Market [Re]search...

I'm sure everyone googled "shopping center types" and came across this (thanks to the American Studies Department at Eastern Connecticut University and the ICSC).

Regional malls: examples: Four Seasons, Southpoint, and Northlake.
Characteristics: department stores act as anchors (they even get their own entrances), dozens of smaller stores, food courts with wide selections of unhealthy meals, multi-story (two in these cases), parking lots that could support a city the size of Greensboro, multi-level main causeway circulation with multiple entrances and exits, multiple bathroom and utility access points (hidden away). I think this is something we're all pretty used to...next?

Airport Malls

The first picture is from an airport in Asia (not because there is an Asian man in the picture, give me some credit) and the second is from one in Dubai. Clearly, this would never work in the United States because of what happened on 9/11 and the subsequent Patriot acts that restricted movement in places like airports to people who were actually flying. I like the idea though, a "global mall." If you're an international hub or tourism hot spot like Dubai, why not throw a mall in your airport? I was reading the captions on some of the photos. There were wealthy Nigerians vactioning in Dubai that decided to buy three carts full of stuff in the local stores while they waited for their boarding call. It also cost them $3000 extra to put it all on the plane. Its a cool concept but it would never work in Greensboro (maybe after the Fedex Hub starts running 60 flights per night). Our airport has stores but we don't get anywhere near the volume of international (or national) traffic that Dubai, New York, Los Angelos, or London do. Anyway, the malls in airports look like normal regional malls except for all of the stuff you would expect at an airport.

Bazaars

It is interesting to note that the word"bazaar" originates from the Middle East from the Pahlavi word "baha-char" which means "places of prices." In the West it is most commonly referred to as a "flea market." The top image is from Tehran's Grand Bazaar (largest bazaar in the world) in Iran. I believe the bottom two bazaars are somewhere in Turkey. There are both long-term vendors with shops and short-term street stall vendors or perhaps the items in the street are a part of the store they are in front of (probably varies throughout). It appears as if the area is shielded from the environment (similar to an arcade which I will go over later) with a stone roof. Whether or not it is completely enclosed from the exterior is not something I'm knowledgable about. It looks like a very lively place...you'd never see a mall in America that crowded but unfortunately you would see the Greensboro Coliseum that crowded for the gun show. I know that because I went. Can you guess the primary demographic of the attendees? Hint: I fall into that category.

"....contains food, instruments, household goods, clothing, storytellers, books, and many other items, often sold by competing salespeople who attempt to win customers from each other with bidding and price wars....the layout and bargaining style have not changed dramatically in many centuries."<info> & <wiki>

Arcade

An Arcade is passage or walkway covered over by a succession of arches or vaults supported by columns with shops on one or both sides. The images below are from Burlington Arcade in London. While the area directly below the roof is protected from the elements, the passageway is still open to the exterior on both ends. After having done a little searching, I'm hypothesizing that arcades are potentially just bazaars for cultures with a higher standard of living (look at these examples). Arcades also share another similarity with bazaars. It seems that the circulation is tight as opposed to malls which have wide open spaces for people to traverse (Is it a cultural difference? The "mall" is a Western concept even though it has been adopted by developing nations in other parts of the world). Perhaps arcades are a response by cities like London to make use of available space and increase density within the city. Things to ponder, I suppose

Market

"Markets may be any of a variety of different systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby persons trade, and goods and services are exchanged, forming part of the economy. Markets vary in size, range, geographic scale, location, types and variety of human communities, as well as the types of goods and services traded." <wiki>

Looking at these four pictures, which ones are markets and which ones are bazaars? Well, the Western definition of a bazaar is a flea market (miscellaneous items of all kinds). While the second image could be considered a market, it is not a bazaar but the third image could be considered both a bazaar and a market. The first image was considered a market by its photographer and the fourth image labeled a bazaar. Confused? You want to know what else confuses me? Middle Eastern bazaars might as well be the less-fancy cousins of arcades in London and Melbourne (as I mentioned before). Is an arcade always a market? No (arcade without stalls and shops). Is a market always an arcade? No (if its not covered).

Conclusion: everything is cultural and even within one's culture the terminology is subjective.

As for Revolution Mills: I'll think about it tomorrow.