In her article, the author undertook an attempt to describe the transformations in trade by way of analysis of trends related to contemporary shopping centres in Poland. Besides the review of definitions, she presented the so-called generations of shopping centres, or forms of their evolution, that constitute an answer to the changing trends in consumption. The criteria that decide membership in one of the four singled out generations of shopping centres are functions, which the shopping centre may perform, as well as the line-up of the mall, together with taking into account the operators operating in the centre.