Most centers offer a mix of goods and services and are relatively unspecialized. Some shopping centers, however, have been planned as specialized centers. Possible specializations include high fashion, home improvement, and factory outlet stores. They may create a festival atmosphere by featuring a mix of boutiques and ethnic foods within a restored historic building or other interesting structure. Some have become tourist destinations to be experienced, rather than places to shop for particular items.
Location is another way in which planned shopping centers differ from one another.
Some centers are located in the central cities of metropolitan areas, occasionally in the central business district. It is even possible for a planned shopping center to be located in a predominantly rural area well removed from any metropolitan area. A final way to classify centers is by spatial layout. It is common for businesses in older and smaller centers to be arranged in a strip, with storefronts in a straight line. Another arrangement is the open island, surrounded by parking, where people walk from one business to another in the open air.