The hottest trend in retail isn’t a brand but rather a name for a type of shopping experience—the “lifestyle center, which is sprouting throughout suburban America as both an adjunct to traditional malls and a stand-alone complex.

It is the shopping center industry’s version of the “Back to the Future” movies where a professor and his associate travel back in time in a sports car.

This 21st century version usually includes a streetscape ambience in an outdoor setting with the attraction of high-end retailers combined with the drive-up convenience of a strip shopping center to create the look of a old-fashioned town square.

In addition to one approved shopping center expansion in Joliet and another also being considered in that city also (see related article on page 1), other locations in the western and southwestern suburban areas of planned or recent developments of this type include:

• Oak Brook Promenade, at Butterfield and Meyers Roads. A number of the stores and restaurants at the NAI Hiffman development are open and others will be coming soon.

• The Shops at the Polo Club at the northeast corner of Route 59 and 119th Street in Plainfield. The development by Poag & McEwen is scheduled to open during August 2009.

In the western suburbs, one of the earliest lifestyle shopping areas was the Town Square portion of a shopping area just north of the Danada East and West centers near to the intersection of Naperville and Butterfield roads.

The property, which opened in 1992, is currently operated by Edgemark Commercial Real Estate of Oak Brook for a private limited partnership. It has ownership separate from the other shopping areas at the intersection of those two roads.

Poag & McEwen says it coined the term “lifestyle center” to describe the vision of Dan Poag “for easily accessible stores with better retailers and superior architecture and an inviting environment.”

The Shops of Saddle Creek developed in 1987 by Dan Poag and Terry McEwen in the Germantown section of Memphis was the company’s first fully conceived lifestyle center. Currently the company’s portfolio includes 12 such developments.

The research director at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Michael Baker, noted that lifestyle center has become a popular term to describe a range of different shopping center models.

The developers of lifestyle centers, according to Baker, say that well-heeled consumers are wild about them because they combine the magnetism of high-end retail, dining and entertainment with the drive-up convenience of a strip center.

The ICSC Research Advisory Task Force found that the centers typically range between 150,000 square feet and 500,000 square- feet of leasable retail area. “But ‘typically’ is an important word, because Lifestyle Centers on a list compiled by ICSC ranged from as little at 90,000 square feet of gross leasable space to as much as 760,000 square feet. The median size was 249,000 square-feet.

Lifestyle centers are open-air and usually include at least 50,000 square-feet of space devoted to upscale national chain specialty stores. These stores offer apparel, home goods, books and music.

“The widespread presence of nationally recognized retailers at Lifestyle Centers, however, does not preclude the important role of local independents. In fact, in some of the centers independents dominate the retail mix,” Baker said.

“Further, although many Lifestyle Centers have eschewed traditional mall anchors, some do have a department store, albeit commonly of a smaller format than its mall counterparts.”

Joining merchandise retailers in Lifestyle Centers are table-service restaurants and frequently multiplex cinemas as well, according to Baker. Many centers have other entertainment components, such as ice-skating rinks.

Baker added that another important component is the architecture of the buildings and the surrounding landscape. “Design ambience is critical. The centers often feature fountains and other landscaping elements that collectively recreate a village square, marketplace or Main Street atmosphere.”

The editor of Shopping Centers Today, an ICSC publication, said the lifestyle center format continues to grow. Edmund Mander said other formats also are strong, such as mixed-use developments where residential units, office space and hotels are included along with retail space. If approved by the city of Joliet, The bridge Street Town Centre would fit into that category.

Some developments have all these uses built from the start of construction, while on other sites residential units are added to an existing shopping center, Mander noted.