Project Space

By: Garen Gevorgyan, Alexandra Rosas, Jacqueline Jaramillo, Kathy Ha and Daniela Solis
Table of Contents
Introduction
Background
Location
Research Questions
Survey Analysis and Comparison
Architecture and structure
Conclusion
Works Cited
Introduction
Our research spaces were Northridge Fashion Center and
Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga(Promenade). We
carefully did an ethnography and research to compare these
malls. While the customers of these shopping malls are not
curious about the space they shop in, we conducted this
research and found some interesting facts about malls in
order to be able to compare some aspects of these spaces.
Northridge Fashion Center
NFC was developed in 1971 by
David Gladstone. The official
owner is General Growth
Properties. It has 170+ stores and
1.5 million square feet area. Its
anchor stores are Macys, JC
Penney, Sears and Pacific
Theaters.

Westfield Topanga
WT first opened in 1964. The
developer is May Centers Inc. The
owner is Westfield Group which has
some other shopping centers in
different cities. It has 279 stores and
5 anchor stores( Target). The area is
1.6 million square feet. Topanga Mall
renovated in 2008 and added 100
new stores. It has a parking lot with
6113 spaces and a carousel inside.
Background
Northridge Earthquake
Northridge earthquake in 1994 made some serious damages
to the mall. According to the articles about the earthquake,
more than 60 people died and most of the anchor stores
were seriously damaged. It was a big tragic, but now when
you look at the mall, it doesnt seem to have gone through
such hardships. After the earthquake, The US President B.
Clinton visited CSUN and Northridge Fashion Center to
support them financially. NFC renovated 3 times after the
earthquake and now it is very wealthy.
Westfield Topanga Mall kept expanding and got the new
name: Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga. It got a lot bigger
than it was and the owner still has some plans to add more
stores and entertaining things to the mall.
Location









Address: 9301 Tampa Ave,
Northridge, CA 91324








Addres: 6600 Topanga
Canyon Blvd, Canoga
Park, CA 91303
Both of the malls are in geographically
important spaces where they dont have any
competitors in the particular city that they are
located in. They are both nearby a college.
Northridge Mall is a mile away from CSUN
and Topanga Mall is 2-3 miles away from
Pierce college. Maybe the owners target
students as their primary customers.
Research Questions
Why do people shop in these malls?
Where else do they shop?
Comparison of some aspects. How would
they rate some aspects of the mall?
What kind of people shop in these malls?
Which mall do they prefer the most?
Is there an idea of a fortress behind these
spaces?
Survey Questions
Gender?
Age?
Income level?
City?
How frequently do you shop here?
What aspects of the mall grab your attention the most?
On a scale of 0 to 10 rate the following of the mall:
Cleanness
Design
Service
Comfort
Prices
What other malls do you visit on regular basis?
On a scale of 0 to 10 rate this mall relative to other malls
The results of gender turned out to
be vice-versa.
Northridge Fashion
Gender
Males-6
Females-4
Westfield Topanga
Gender
Males-4
Females-6
Northridge Fashion
Income Level
$0-5000(2)
$5000-15000(2)
$15000-
35000(4)
$35000-
55000(1)
$55000-
80000(1)
$80000-110000
$110000 and
over
Average Age- 29
Westfield Topanga
Income Level
$0-5000(1)
$5000-
15000(2)
$15000-
35000(4)
$35000-
55000(2)
$55000-
80000(1)
$80000-
110000
$110000 and
over
Average Age- 24
Average Ratings
Northridge Fashion
Cleannes-9
Design-7.9
Service-8.4
Comfort-7.9
Prices-8.3
Westfield Topanga
Cleannes-9.2
Design-8.4
Service-8.1
Comfort-9.0
Prices-8.4
Frequency and Overall Rating
Northridge Fashion Center
0 5 10
Often
Sometimes
Rare
Shopping Frequency
Shopping
Frequency
Westfield Topanga
0 5 10
Often
Sometimes
Rare
Shopping Frequency
Shopping
Frequency
Overall Rating- 7.9
Overall Rating- 9.3
Some more info about our
research
Our survey results contained some outliers like the
place of residence being another country or age 58.
Most of the participants were youngsters and most of
them live close to the mall of their choice. Some
participants work there and some of them were there the
first time. Old people mainly rejected to participate in
our survey. The aspects which grab their attention are
different. Some people like the food court, others like
the prices and some people just said its close to their
home. On a regular basis people visit some other malls
like Glendale Galleria, Topanga/Northridge, Americana
and so on.
Architecture
Go back to slide 4 and observe the difference between
the decorations of the two malls. Northridge Fashion
Center seems to have less decorations than Westfield
Topanga. Decorations are one of the ways which show
that the place is prestigious or not. They are one of the
most important things that customers pay attention to,
because they want to have a nice shopping experience
in a place that looks like it is designed for high social
class people only. Both of the malls have glass rooftops
aand they are colorful inside give a positive mood.
Structure
The structures are very different from each other. For instance, Northridge
Fashion Center has a cross shape and in the center there is a water fountain. It is
2 level mall and has 4 different 3 different entrances from the anchor stores
besides the main entrance. The main entrance is full of restaurants and it is
strategically important to have restaurants in the entrance it prepares you for a
long trip inside the mall and it is hard to pass by these restaurants twice without
getting something to eat or drink. Unlike Northridge Fashion, Westfield Topanga
doesnt have so much restaurants in the entrance. Westfield Topanga has a huge
parking space, bigger than Northridge Fashion Center. The territory of WT is
so big that it has a space for an auto dealership called Tesla( the first electro car
made by US). Northridge Fashion centers parking space is relatively smaller
than Westfield Topangas but there is a police car in front of every parking
structure or lot. Both of these malls care about children because they think of the
kids as their future customers, that is why they have some special things built
inside to atract them. For instance, Northridge Fashion Center has a childrens
play area and a water fountain. Westfield Topanga has a carousel. These are
some things that grab childrens attention since children are the future
customers.
Conclusion
Which one is better?
Statistics say that Westfield Topanga is better, but there are some aspects
that Northridge Fashion Center has set up better than Westfield. If you take
in consideration that Northridge Fashion Center has gone through an
earthquake while Westfield Topanga was expanding then we can say that
they are equal, because you never know what would happen if the
Earthquake would not happen.
Is there an idea of fortress going on?
No, because the malls looked very welcoming since during our research we
have seen just 1 security guard and she did not ask us to live although she
knew that we were giving out surveys.
People shop in these malls because they are convenient. For some people its
close to their home and some people like the food court. Most of the results
of the surveys show that Northridge Fashion Center s customers also shop
at Westfield Topanga and vice versa. The customers are mainly middle class
people aged 20-35. The results of the survey are very similar because these
are some regular malls out there and you cant compare them for instance
with Americana. Also, their number 1 choice is usually the place they were
surveyed in. Both of the malls are there to make money, and they have done
everything to make money.
Works Cited
Youtube.com
Google Images