At 9 a.m. today, it became official — the building that has been known simply as The Mall will take on a new persona as Big Creek Crossing.

The name was announced at a naming celebration in the mall’s central court.

The process began in early March as Katie Dorzweiler, property manager, and Cody Dale, marketing director, began discussions on what the shopping center’s new image should be.

“On March 4, 2015, Cody Dale and I had an opportunity to sit down with our parent company’s management and marketing team with one goal in mind: to create a new name for The Mall in Hays, Kansas,” Dorzweiler said in an open letter to the community.

After seeing a trend in feedback about the shopping center, the team saw a need to adjust everything about the center.

The community “felt deflated, let down and frustrated,” Dorzweiler said. And so mall managers moved forward with “a group of experienced retail management minds” to work on how to make the property relevant again.

That group worked “to make this name stand for something to our community, something that they could be proud of again,” Dorzweiler said.

Through exploring why area residents shop at the Hays mall, the desired experience, demographics and comparative analysis a theme came through to the team.

“As we thought about our community, we kept coming back to words such as ‘neighborhood’ and ‘family’,” Dorzweiler said. “Our families actively invest in their children and they value traditions and togetherness. We aspire to include families in our activities and our family focused leasing strategies will continue to add backing to our brand. We want our shoppers to know and feel that this is their mall; their place to shop.”

With the new name the team developed a new brand promise.

“A friendly face, a warm smile, a person you know and that is a big deal. A new perspective on life, afresh look at who we are, where we fit and where we live and that is a big deal. A big part of the conversation is ‘We are your mall, your place to shop with family and friends, we are your neighborhood,’ ” she said.

Beside the change in attitude location also played a big part of the naming decision.

“The property itself is centrally located between the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and Interstate 70,” Dorzweiler said. “While we still have our small town values, we are well aware of the mark we can leave on visitors to our neighborhood. We can be the destination for family activities and family fashion, for you and other surrounding communities.

“So it is with great honor and pride that we not only present to you a new name, but a new perspective, a new persona and a new way to experience shopping with your family,” she added. “We wanted this name to tie back to the strong values and tradition Hays is based on, but even more than that, we want Big Creek Crossing to be where you return to shop and make memories with your family.”