The 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall

Origins of the Mall

The building which would become the 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall was originally constructed to house temporary visitors for a long-forgotten sporting event several decades ago. This building's purpose was to house the thousands of athletes, fans, media, etc. that were to attend the event — only the first floor was designed and built to house shops. These shops were limited to necessities for the visitors living on the above floors, this included a barber, a grocer, a restaurant and bar, and a large spa, amongst a few other shops of lesser note. 
However, once the sporting event ended all of the visitors living in the upper floors would slowly leave. Leaving the businesses below to slowly begin to die. Or that was what was supposed to happen at least. 
The building was originally slated for demolition several weeks after the sporting event had ended, clearing the monstrous building for a more subletly designed series of permanent residence structures. A development in line with the design philosophy of the city of Gung-ho. However, this demolition simply never occurred. No one is sure as to why, it just didn't happen for some reason. Theories have persisted to this day, of course, with some believing that the shopkeepers knew about the demolition plan and didn't want to go out of business, so they bribed the demolition team to no show. Others believe that the date was never booked, a simple clerical error, or that the demolition team simply forgot to show up. Regardless the building stood firm, and time began to pass. 
Oddly, the city of Gung-ho would never reschedule this demolition, and for the first two years after the sporting event ended the shop owners of the first floor continued to do business, despite the vast majority of the building being empty. These days were sad, the building seeming eerily empty and deadly quiet on all floors but the first. A whisper from the bottom floor foyer could supposedly be heard echoing all the way up the central chamber to the top floors.
Despite these quiet days many of the first-floor shops continued to operate, relying upon their regulars and their loyal customers to survive these trying times. Eventually, these remaining shop owners got together and hatched a plan to fix their financial woes and potentially bring life to the ailing building. They would offer to buy it from the city and revamp it into a massive shopping structure. One that would not only bring them financial gain but improve the city of Gung-ho's economic struggles, which had only ramped up since the lackluster sporting event a few years prior.

The 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall today

The city, to the shop owners surprise, agreed with their plan and sold the building to them for a rather discounted price.
This was in part due the city's eagerness to offload any costly building to private entities to help stem the flowing tide of their increasing debt.
The city, while willing to relieve their ownership of the building to the shop owners, didn't actual expect the project to be success. Quite the opposite.
They full expected the project to fail, but now the responsibility lay with their new owners and not with them. 
However, as would become evident over the following decades, the building would not be a failure. Quite the opposite.

It took the new owners a few years to retrofit the building before they could officially re-open as the newly christened 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall. Advertised as a one-hundred-plus floor shopping and entertainment structure for families, friends, and everyone.
And while the first few years after its re-grand opening were a struggle, success would come. The struggle primarily laid in that most businesses were not sold on the layout of the mall. Because the building was originally created for housing, it had a layout not really intended for ease of shoppers. It was tall, far taller than it was wide or long, shoppers had to travel up and not across. And shops were worried that the higher they were stationed the less traffic they would get. Also, ammenties like washrooms were all over the place, hidden in strange corners and hidey holes due to the buildings piping, again, being designed initially for housing and not a mall.
All of this was true, and it did initially present a rather difficult time for the owners of the building and their new tenants alike. But slowly but surely, by curiosity at first, attendance at the mall would rise and then continue to rise. And by its tenth anniversary, the mall was packed by both retailers and shoppers alike. Officially becoming a massive success.
Today, several decades down the line, the retrofitted building that is the 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall is the most popular mall in all of Federated Territories of Vash space. Each floor is packed with shops, restaurants, bars, inns, attractions, and more. Space is limited, and vacant spots in the rare occasion they become available are auctioned to the highest bidder. Those willing to pay the highest monthly rent win the right to lease the space. The descendants of the original shopkeepers still own and manage the building, many of them outside of managing the building also operate multiple franchised locations of their original stores throughout the mall.

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Popular Shops and Amenities

The 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall is jam-packed with a variety of shops, amenities and attractions to keep guests both entertained and encouraged to continue shopping for long stretches of time. The main structure of the mall is a tall, one-hundred-plus level, building. The vast majority of its stores and attractions are centred here, around a central air vent. However, over the years side passages, hallways, and all sorts of nooks and crannies have been filled with a variety of places to visit. Described in short below; 

Shops and Storefronts

Shops and storefronts take up the vast majority of space in the 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall. If you can think of it, it likely exists somewhere in this mall. From popular high-tech gadgets and futuristic devices to fashion boutiques offering the latest in interstellar trends. Including fashion brands like Orbital, LightSpeed, and ZeroG — and tech brands like Pear, Q, and TechNun.
The 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall has just about everything. But the mall doesn't stop at the standard array of mall-bound gifts, collectibles, and clothing. It also houses stores such as, Nebular Novelties and Rare Collectibles, a shop renowned for its unique array of rare, historic, and expensive items. Including the occasional sale of an Abnormality Objects or two.

A small snapshot of the stores tucked away from the central corridor of the mall.

One floor of the mall, at an obscene monthly rental cost, has been completely taken over by the Starship Bargain Exchange. A used spacecraft company that has been operating out of the mall for several years now. They have many models on display, both high-end and economy models, in the mall and offer deals at suspiously high discounted rates.
Also, due to its sheer size, several less-than-savoury shops have taken residence, tucked into quiet corners on less frequented floors. These shops sell less than legal items, including pharmaceuticals, information brokering, and even the sale of illegal weapons and technology.

Attractions and Events

Outside of its array of stores and food options, the 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall is also home to a variety of amazing entertainment and distraction-oriented attractions and events. This includes the Zero-Grav Central Zone, where shoppers can experience weightlessness in a mostly safe area in the central air shaft of the mall high above on Floor 78. Or the amazing Alien Aquarium, which takes up half a floor by itself and showcases of a variety of exotic marine life from dozens of planets and systems.
The mall also conducts a variety of daily contests and sweepstakes for shoppers, including the (in)famous Credit for Corruption Discount where shoppers can gain substantial discounts and exclusive deals and items by participating in morally dubious acts which are then filmed for the amusement of other shoppers.

Elevator System

Hundreds of elevators and escalators can be found amongst the maze of the mall, allowing shoppers to travel to whatever floor they wish. Though the elevator and escalator system is not as intuitive and easy to use as most shoppers would like, as it is designed to be somewhat debilitating, slow, and confusing.
Not one elevator runs from the bottom to the top of the building, if any shopper wishes to make this journey, they must take the first-floor elevator, which only runs to about the twelve floors, and then trek across the mall to an adjacent wall and then take another elevator, which again only rises about a dozen floor, and then repeat until the shopper's final destination is achieved.

 
Escalators are similar, with each one only connecting from one floor to another, and it's not always from one floor to the floor above, sometimes they skip a floor or two, making the system even more confusing.
This was intentionally designed to encourage shoppers to walk past other stores and businesses, in the hopes that they will stop and potentially enter into the storefront. Thus extending their stay and potential purchasing potential.

Food

A mall of this size isn't complete with a vast selection of food and beverage options. At least two dozen food courts have been established of varying sizes, through the mall so that its shoppers can be fed and watered with convenience throughout their shopping experience. Popular food franchises like Atro Burgers, with their protein-stacked micro-burgers, and Planetary Pizzeria with their zero-gravity cheese pizzas.
One-off food stalls and carts also operate in the mall and can be found on most floors, the most popular of which being the Spirulina Protein Stick and COOL Drink carts that sell the two popular items as at a discounted combo.

The ever-popular Spirulina Protein Stick, sold on almost every floor of the mall.

Hotels and Spas

The mall is so big, that it would take several days to travel between its first floor and its final top floor and see everything in between. This is why there are several hotels throughout the mall where people can stay for as long as they wish. The range of hotels varies greatly, from the small and somewhat grimy Cosmic Comforts Motel to the luxurious and grand Starbright Hotel Company. The mall encourages a blend of motels, inns, and hotels to be present and operating in the mall so that shoppers of all economic stratum can have access to accommodations during their extended mall stay.
Spas are also a common sight in the mall, often near or on the same floors as the aforementioned hotels. These spas also vary in scope and focus, some like the Stellar Hot Spring Sanctuary, a rather ambitious quarter-floor operation that offers visitors relaxation in the form of synthetic hot springs that they have built in the mall. Or for a more complete package, the Cosmic Harmony MedSpa, which also takes up a large chunk of its floor, attached to the Starbright Hotel Company, is advertised as a wellness retreat — Where visitors can spend days getting pampered with various spa treatments including massages, aromatherapy, salt baths, and more.

Summary

The 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall is a former temporary housing structure of more than one hundred floors that has been remodelled into Livio's preeminent shopping mall. Boasting thousands of stores, this massive shopping structure is a popular destination for both locals and visitors to the planet of Livio and the city of Gung-ho.
Originally designed to house visitors for a long-forgotten sporting event, the first floor was initially the only floor designed for shopping. After a botched attempt at levelling the building, the original shopkeepers would buy the building and slowly develop it into what it is today. Now many years later, the ageing mall is still popular with both businesses and shoppers alike, with empty space being sold at a premium, often via auction.

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Architectural Design

The 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall is a sprawling mass of stores, restaurants, and other entertainment attractions all stacked atop of one another in a vertical shaft of over a hundred floors. Every nook and cranny, side hallway, and corner has been filled with some sort of store, restaurant, or attraction.
Hundreds of escalator crises cross between the advertisement-laden floors. Posters, displays, and billboards are strung about everywhere advertising the various wares and deals of the shops within the mall. The shopping mall is a chaotic mess, that despite its continued popularity is beginning to show its age.

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Potential Buyout

While the original shop owners are still the principal owners and operators of the 100+ Gung-ho Shopping Mall a new party is reportedly interested in taking over. This party, an unknown and unnamed Mega-Corpo, or conglomeration of Mega-Corpos, has been slyly reaching out to each of the owners independently and gauging their willingness to sell their share, and to what cost it would take.
While it would take an enormous amount of cash and influence to take the ownership of this incredibly profitable mall away from the owners it is likely within this corporation's power to at least entice the current owners into at least pausing before making their ultimate decision. Many of the owners are becoming weary with the running of the mall, after decades of work, and not all of them can simply pass their stake down to a family member or child. So, the possibility of the mall being sold soon is more a possibility than most would care to admit.

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