Every get the urge to go for a little comfort food as the winter drags on (and on, and on)? Merry Hill shoppers are being encouraged to go for it in the best possible way. The center is spending all of February promoting its tasty, tasty eateries.

Here’s the scoop: it’s calling February “Food Explorer Month” and rewarding shoppers who are willing to be a little courageous with their food choices. For starters, customers can play food reviewer whenever they eat at the center this month. For each meal purchased at the centre, customers will receive a review card to rate their experience. Not only will completed entries give shoppers the chance to win a £50 meal at Pizza Express, but their opinions will be counted. At the end of the month, one food outlet will be named Merry Hill’s First Class Eatery based on its reported merits in friendliness, tastiness, efficiency and value.

The center is also bringing in experts like Dr. Carrie Ruxton, an award-winning nutritionist, to make sure shoppers know how to explore food while considering their health. Samples will abound, and Little Explorers will get to participate for some half-term fun. Shoppers can also pick up food passports with some truly fantastic dining deals.

According to Kelly Reed, the center’s marketing manager, the idea is to “celebrate a variety of foods and to shine a spotlight on the great food options we have at Merry Hill for our customers to enjoy.” Hopefully everyone will tuck in for a good time.

Cupid’s arrow can be an elusive thing. We look for love all over, and sometimes we just can’t find it. But General Growth Properties hopes shoppers will persist long enough to win big at Northridge Fashion Center and many other centers nationwide.

The Where is the Love? challenge sends shoppers on a digital scavenger hunt for a little love. Those who find cupid, red lips and hearts adorned with QR codes are in luck: when scanned, they enter the shopper to win one of 30 $10 gift cards that will be awarded each day.

But that is, of course, not the ultimate prize. True romantics will get a chance to win a seven-day, six-night vacation for two to Kauai, Hawaii. They’ll be off to the new Kauai Marriott Resort on Kalapaki Beach with round trip airfare for two, hotel accommodations and airport transfers.

Persistence usually helps win hearts, and it will also help shoppers win the big prize. A shopper’s first scan awards one sweepstakes entry; finding a second code to scan awards five more, and the most persistant will get an extra ten for their third scan.

“Smartphones now play such a central part of our everyday lives, so we try to create fun and engaging promotions to keep our guests entertained while shopping at our malls,” said Keith Maladra, VP Digital Marketing, GGP. “This likely is the largest mall-based QR code promotion to date and just one example of how we’ll continue to use integrated mobile media at GGP.”

We’ve gotta admit, Brookside shopping centre went all out for its Australia Day Family Fun Day. Sounds like one of those days when we ate all the candy floss, rode all the rides and ended up sick at the end of the day. Sick, but so very happy.

With a receipt for a $5 purchase or a coupon from the event flyer, kids could pick up a wrist band for unlimited rides. That’s the Supa Swings, rock walls, jumping castles, super slides and cup ‘n saucer rides in one parking lot. Across the way, there was a petting zoo, pony rides, mini golf and a merry-go-round. That’s a lot of swinging and spinning.

Shoppers inside weren’t spared from the fun: Aussie-centric shows at center stage, free face painting, and supervised kiddie workshops for the parents that actually want to get some shopping done.

Oh, and candy floss. So much candy floss. Good luck with that, parents.

Is there a better way to spend long winter evenings than curled up at home with your favorite… mall? That’s exactly what Billings Bridge is planning with its Play and Win promotion.

This is a promotion with low overhead and four very important goals: connecting with shoppers on Twitter and Facebook, through its e-newsletter and in the center. To pull it off, Billings Bridge created a scene: a cozy winter evening with a few of its shoppers’ favorite activities.

Center court was set up with a sofa, a television and a mannequin dressed in warm pyjamas. With them were four fun (but relatively simple) prize packs: an OPI nail polish set, the Pirates of the Caribbean Blu-Ray box set and a Snuggie, four of the hottest board games, and an Xbox 360 with the just-released Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Each of these things is part of a picture perfect evening at home alone or with friends, and the center made it easy to enter to win. The nail polish is up for grabs to one lucky newsletter subscriber, the films will go to a Facebook fan, the board games to a Twitter follower, and the priciest prize to someone who goes to the effort of filling out a ballot at the center court display.

A simple concept with straightforward execution, but Billings Bridge really pulled off the details.

Ah, the French. Paris may be the City of Lights, but it’s also the city of love, launching thousands of romantic dreams. Just look at this, a wall dedicated to love, the phrase “I love you” written a thousand different ways.

LINK Real Estate is bringing that romantic spirit to its shopping centers just in time for Valentine’s Day this year, with French treats and atmosphere and a Love Wall for its shoppers. This one isn’t yet a work of art, though – it must be filled with messages of love between its shoppers first.

A French theme runs throughout the festivities, with decorations featuring giant French pastries and a reproduction of the Eiffel Tower in amongst celebrity singers, photo-shoots and give-aways. And warm-hearted shoppers who spend more than HK 500 (about 64 USD) on any of the days leading up to Valentine’s will take home red roses or a box of French macarons.

Shoppers at Link’s shopping centers should also tally up their receipts between January 20th and February 5th. The top ten spenders over that time period will win a candlelit dinner for two at Stanley Plaza on the big day, an exclusive Valentine’s Day gift, and the chance to win even more in an instant draw.