ABSTRACT
Shopping malls are derived from department stores dating back to the mid-nineteenth century, with the first enclosed mall constructed in 1956. Malls have generally been designed with a focus on the concepts of the ‘Gruen Transfer’ and ‘Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation’. Studies focusing on the toy industry are particularly relevant given the blurring between education and entertainment noted by Scanlon and Buckingham. Westfield malls are networked commercial spaces described on their website as the ‘global brandspace’ of the Westfield Group. Spatial arrangements, including clustering of outlets and strategies for directing movement, channel parent consumers and bring them into contact with these products. Learning Ladder is an example of a ‘party plan’ system under which a local distributor employs her or his social network to find buyers. Producers of early learning products, as well as those using the promise of early learning to sell other products, are taking advantage of every avenue in their efforts to reach parent consumers.
