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Creative entrepreneur helps beleaguered malls survive amid market shift

Mall operators seeking to draw more customers are turning to companies like US Design Lab to add a dose of fun to the experience.

By Louis Llovio
| 5:00 a.m. February 16, 2024
| 0 Free Articles Remaining!

Michele Oca, founder and chief creative director of US Design Lab in Tampa, designed Elev8 Fun at Citrus Park Town Center in Hillsborough County.

Tampa Bay-Lakeland

For years now, as the conversation about the changing retail landscape has raged on, a common topic has been what the future of traditional malls are.

There are naysayers who say they are doomed. There are those who believe these huge properties can be redeveloped and repurposed. And then there are those who say they are still gathering spots and are in need of reinvention.

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Louis Llovio

Louis Llovio is the deputy managing editor at the Business Observer. Before going to work at the Observer, the longtime business writer worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Maryland Daily Record and for the Baltimore Sun Media Group. He lives in Tampa.