[7][8][9] As originally constructed, 280 Metro Center featured 363,000 square feet (33,700 m2) of gross leasable area on a 33-acre (13.3 ha) lot,[10] which was home to seven anchor tenants, 27 smaller shops, and a six-screen movie theater.
[5] The original seven anchors were Federated Electronics, The Home Depot, Herman's Sporting Goods, Marshalls, Nordstrom Rack, Pier 1, and The Wherehouse.
[11] Dissatisfied with long hikes through shopping malls to visit relatively small boutique tenants, American shoppers flocked to power centers where they could conveniently park directly in front of big-box stores.
[13] American consumers also found much lower prices at the stores in power centers, due to their relatively simple design, low overhead, and cheap rent.
[12][16] As of June 1995, a typical shopping mall tenant had to pay average monthly rent of $18 to $24 per square foot for their own space.
[12] Power centers have much lower costs than traditional enclosed regional malls for maintenance, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), electricity, and security for common areas.
Examples of such centers include: In Europe, any shopping center with mostly what are called "retail warehouse units" (U.K.) or "big box stores" or "superstores" (U.S.), 5,000 square metres (54,000 sq ft) or larger, is a retail park, according to the leading real estate company Cushman & Wakefield.