Please provide:
The sign itself is not a great place to socialise, exercise or explore, which is what I would take the “wayfarer criteria” rejection reason to mean. The sign can be used as a POI to represent the shopping plaza, which is listed under the eligibility criteria, but in your case you’ve specifically nominated it as the sign, rather than as the plaza.
I guess you could argue that the center itself is a good place to socialize and that it is an easily identifiable sign. In my region I think something like this would be very unlikely to be accepted. Honestly I wouldn’t even have bothered trying nominating an object like this. Each region seems to have its own criteria, so you could perhaps try nominating again. There is obviously an element of luck with the reviewing process. But I think it is likely to be rejected if you were to appeal to Niantic. 
I’m thinking that ML rejected this, as Wayfarer Criteria is one of the most common from ML. Did the email say “our team” or “our community?”
Also, there is clarification on these signs that says they may be eligible:
If it it’s the ML rejecting it, the trick might be to avoid triggering it. Perhaps an image that shows more of the surrounding area and a longer title and description.
I would actually drop Directory from the title, and for the description, emphasize the the shopping center and some of the shops you may find there, without mentioning any by name, especially if there are any that do meet the social/exercise/explore criteria.
I’ve actually been seeing more smaller shopping centers and plazas in my area getting Wayspots at their signs, but the title is for the center, and the description describes some of the things that can be done there, i.e. shop, eat, meet up with people, etc.
The title wording is all wrong , refresh the wording and give a good description of what it means to the community (instead of the other info you provided ) I think Emily reads too !
It’s also quite possible it activated this idea 
Thank-you. Ill take all of your comments on board and try again. I havent checked the email wordint yet but considering the turn around i feel like it wasnt himan reviewing. Was the main photo good?
It is silly when most people would understand its not the sign itself but where the sign is. I will try again. Make sure i don’t make any spelling errors this time lol Thank you once again. They really need better systems for this because if i wasnt determined to enhance my area to encourage in person gameplay I would gave given up with this rejection to accepted ratio. i had such fast approvals initially then one after another no. Finally 2 accepted this week. My two appeals alreay used and they came back no. One i understand despite not agreeing and the other blows my mind that it didnt go in when i looked at it and thought wow this is kinda cool and funky. was safe ect
Our Team Is that code for not a real eye ball making the entire choice.
“Our team” means that most likely the AI, also known as Machine Learning or ML, decided on your submission. If the decision comes within 24 hours after submitting and says this in the email, it’s typically the ML. If you haven’t received a decision after 24 hours, then it goes into the community queue for voting.
ML has been making a lot more decisions, especially within the last few months. It’s been helpful for rural areas or those with many submissions, and many edits are also being decided by ML.
At the same time, it has been rejecting good submissions; I had 2 rejected by ML last week as being duplicates, even though the our outdoor courthouse plaza has 4 war memorial stones that look similar, but are for different conflicts. Only 1 of the stones had a Wayspot, so I nominated the other 3, especially since the plaza is publicly open at all times. The 2 that were rejected as dupes by ML I did appeal, and have now been accepted.
