Gruen transfer

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In shopping mall design, the Gruen transfer (also known as the Gruen effect) is the moment when consumers enter a shopping mall or store and, surrounded by an intentionally confusing layout, lose track of their original intentions, making them more susceptible to making impulse buys. It is named after Austrian architect Victor Gruen, who disapproved of such manipulative techniques. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Description

The Gruen transfer is a psychological phenomenon in which an idealised hyperreality is realized by deliberate reconstruction, providing a sense of safety and calm through exceptional familiarity. [1] [2] [4]

In a speech in London in 1978, Victor Gruen disavowed shopping mall developments as having "bastardised" his ideas: [5] [3] "I refuse to pay alimony for those bastard developments." [6] The psychologists involved in these studies found that the size and appearance of such a shopping center have a special pull effect on customers. The moment a customer enters a mall and is overwhelmed by the size, intentional clutter, and glitz of the mall, he forgets his original goals and becomes susceptible to sales manipulation. He becomes an impulse buyer. [7] [8] Supermarkets, for example in the food industry, also use the experience of the Gruen effect to slow things down, to direct attention when placing products, or to confuse the business through frequent remodeling. [9] [10]

References in other media

A television program on Australia's ABC TV network, called The Gruen Transfer , is named after the effect. The program discusses the methods, science and psychology behind advertising. [11]

History

Southdale Center 2009-0611-003-Southdale.jpg
Southdale Center

In 1952, Dayton Company commissioned Victor Gruen to build the first indoor, climate controlled shopping mall, Southdale Center, [12] in Edina, Minnesota. [13] Southdale Center held its grand opening in 1956. [13]

Shopping malls became very popular from the 1960s on. In many cases, they were the only air-conditioned places in a town. Numerous shopping malls opened using similar design features, and were very popular until the 1990s. [2] [13]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Retail</span> Sale of goods and services

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victor Gruen</span> Austrian architect

Victor David Gruen, born Viktor David Grünbaum, was an Austrian-American architect best known as a pioneer in the design of shopping malls in the United States. He is also noted for his urban revitalization proposals, described in his writings and applied in master plans such as for Fort Worth, Texas (1955), Kalamazoo, Michigan (1958) and Fresno, California (1965). An advocate of prioritizing pedestrians over cars in urban cores, he was also the designer of the first outdoor pedestrian mall in the United States, the Kalamazoo Mall.

Dayton's was an American department store chain founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1902 by George Draper Dayton. It operated several local high end department stores throughout Minnesota and the Upper Midwest for almost 100 years. Although it was regionally known as a high-quality shopping destination, Dayton's is best remembered for starting the discount shopping chain Target. The company was also instrumental in the history of shopping malls; opening the first indoor shopping mall in the United States, Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, in 1956.

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Southdale Center is a shopping mall located in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities. It opened in 1956 and is the first fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping mall in the United States. Southdale Center has 1,297,608 square feet of leasable retail space, and contains 106 retail tenants. The mall is owned by Simon Property Group and the anchor stores are Macy's, Dave & Buster's, AMC Theatres, Hennepin Service Center, and Life Time Athletic.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northland Center</span> Shopping mall in Southfield, Michigan

Northland Center was an enclosed shopping mall on an approximately 159-acre (64 ha) site located near the intersection of M-10 and Greenfield Road in Southfield, Michigan, an inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Construction began in 1952 and the mall opened on March 22, 1954. Northland was a milestone for regional shopping centers in the United States. Designed by Victor Gruen, the mall initially included a four-level Hudson's with a ring of stores surrounding it. As originally built, it was an open air pedestrian mall with arrayed structures. The mall was enclosed in 1975 and expanded several times in its history. Additions included five other department store anchors: J. C. Penney in 1975, MainStreet in 1985, and TJ Maxx, Target, and Montgomery Ward in the 1990s. Managed by Spinoso Real Estate Group, Northland Center featured approximately 100 stores. Macy's, the last anchor, closed on March 22, 2015, exactly 61 years to the date of the mall's opening. The mall was demolished September 2021 with redevelopment taking place shortly after.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bal Harbour Shops</span> Shopping mall in Florida, US

Bal Harbour Shops is an open-air shopping mall in Bal Harbour, Florida, an affluent suburb of Miami Beach. With Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue as anchors, the mall had sales of $3,000 per square foot in 2015, ranked among the highest-grossing retail centers in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Bay Galleria</span> Shopping mall in Redondo Beach, California

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midtown Plaza (Rochester, New York)</span> Shopping mall in New York, United States

Midtown Plaza is a city district in downtown Rochester, New York. The site was originally occupied by an indoor shopping mall designed by Victor Gruen and opened in 1962. Although it was primarily promoted as a retail space, Gruen's vision was for the plaza to function as an all-purpose community space to revitalize the downtown area. The original mall was closed in 2008 after a decline in retail activity and partially demolished. Since 2010 the site has been redeveloped with new buildings and an open lot known as Parcel 5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridgedale Center</span> Shopping mall in Minnesota, United States

Ridgedale Center, colloquially known as Ridgedale, is an enclosed shopping mall in Minnetonka, Minnesota, a western suburb of the Twin Cities. It is directly located off I-394/US 12 between Ridgedale Drive and Plymouth Road. Ridgedale Center comprises 1,105,337 square feet (100,000 m2) of leaseable retail space, and contains approximately 140 retail tenants. It is currently jointly owned by Brookfield Properties and CBRE Group, and managed by Brookfield. The anchor stores are JCPenney, Nordstrom, Macy's, and Dick's House of Sport.

Shingle Creek Crossing, formerly Brookdale Center, is a regional shopping mall in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. It became the third enclosed shopping mall in the Twin Cities, after Southdale Center and Apache Plaza. The mall opened in phases beginning with Phase One in March 1962 which included anchor stores Sears and JCPenney. Phase Two opened in 1966, adding Dayton's as the third anchor. Donaldson's became the fourth anchor in September 1967. Brookdale Center was part of "The Dales", what was referred to as the four "Dale" centers circling the Twin Cities, originally developed by Dayton-Hudson Corporation. The others are Southdale Center in Edina, Rosedale Center in Roseville and Ridgedale Center in Minnetonka. After a long decline, the mall closed in 2010 and was demolished in 2012 before being redeveloped into the Shingle Creek Crossing development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalamazoo Mall</span> First outdoor pedestrian shopping mall in the United States

The Kalamazoo Mall, the first outdoor pedestrian shopping mall in the United States, is a section of Burdick Street in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Woodmar Mall was an indoor shopping mall located at Indianapolis Boulevard between 165th Street and 167th Street in Hammond, Indiana. It opened in 1954 and was anchored by Carson Pirie Scott and Co. The mall was closed and demolished in 2006 except for the Carson's store which remained open until 2018 and which was demolished in 2019. The site is now occupied by the Hammond Sportsplex & Community Center.

Milliron's Westchester, later The Broadway-Westchester, was a department store at 8739 S. Sepulveda Blvd., in Westchester, Los Angeles, designed by architect Victor Gruen. Its original design was considered a landmark in exterior architecture of retail stores, although much of the original design is no longer present. The building now houses a Kohl's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morris Ketchum Jr.</span> American architect (1904–1984)

Morris Ketchum Jr. (1904–1984) was an American architect in practice in New York City from 1938 to 1980. He was president of the American Institute of Architects for the year 1965–66.

References

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  5. Malcolm Gladwell, The Terrazzo Jungle, The New Yorker , March 15, 2004, Accessed June 12, 2009.
  6. Byrnes, Mark. "Victor Gruen Wanted to Make Our Suburbs More Urban. Instead, He Invented the Mall". The Atlantic Cities. The Atlantic Media Company . Retrieved 18 July 2013.
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  8. Victor Gruen (Autor), Anette Baldauf (Hrsg.): Shopping Town: Memoiren eines Stadtplaners (1903–1980). Böhlau Verlag, Wien 2014.
  9. "Psychotricks der Supermärkte: Wie Kunden Manipuliert werden". RPR1.de. 25 August 2018.
  10. "So einfach lassen sich Kunden im Supermarkt manipulieren". Welt (World). 27 March 2022.
  11. "ABC TV - The Gruen Transfer - FAQ". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2010-07-03.
  12. "Retailing, Southdale shopping Center was also the first indoor shopping mall". The Economist . December 19, 2007. Retrieved June 12, 2009.(registration required)
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