This paper sets out a theoretical justification for the dispersion of nonanchor stores by store type in shopping malls and presents some preliminary evidence to support it. We start with the basic theoretical outline of spatial economic behaviour developed by Ingene and Ghosh (1990) and expand it to include customer traffic in two directions. The results of this economic model of customer behaviour are discussed in the context of shopping malls. Simple assumptions about points of supply and demand in shopping malls provide the basis for a general test of the model. Using an algorithm called the p-median problem, and a database of several regional and super regional shopping malls scattered throughout the United States, we found that the supply of goods of the same type was dispersed throughout the mall and consistent with the model.

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