The shopping centres or malls we are mostly familiar with are enclosed within large building structures. The shopping mall described here is of a different type — it is arranged as a pedestrian shopping quarter, with paved streets for pass-ways between stores, coffee houses and other establishments located in built structures (more details below). The shopping mall is open-air in the sense that the streets are outdoors, looking more like in an urban area but located on the northern outskirts of the city of Tel-Aviv. It offers a different experience from other shopping malls in the near area, and in its first weeks of business it looks to be a promising attraction to shoppers who flock there all week.

After a long waiting period, the shopping mall — entitled “BIG Fashion Glilot” — opened in late February 2025. The mall hosts a variety of brands, national and international; they include major and leading Israeli brands and famed international brands. Most of the brands are in the fashion sector (e.g., clothing & accessories, footwear, sports), but there are also stores for products in other sectors (e.g., stationary, toys, books, electronics). Next to the stores, visitors-shoppers may find different kinds of food & drink service establishments such as cafés, full-service or self-service restaurants. It seems that many chains in all sectors, of Israeli or foreign origin, made a special effort to ensure that they have a place in this open-air shopping mall as a statement of their stature.

There are two main long streets (primary and secondary) that stretch in parallel through the shopping quarter, with short alleys connecting between them. In some sections one may climb stairs (or use lifts) to second-floor balconies, for a view from above and to visit additional stores. Trees (young at this early stage) are scattered along the streets, and there is a commendable selection of street benches to sit, rest and look around. In the future, when trees grow and expand, the streets may look more like boulevards and provide more protection from wind and rain in wintery days or from the heat and sun radiation in summer times. The streets are quite wide for people to move around freely, and between some sections there are broader places (like city squares) with clusters of chairs where small groups can sit for a talk and observe the stores around.

The atmosphere is overall nice and pleasant. The surrounding facades of stores are mostly elegant in updated styles of design, and the streets give a favourable European kind of feeling. It gives nonetheless a certain notion of the ‘affluent society’ by looking lucrative, which some people may resent and yet others may simply like to hang out and shop at BIG Glilot as a resort of escape or timeout.

On weekends the place becomes rather crowded when many curious shoppers find the free time to marvel at this shopping centre. Movement may feel less free at those times. But on weekdays as well the place can be busy enough, and one may even find it somewhat surprising how many visitors, shoppers and diners, are found there in midday, that is, late morning towards lunchtime. Tables can be hard to find in some establishments (e.g., one popular restaurant, Grand Café, had a waiting list of 22 hopeful customers on a Monday around noon). Still, the BIG Glilot shopping mall appears set to succeed as an active socialising hub. It may serve well for leisure and entertainment as much as for shopping purposes.

• According to estimates of visitor traffic published by BIG Shopping Centres, in the first month of operation (March 2025) 1.5 million visitors came to BIG Glilot in total, with a daily average of 35,000 visitors on weekdays and 150,000 visitors on weekends (Calcalist, 7 April 2025 [Hebrew]).

The asset holding and property development company BIG Shopping Centres invested 2.7 billion shekels (~US$770 million) in creating this shopping compound (ynet, 27 February 2025, [Hebrew]). The website of BIG Fashion Glilot declares that the shopping site includes 42,700sqm of commercial area with 160 stores, plus 70,000sqm of office area in a tower rising above the shopping centre. It is noted that figures a little higher were published in the media: 44,000sqm of commercial area, adding that 5,000sqm of which are designated for dining, and 80,000sqm in offices (e.g., ynet as above). An assessment of the retailing business suggests that the shopping centre will need to attract at least half a million visitors each month in order to generate sufficient revenues for the renting businesses-retailers who are paying 250NIS (~US$70) per square metre (sqm), according to the report of ynet online news. (Note: ynet is the online arm and Calcalist is the economics & business arm of Yediot, a major newsgroup in Israel.)

The development process of BIG Glilot up to its opening did not come about easily. The land was acquired in 2015, but it took four more years of delays and waiting for approval of the project by public authorities (in January 2020). The troubles for BIG did not end there since more objections were raised from different directions against the project — from existing shopping centres to smaller businesses elevating their concerns — causing more delays, legal battles and damages to the company (Globes business newspaper, 18 October 2024, [Hebrew]). Furthermore, the construction had to take longer due to the Corona pandemic, meaning progress in construction could accelerate, becoming more visible, since 2022, yet interrupted again by the war of 7 October 2023. In the last stage, when the compound was nearly ready, the opening was declared and postponed at least twice, between November 2024 and the actual opening in the end of February 2025.

For the anticipating consumers, the additional waiting for the shopping quarter, in its less usual concept in the larger Tel-Aviv area, may have only increased their curiosity and thrill to visit and explore BIG Glilot. Consumers-shoppers may also be driven by a need to belong while strengthening their (social) status. At the early stage of introduction of the open-air shopping mall, consumers who tend to be early adopters possibly had the stronger urge to visit and be able to say first that they ‘saw’, ‘experienced’ and ‘investigated’ the place. Additionally, the brands, including particular shopping anchors of ‘big name’ brands and stores on location, may further contribute to enhance the attractiveness of this shopping centre. The main motive that makes BIG Glilot attractive appears to be the experience (and less innovativeness in retailing) (Ma’ariv, 2 March 2025; Bizportal, 28 April 2025 — [Hebrew]).

Shoppers may find in BIG Glilot a variety of retail brands across twelve categories, plus known brands of restaurants and coffee houses; this post allows to give only a taste of those brands. Some of the stores carry the names of product or corporate brands, that is, they are dedicated chiefly to their products. Stores of selected better-known brands, national and international, are particularly large and spacious (their areas may run between 500sqm and 1000sqm, estimated by sight). According to the website of BIG Glilot, there are nearly 40 brands in the fashion (clothing) category alone (e.g., from Israel: Polgat, Castro; international: Zara, H&M, Pierre Cardin, American Eagle, Columbia); add to them brands of footwear (8) and sports (11, including Nike, Foot Locker [in its new black & white design concept], adidas, and Lululemon). In related domains, there are retail brands of accessories (e.g., jewellery, eyeglasses & opticians, handbags), lingerie, and cosmetics (e.g., Superpharm [Israel-based], Il Makiage, Bath & Body Works, Laline).

The range of other categories covers electronics (e.g., Samsung, iDigital for Apple, A.L.M for appliances); home products (e.g., ZaraHome, Golf&Co [Israel-native], SOHO designers); kids (e.g., Lego, FlyingTiger of Copenhagen, Shilav for babies [Israel-native]); leisure (e.g., books, stationary / office supplies, accessories for men); and on top luxury (e.g., POLO Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Chanel, Calvin Klein, Massimo Dutti, BOSS). Finally, we can add the variety of around 20 restaurants, self-service and full-service, and coffee houses (e.g., Arcaffè, Grand Café, Vaniglia ice cream, ShakeShack, McDonald’s, MeatBar — plus two stores for wine, beer & spirits), without them the pleasure of hanging around on site might not be complete.

• As reported by Shva (Automatic Banking Services) that are clearing credit card payments, retail revenues in the first month, including the first weekend (i.e., 27 February to 31 March 2025), amounted to 157 million shekels (~US$45 million). That means a turnover of 4,000 shekels per square metre (~US$1,140 which is considered high, up 35%, compared with other shopping centres). The clothing, footwear and sports stores account for 67% of total revenue; 16% of total revenue went to the restaurants and coffee houses. (Calcalist, 7 April 2025.)

A key standing issue with BIG Fashion Glilot is access to the shopping compound by private or public transportation. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, the most practical means to get to the location is by private vehicles of the visitors. There are five bus lines with stops nearby but the service is not very convenient (e.g., due to frequency or length of journey from main areas of residence). The nearest bus stop (without seating) looks empty and idle for long minutes. By the look of the crowded open-air parking lot adjacent to the compound, it seems that visitors clearly prefer their own cars (more on parking below). By car, the location can be reached from surrounding main (intercity) roads, and the drive in a radius of ten kilometres may take 15-30 minutes, depending on traffic congestion on the roads.

Promising plans for public mass transport include a station of the Light Rail’s Green Line service to be built in front of the shopping compound, and two stations of the Metro (underground) train service underneath the complex of Cinema City (discussed below) opposite BIG Glilot. The problem is that there are no definite timelines for establishing these stations, and based on experience, delays are expected (Globus, 18 October 2024). An extension of the Green Line is nowhere in sight in Glilot (works are still continuing in Central Tel-Aviv, maybe by 2030), and the arrival of the Metro is even more distant in time (due to lingering legislative and organisational processing, forecast not before 2045-2050).

With regard to parking spaces, the website of BIG Fashion Glilot declares 3,500 spaces, which refers apparently to the parking areas built underground, where parking is free currently in the first four hours. However, there is an additional adjacent open-air parking lot that served mainly visitors of the nearby Cinema City during the last twenty years. According to Globes (as above), the plans were for 4,000 parking spaces. It is not clear if this includes the “official” parking lots of BIG Glilot or both indoors and outdoors parking lots. As suggested above, visitors appear to try first the open-air parking lot.

It seems odd that a shopping centre launching these days relies in effect so heavily on private transportation. In North America the popularity of shopping malls outside cities is in decline as people are more reluctant to drive to those sites and prefer shopping options in their neighbourhoods. In Europe, the trend of the past twenty years is to turn more streets in city centres into pedestrian areas (i.e., not a pedestrian shopping quarter outside the city). First, many consumers probably look forward and will be very pleased to have the possibility to come to BIG Glilot (or Cinema City) with a train service, initially the Light Rail service — people who either do not own a car or do not drive, or those who drive but prefer to avoid the frequent traffic jams or searching for a parking space. Second, consumers-shoppers may like so much the concept of a pedestrian shopping quarter they would press their expectations from authorities to develop such shopping areas within the urban centres of cities, which could become even more popular than the built indoors shopping centres (at least in some periods of the year).

Retail businesses in relative vicinity have been concerned for a while about a loss of customers to BIG Glilot; it applies particularly to two shopping malls that are north and south of BIG Glilot (about five kilometres away). The Ramat Aviv Mall is considered the most successful shopping centre in the country, very elegant and upscaled, with some top-notch brands represented (i.e., seems to be still more luxurious than BIG Glilot). It serves the whole north suburban neighbourhoods of Tel-Aviv and farther away in the area. The mall in Hertzelyia (7 Stars) is popular and convenient, serving residents of the city as well as workers and visitors of its business (high-tech) district. Both shopping centres are at least as lucrative as BIG Glilot, and therefore it was expected that both would suffer.

It was projected that Ramat Aviv Mall would be hurt less because of its status, image and loyal customer base. It is now estimated, however, that the shock was even worse than expected, even for Ramat Aviv Mall where visitor traffic seems weaker now (e.g., it is reflected seemingly also in less busy activity at the local branch of Grand Café). Some retailers (e.g., Castro) have left Ramat Aviv Mall in advance in favour of BIG Glilot, but more appear to keep stores in both shopping centres (e.g., Foot Locker, POLGAT, ZARA). The mall has managed to find replacements quite quickly for those who left. Quantitative estimates were difficult to find as of how much the two competing malls in vicinity were hurt (note: according to Bizportal, the revenues of this couple of malls declined 30%; other sources could not be found to verify).

It is important to mention here also the Cinema City Glilot complex, which includes some 30 cinema theatres and a commercial area, and stands just opposite the BIG Glilot shopping centre — it operates there for nearly 25 years. The retail and dining businesses have suffered a blow already during the Corona pandemic, many of them closing down during or in its aftermath. BIG Glilot seems to have given it another serious if not fatal blow. It is hard to see if the retail and dining businesses at Cinema City will succeed in finding a new attractive formula to answer the challenge from the shopping mall across the road; it is plausible and desirable yet that a co-operative model can be found to integrate between activities of leisure, including entertainment, shopping and dining across the shopping quarter and cinema complex to create an even greater joint attraction. (Note: in addition to screening films, Cinema City hosts theatre shows, lectures in courses of continued education, and company conferences.)

The shopping mall of BIG Fashion Glilot adds an appealing contribution to the options of consumers for shopping and spending some leisure time in general. It is likely that after several months, when the excitement or fuss about the new shopping quarter site descends, the traffic volumes of visitors-shoppers will moderately decline to a more regular yet still significant level of ‘normalcy’. Public transport by train should improve the levels of footfall. BIG Glilot and the existing shopping centres will probably divide among them the times of visits by consumers according to seasons and their climatic conditions: In particular, the open-air shopping district of BIG Glilot may prove most popular in summer evenings, when the air is cooler with wind breeze from the sea, and on pleasant and dry autumn or winter days, whereas indoors shopping centres will continue to enjoy visitors in other times of the day and through the year.

Ron Ventura, Ph.D. (Marketing)