Shopping mall:
A shopping mall is the mall which has interconnecting walkways enabling the shoppers to go from one unit to another unit easily. Mall is not the part of any retail chain. Malls can be from medium to large according to the requirement.
Department store:
A departmental store is a single building which sells the personal goods or household goods. It doesn’t have interconnecting walkways. It is the retail chain of many stores. It is situated at different regions of the same or different country.
Differences:
| Basis | Shopping mall | Departmental store |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A large enclosed shopping area from which traffic is excluded. (www.oxforddictionaries.com) |
Large retail establishment with an extensive assortment in variety and range of goods, organized into separate departments. All departments are housed under the same roof to facilitate buying, customer service, merchandising, and control. (www.businessdictionary.com) |
| Synonyms | Plaza, market, shopping center, mini-mart and mart | Boutique, cooperative, concession, house and establishment |
| Antonyms | Circumference, contour, boundary, perimeter and bounds | |
| Types | Its types are:
|
Its types are:
|
| History | The first shopping mall was the Country Club Plaza, founded by the J.C. Nichols Company and opened near Kansas City, Mo., in 1922. | The origins of the department store lay in the growth of the conspicuous consumer society at the turn of the 19th century. |
| Word origin | It was originated in the Mid-17th century. | The word departmental store was originated in between 1885-90. |
| Environment | A mall has a bigger environment. | Department store is only a small place. |
| Units | In mall, shoppers can go from one building unit to another through the walkways. | Such walkways cannot be seen in the department stores as they are just single units. |
| Other names | When speaking of malls, they are known in different names in different countries such as town centers, shopping precincts, and shopping centers. | Department stores are not known by other names. |
| Retail chain | A mall is not the part of retail chain of many stores. | A department store is the part of the retail chain of the many stores. |
| Pronunciation |
|
|
| Size | Malls are greater in size compared to departments. | Department stores are smaller in size in comparison to malls. |
| Advantages/Benefits | Its advantages are:
|
Its advantage are:
|
| Disadvantages | Its disadvantages are:
|
Its disadvantages are:
|
| Example in Sentence |
|
|
