Challenges of Managing Shopping Mall in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Mall management has been identified as a critical factor for the success of malls and the retail industry across the world. The study examined the challenges of effectively managing shopping mall in Lagos State, Nigeria.Primary data were collected with the aid of questionnaire administered on managers of the twenty (20) functioning purpose-built shopping malls in Lagos State. Descriptive statistical tools of percentages, mean and relative importance index were used to analyze the data collected. The proportion method was used to determine the factors that are significantly considered as problems of mall management and can negatively affect retail real estate investment in the country. The study found that the various shopping malls were sufficiently provided with adequate facilities that are enough for generating patronage to the malls. It also found that although the managers had sufficient educational training for effective management, the complex nature of the facilities provided posed some management challenges. In addition, the general insecurity in the country posed some security challenges in spite of the provision of security devises such as camera and close circuit television (CCTV) in the various malls while the most challenging was the question of appropriate combination of right tenants (tenants mix) during tenant selection stage, monitoring human traffics within the mall during shopping hours was ranked the least challenge to managing shopping mall. The findings from this study will provide professional bodies and policy makers with relevant information to devise appropriate management framework for enhancing shopping mall investment objective.