galerie

English translation: shopping centre (UK), shopping arcade (UK), shopping mall (US)

10:08 Jul 19, 2001

French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Bus/Financial

French term or phrase: galerie

"Le rachat par X du portefeuille de Y, qui comprenait 6 centres commerciaux et des parts de coproprietes plus reduites dans la galerie du centre Carrefour". Does galerie refer to the part of the shopping centre that consists of a long corridor with lots of stores and restaurants? Is the word "mall" appropriate and do the British use the term mall? Thanks, Karen

Karen Tucker (X) KudoZ activity Questions: 393 (none open) (6 closed without grading) Answers: 288 United States
Local time: 10:44

English translation:shopping centre (UK), shopping arcade (UK), shopping mall (US)

Explanation:
Traditionally the most common term would be "galerie marchande". In a big supermarket or hypermarket, there is usually a host of small shops under the same roof. The bigger the supermarket, the bigger the "galerie" and the bigger the names with a retail outlet there. A well-known UK example would be the Metro Centre in Tyneside.

Ordinary UK English would be "shopping centre", or even "covered shopping centre" - here "Carrefour Shopping Centre". "Mall" is sometimes used in the UK, but rarely...

shopping mall

Syn.
shopping arcade
mall
galerie marchande n. f.

Syn.
mail n. m.
galerie commerciale n. f.

Terme(s) apparenté(s)
galerie de boutiques n. f.
boutiquaire n. m.

Déf. :
Passage réservé au commerce couvert ou, parfois, souterrain, bordé de magasins ou de boutiques

Note :
Généralement galerie marchande d'un grand aéroport, d'une gare moderne, d'une grande station de métro, d'un parking souterrain, d'un grand ensemble...; les galeries marchandes des rues souterraines de Tokyo.
Généralement bordé de boutiques de luxe. (R)

Selected response from:

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 16:44

Grading comment

Thanks, Nikki, for the thorough explanation and resources. I was confused because it seemed as if the text is making a distinction between "galerie" and "centre", i.e. that they are investing in the galerie and not in the entire centre. Do you think that's possible to invest just in the arcade and not in the entire shopping centre? Karen
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

na +2

shopping centre (UK), shopping arcade (UK), shopping mall (US)

Nikki Scott-Despaigne

na +1

mall or gallery

Alain R

shopping mall, shopping centre

Nigel Patterson

shopping arcade

VBaby

superstore (centre Carrefour)

VBaby

Absolutely!

Nikki Scott-Despaigne

Answers

26 mins peer agreement (net): +1

mall or gallery

Explanation:
mall is OK if you're sure that the Carrefour is a shooping mall.
You could also use galley which is a more generic term
Déf. : gallery : (dom. bâtiment)
Large passage intérieur ou extérieur (mais en principe couvert) à un édifice, de plain-pied avec les autres parties d'un même niveau, à usage de communication ou de dégagement.
Passage de plus grandes dimensions que le hall ordinaire donnant accès à plusieurs pièces ou à un balcon intérieur
galerie marchande: shopping mall
Déf. :
Passage réservé au commerce couvert ou, parfois, souterrain, bordé de magasins ou de boutiques
Note :
Généralement galerie marchande d'un grand aéroport, d'une gare moderne, d'une grande station de métro, d'un parking souterrain, d'un grand ensemble...; les galeries marchandes des rues souterraines de Tokyo.
Généralement bordé de boutiques de luxe. (R)

grand dictionnaire

Alain R
Canada
Local time: 10:44
PRO pts in pair: 26

34 mins

shopping mall, shopping centre

Explanation:
Alain R is right in pointing you to the term 'shopping mall', but to me as a Brit this has a decidedly American flavour. That isn't to say that people in the UK never say 'mall'; like so many other US terms, this is creeping gradually into UK English, especially as we start building bigger shopping centres. But I think that 'shopping centre' still sounds better in the UK for now.

I don't think 'galley' works at all. (Sounds like a ship's kitchen to me!)

Nigel Patterson
United States
Local time: 09:44
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 24

35 mins peer agreement (net): +2

shopping centre (UK), shopping arcade (UK), shopping mall (US)

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 16:44
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 4638

Grading comment

37 mins

shopping arcade

Explanation:
You're right: this is the long corridor with lots of stores.
The word used in Britain is arcade, or shopping arcade.
Mall is understood but not used widely. When it is, it refers more to a large, out-of town complex and not to a single shopping arcade

Larousse Fran�ais-Anglais
Reference: http://www.shoppingarcade.co.uk/

VBaby
Local time: 15:44
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in pair: 401

44 mins

superstore (centre Carrefour)

Explanation:
A quick footnote: large shopping centers operated by companies such as Carrefour, Tesco, Wal-Mart etc. are referred to as "superstores" in the UK.

Reference: http://www.trainingzone.co.uk/toolkit/marketing01.html
Reference: http://www.intofrance.co.uk/destinations/guides/printGuide.a...

VBaby
Local time: 15:44
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in pair: 401

2 hrs

Absolutely!

Explanation:
After having seen a few documentaries on the subject (Capital, Emmanuel Chain on M6 in particular!) the way these places operate is fascinating. Leclerc for example buys land which they can develop, often simply doing a bigger and 'better' job right next to a competitor in the same field.

The superstore is genrally out on a franchise basis to some guy who has to put up a lot of money to start off with but can usually get some excellent returns if he manages things well. The space for the shops in the arcade is usually leased out in the form of units - another source of income! No idea whether this money goes to the superstore company or to the guy whose business it is... but each of the shops in the arcade is a separate independent business and nothing to do with the superstore. Perhaps the arcade bit is sold off to another company which then handles the leasing etc. In any event, the corporate identities are spearate, investment for them is too, no doubt!

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 16:44
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in pair: 4638

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