Woodland Mall, known to students as the “Small,” is undergoing renovations and updates to be more competitive with the surrounding malls.

These changes are being made in order to reflect what students want, but will expand to all ages.

So far, minor interior changes have been made to make stores more visible to customers. Canopies across the front of the mall have been removed, as well as trees that were used as decoration inside.

Christopher Holley, a sophomore who shops at the “Small” for its convenience, said, “When I go to a mall I’m going for shoes and clothes. I like a nice variety.”

Students are hoping the renovations of the mall will bring about new clothing and shoe stores that would better fit their diverse styles. “I want them to make it bigger and add more stores for every culture,” Holley said.

Sophomore Jori Beams-Baker agreed and said she would like to see a better variety of stores.

There are also plans of repainting, lighting changes and playing different selections of music that can be heard while shopping. Woodland Mall officials are planning to attract businesses and customers with the updates. Suggestions of adding Wi-Fi in a section of the mall where students can have online wireless access were also discussed.

Kelli Copeland, treasurer of Fad Watch, said, “The center area with the food court brings me down whenever I see it. It annoys me and makes me not want to shop because it looks terrible.”

Following the completion of its renovations, Copeland hopes the mall could help her organization, which is a fashion club on campus. “Hopefully we might be able to get sponsors for our fashion show. The mall might be able to give us fashion items to discuss at our meetings,” Copeland said.

Holley is excited that the “Small” is making changes. He thinks these changes are overdue. Holley said, “I just kind of settle if I go there. It’s not reliable to find the clothes I’m looking for.”

Beams-Baker is ready to see new stores in the mall, claiming that she would shop there more often if it was bigger and had more stores. “I’d like to see American Apparel.”

Others, like Copeland, are looking for multiple stores to join the mall. “Personally, I’d like to see Charlotte Russe, Wet seal, Forever 21 and stores like these. Nice stores that you can get something casual and something dressy from in the same store,” Copeland said.

Stores were not the only issue. “A food court would probably draw more people too,” Holley said.