Southlake Mall goes digital: river and trees to be digitally created

Southlake Mall is set to launch a shopping experience unlike any other in the U.S. and most of it will be completely digital.

Mall officials aim to bring technology and nature together for shoppers and promise that the end result will be inspiring and stunning.
The mall’s interior will feature a state of the art digital river, the first in the State of Indiana. The 50-foot-long river, which will flow through the center court of the mall, will also be interactive. Mall visitors can access seven iPads located along the perimeter of the river to create their own flowers and even fish, which will then appear. The lower end of the river will feature digitally produced salmon which shoppers can observe swimming upstream. 

“This unique element offers a relaxing ambience for our shoppers,” Southlake Mall Marketing Director Erin Webster said. “It is intended to be a place for families to gather, take a break from shopping, grab a coffee and enjoy playing with the digital river. The digital river is being entirely custom built and is a first of its kind,” Webster said. “The only Starwood Retail property to have anything similar would be the digital tree at Louis Joliet Mall.”

The center court will also feature a new seating area that will create a park-like atmosphere for shoppers with shimmering leaves waving overhead. 

Starwood Retail purchased the 1.36 million-square-foot mall from Westfield in 2013.