Olena Obukhivska, Communications Director at Arricano, in simple, human and frank words about where to look for a drive in difficult times.

First of all, what is a shopping mall for you in principle? A leisure center? A social space? A powerful infrastructure activator? One of the civilizers of the urban landscape?
In short, how would you formulate your attitude to such an object - a shopping mall?
I have been working in Arricano, which manages shopping malls in Kyiv and other regions, for almost six years. I observe in my own practice how both the shopping mall itself and the attitude of visitors to it change during this time. A few years ago, it was legitimate to talk about the shopping mall as a place of comfortable shopping, where residences of Ukrainian and international brands are represented under one roof – the Gruen effect. He was the first to develop the concept of malls – to accommodate hundreds of shops in a large, prestigious building for the convenience of customers.

Then Ukrainian shopping malls were transformed into social spaces of shopping and family leisure or as a "third place" of pastime. That is, a person spends time at home, at work, and in the shopping mall.

During the quarantine, the importance of the shopping mall has increased even more, because among all places of public importance - schools, museums, theaters, galleries - it is in the shopping mall that you can freely enter and spend time there in a comfortable atmosphere, where they guarantee cleanliness, order and safe stay. Children can take part in workshops for free, and parents can watch them socialize and interact with other children.

Another invaluable aspect of the shopping mall is the anthropological one. Young couples, friends, and families can get to know each other's preferences, habits, and life priorities better by being in the social space of the shopping mall, in society, among other people, communicating and solving their questions about purchases, needs, and wishes.

That is, the shopping mall offers a kind of social life. And everyone decides how he/she sees and positions himself/herself – casual and in a good mood or an elegant dress to meet someone new.

How do you feel when you enter your shopping mall (meaning the period of its normal operation)?
I love Prospekt shopping mall, RayON shopping center, Sun Gallery and City Mall shopping malls – they are all equally near and dear to me. Most often I visit Prospekt shopping mall and like to watch visitors. How a person behaves in a shopping mall – a lot can be concluded about them. This includes politeness in communicating with sellers, and the manner of behavior at a table in a restaurant, and how firmly a young couple holds hands, and how a father explains to his child that shoes must be tried on to buy.

What life hacks or maybe even know-how do you use to avoid bad moods, various depressions and negative states?
I understand the full depth of this issue. Many people feel abandoned and lonely today. After all, everyone used to work in the office in teams. And in remote mode, you need to rebuild yourself, become not only a performer, but also learn to dive independently and be a leader for yourself. That is, even under such conditions, do not "sit and wait", but consider, analyze and test possible scenarios of actions. This is relevant for my field of work in the corporate sector, for white-collar specialists and intellectual activities.
And also you need to move: running, dancing, doing exercises – these are the best exercises for me for depression. Although you have to work more on yourself in order not to allow yourself to be disappointed.

Do you have a favorite place in the shopping mall? Exactly in your shopping mall? What is it? Where is it? Why this place?
I think that this is a food court, when at a table with coffee you can plunge into yourself and abstract. And at the same time be in a dynamic society.

At the level of feelings - do you feel the support of regular visitors and the fact that they also miss their favorite shopping mall during its closure? If so, how can you say that? How does this manifest itself?
Yes, visitors are sad. They write to us and comment on social networks, constantly asking about the resumption of work of the shopping malls. When working remotely, you want to come to the shopping mall even more and get a taste of your own socialization.

If you use one word to indicate how you look to the future...
Name the word.
Every tomorrow opens up an infinite number of prospects.
Source: mallsclub