IELTS Writing Practice: Large Shopping Centers (positive or negative) In recent years, many small local shops have closed because customers travel to large shopping centers or malls to do their shopping. Is this a positive or a negative development? --------------------------------------- Centralized shopping malls have been increasingly booming during the past decade, whilst small shops have undergone a recession. This essay agrees that this is a positive phenomenon. Modern large shopping centers often come with decent surroundings, various goods, passionate services, all of those comprise a much better shopping experience than small stores. Moreover, consumers often find that the prices at shopping malls are lower which results in fewer people heading towards local shops. Take WallMart as prime example, as world’s leading sales enterprise, it conveys a variety of hight quality products with less charge. Another benefit is that shopping malls will improve our society’s efficiency. Experts from economic fields tell us that scale effect can reduce average cost through making the best use of resources - the resources like capital, labors, lands and raw materials etc. Small shops, however, will never reach the scale effect. According to an economic report conducted by National Economy, a state owned research organization, reveals that large shopping centers create about 25% to 40% more values per unit than small shops. In conclusion, large shopping centers have overwhelming advantages to small shops, offering better shopping experiences and lower cost, which can be seen as an evolvement of modern commerce.