of this study - the relation between one of the forms of shopping sites and the possibility of spending leisure time in a shopping centre - none of the above factors can be considered irrelevant. The geographical factors, however, such as the place of residence and the location of the tourist attractions, become particularly significant. The latter should be specifically emphasized, as the distribution of shopping centres is extremely irregular. Their placement reveals various degrees, depending on the country, of big cities' domination in this respect. Within the town area itself their distribution is not regular either, which may cause specific difficulties in accessing them. Many people still associate shopping with an ordinary activity, the essence of which is purchasing particular types of material goods which determine regular functioning of a family or of an individual. More often now, however, a multidimensional and multilevel nature of this kind of human activity manifests itself. This is connected with social transformations affecting people's life styles, values, household structures and women's professional activity. Emphasizing the role of free time and leisure activities in the life of individuals and groups makes it particularly necessary to carry out geographical research with regard to the mutual relationship between traditional shopping and "going shopping" as a form of leisure activity. E.L. Jackson (1991, 283) distinguished four major types of relationship between shopping and leisure: (1) lack of mutual relationship (shopping as purchasing of goods), (2) leisure "supporting'' shopping, (3) shopping and leisure, and (4) leisure shopping (Fig. 1). The latter is best described by a term developed in the German literature and difficult to translate into Polish – the concept of Erlebniseinkauf (Gerhard 1998). According to U. Gerhard (1998) the specific nature of Erlebniseinkauf is walking around numerous shops with no special purpose, spontaneous on-impulse shopping, very often buying goods to just have them rather than to use them. This kind of going shopping is often performed in the company of a relative or a friend, the things purchased, however, are most often bought for the shopper him- or herself rather than for the others (except for buying presents). An important component of such shopping scheme is eating out at any of the dining places offered on premises - snack bars, cafés, and restaurants, often offering ethnic food. All these factors are important, yet they must be accompanied by a specific atmosphere. With such requirements, it is not surprising that a shopping centre (shopping and leisure centre) is an place to be associated more and more often with not just shopping, but also with spending leisure time in a pleasant way. Numerous decorative elements of the centre, as well as its general layout also serve meeting the requirements in relation to leisure shopping. A category of important tourist attraction centres is undoubtedly the Mall of America (MoA). The biggest (390,000 m² of surface) shopping and entertainmeot complex in the United States of America was started in 1992. Gradually, similar objects appeared in West Europe countries, and then also in post-Communist countries (including Poland). The research carried out in 12 European countries among thousands of shopping centres clients indicate that the most numerous group of visitors are exactly the pleasure-seeking shoppers