General question when it comes to creating wayspots at a mall. What are some good POIs versus some not so good?
I know fixed structures like a fountain or courtyard with pergolas and gazebos are good. But are specific stores eligible to be wayspots?
For example, the Apple Store at my mall has a suspended light up Apple logo at the front of the store. Would that be a good wayspot? Or what about the Mall directory? Or guest services?
There’s a wayspot at my mall that’s just the “Macy’s Mall entrance” which I don’t think is unique or distinct yet it’s a wayspot. So I’m just trying to figure out what’re good things inside Malls to use as potential wayspots.
A food court is a great place to socialize. I wouldn’t vote favorably on an Apple logo thingy. They’re at every Apple store.
Do you feel comfortable sharing the specific mall so we can help find things? Malls are great places to play in inclement weather.
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Art is always a good call out so long as it isnt a part of a logo/ad. My local mall has a mural on one of the hallway walls of our downtown park. Maybe your mall has something like this 
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Yea absolutely. It’s the Towncenter Mall in Boca Raton Fl.
And lol, yea I submitted the Apple Store Apple Logo and it got denied. 
which I was surprised because literally one of the wayspots here is literally just the Macys Mall entrance. So I was confused why that’s a wayspot. lol
Most stores I am familiar with in a mall would be rejected as “generic business” and recognizable corporate art for them usually is as well.
Does this one have a play area?
As far as the Macy’s Entrance, sometimes things get accepted that shouldn’t be. And then don’t meet removal critieria. Possibly this had convincing information in the supporting section that it is a major entrance point for the mall but idk.
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Eww. I don’t mind adding POI at the larger entrances to a mall that serve the entire mall. But an entrance to just a store (especially from inside the mall) is not really eligible. However, this also doesn’t really meet removal criteria, so you’re stuck with it.
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Is this a chain? It might be eligible if you can make the case that people look forward to stopping here while they’re at the mall.
La Boulangerie Boul’Mich, an artisan French bakery with a Latin twist, open in the Oak Tree Valet court entrance, complete with bistro seating and French-style recipes that will satisfy any palate. The menu features options such as: croissants, pastries, eggs, omelets, signature sandwiches, fresh salads, vegetarian soups, and a large dessert selection. All La Boulangerie Boul’Mich goods are baked fresh and made from scratch.
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This area is really cool. You might be able to submit the fountain separate from the lounge. I am not looking at cells, so I don’t know if you would need to place the pin on a particular side of the lounge to get it to appear. But IMO, the fountain meets Explore criteria while the lounge meets Socialize so they are functionally different wayspots.
This is another nice lounge area with a cool art piece lighting fixture
If worse comes to worse, you could try to get a POI for these lighting sculptures. But you wouldn’t be able to get a wayspot for each one of them, just the series. So be thoughtful about where you pin it.
Ooh, these are butterflies so they are a different set of lighting sculptures
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This is a social seating/eating area
Do you know how Pokemon Go uses S2 cells? There aren’t a lot of empty cells there where stops could show up:
I was trying to check to see if this I saw on their website is already a Wayspot:
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Lol. I’m still gonna post the things I find because it may help others know what to look for in malls.
This is a cool art piece inside a restaurant at the mall, maybe that bakery I listed above.
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oh absolutely! they may become power spots if they aren’t stops or gyms!
(also for most of us there is a limit of three posts in a row before discourse won’t let us post again. thought i would throw in a relevant comment to break yours up =) )
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Oh wow! Thank you so much!!
So the light fixtures are there just for Christmas.
I did submit the butterfly fixture I’m waiting to hear back on that one.
As for the S2 cells, yes I’m aware of them and how they work. It’s the reason why I wanted to get rid of the sponsored stops I have in the mall taking up cells, Starbucks and GameStop. I also wanted to move the Macy’s entrance wayspot to its correct location because where it is now, is not where it is IRL. (But that recently got denied 
)
The Saks fountain is another one I want to move to its correct location. Because moving it to its proper cell would open up a cell that has some really cool things in it. I’ll post pictures of what it is.
Right outside of the L’Boulangerie is this little plaza with a little library and these bird houses. Much cooler and more unique than a boring fountain. lol
The best way to do this is through help chat at Niantic Wayfarer
You can give them geo-tagged photos to prove it is where you say it is. They can also do moves smaller than 10m, even though the prompt says >10m.
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It’s really hard to verify the location when a wayspot is indoors, and GPS often doesn’t work too well either.
In the supporting photo, try to show the wayspot in context with nearby storefronts. If you can find an online map of the mall this will help reviewers locate the wayspot, you can include the link in the supporting text.
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To go along with this, one of the malls i have filled out has big glass panels on the roof to let in light. Those can easily be seen on satellite. If the thing im submitting is in an area where those are visible indoors, i make sure to shoot the 2nd photo to show them and talk through that in supplemental. That may be unique to my situation, but keep that kind of thing in mind.
Same with stuff like escalators or elevators. Those will be marked on maps. So i have done a collage and circled the elevator on the map and circled it in the 2nd photo so it is really obvious.
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