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VENEZUELANS SEEK SECURITY, SOCIAL SCENE IN THEIR MALLS

By María Bird Picó

Venezuela’s shopping center executives could not be happier with the results of the most recent study on their industry. The study, conducted by Caracas-based Datanálisis, shows that Venezuelans are having a love affair with shopping centers.

In 2003 some 84.4 percent of the 900 people surveyed said they visited shopping centers, but the figure had gone up to 91.8 percent by last November.

Of those who visit, 40.7 percent said they go at least once a week. An additional 41.2 percent visit the mall every 15 days or once a month, while 9.6 percent visit less frequently than that.

Though 8.2 percent said they never step into a mall, that is down by nearly half of the 15.6 percent who said that in 2003 and down from 11.7 percent in 2004. Demographics of this mall-disinclined group reveal that they are 50 or older and belong to the lowest income classes.

The frequent visitors, on the other hand, are men and women 18 to 24 who belong to the most-affluent classes. On average, they stay between two and three hours per visit.

The most popular activity is eating at a food court — 29.7 percent said they did so during their last mall visit. They were followed by the 29.3 percent who said they made a purchase at a store and 22.2 percent who just visited the mall to shoot the breeze. Fifteen percent patronized a bank branch, and 11.8 percent went to a movie theater.

Economist Vicente León, director of Datanálisis, says the study confirms what many mall and retail executives have been saying: Malls are becoming the plazas or gathering places in many areas of Latin America.

“We have a need to see and be seen, and, unfortunately, in our country the subject of open spaces is a hostile one,” said León. “Personal security is an important concern for Venezuelans, and malls are being favored because they provide a big but protected and controlled space. Another important factor is that malls allow all social classes, including the poor, to feel part of the first world by being served and respected in an area that has all the modern comforts and security.”

In fact, respondents cited security most often as the factor causing them to favor one shopping center over another.

Venezuela’s 103 shopping centers generated 34 percent of all retail sales last year, says Arnold Moreno, president of the Cámara Venezolana de Centros Comerciales, Comerciantes y Afines. That amounts to only a third of sales, but it is nonetheless significant because it is up from 6 percent in 1998.

“Visitors are no longer just socializing or going for a stroll in our malls,” Moreno said. “They are now shopping, as well.” Indeed, though in 2003, 35.8 percent said they were there just to walk and talk, only 22.2 percent gave that as the reason for a mall visit last year.

In 2003, 73 percent of those surveyed said they did the bulk of their shopping in street-front stores or with street vendors. That was down to 65.7 percent last year, an indication that shopping centers are gaining in appeal.