Shoppers at Salem Center will soon be sharing the corridors with a new kind of patrol: a semi-autonomous security robot designed in Oregon to watch for problems, support human guards and offer a friendly hello along the way.
Salem Center announced that it is partnering with Daxbot, an Oregon robotics company, to deploy Dax security robots at the enclosed mall in downtown Salem. The robots will circulate during open hours, with a focus on spotting safety issues and helping maintain a steady security presence for both retailers and visitors.
“Safety and hospitality go hand in hand,” said Kelly McDonald, managing partner at Salem Center. “Daxbot’s units add security presence and a welcoming touchpoint for our guests while working alongside our on-site team.”
Instead of standing in one spot or tracing a predictable route, the robots are programmed to move on regular loops through interior corridors. As they travel, their job is to surface issues that may not be obvious at a glance — things like access concerns, areas that need attention or early signs of a safety incident. When the system flags a situation, it alerts on-site security staff, who can decide how to respond.
Mall leaders say that combination of continuous patrol and quick notification is meant to complement, not replace, human personnel. By handing off the repetitive work of walking long hallways and watching for minor problems, the robots free staff to focus on direct interactions with guests and on higher-priority incidents that require human judgment.
Daxbot positions itself as a “people-centric” company, and the shopper experience is a key part of the rollout at Salem Center. The robots will be clearly marked so visitors understand their role. They are designed to interact with guests in a way that feels approachable rather than intimidating, with movements and behavior intended to signal awareness and courtesy in crowded spaces.
According to the company, shoppers are welcome to treat the robots as part of the scenery of a modern mall. Photos are allowed, brief questions are encouraged and the units are meant to serve as a visible reminder that someone — or in this case, something — is looking out for safety in the background.
“It’s exciting to have Dax involved in a community so close to our home,” said Mason Reeves, security sales lead at Daxbot. “He’s there to help and to be a friendly face to visitors at the Salem Center.”
Behind the scenes, Daxbot runs its security platform as Robots-as-a-Service, or RaaS. Instead of the mall buying and maintaining its own hardware and software, the service bundles the robot, its operating system, 24/7 human overwatch, maintenance and uptime into a single package. For a site like Salem Center, that means the technology is treated as a service contract rather than a one-time purchase that can quickly become outdated.
The company says its deployments are meant to scale from a single property to multi-site portfolios with minimal infrastructure changes. That can be especially appealing for property managers who want consistent security standards across several locations without building an in-house robotics team.
Daxbot also emphasizes privacy and standards for what it calls “good” robots, a phrase it uses to describe systems that put human safety and comfort first. That includes being clear about what the robots are doing, limiting their role to security and operations work, and designing them to feel like part of a public space rather than an intrusive surveillance tool.
For Salem Center, the move brings together several themes that many retail centers are grappling with at once: the need to provide a safe environment, the pressure to operate efficiently and the desire to give visitors a reason to keep coming back in person. The mall is positioning the robots as one more element in that mix — a practical security tool, a modest technology showcase and, if all goes as planned, a conversation starter rather than a cause for concern.
Salem Center is an enclosed shopping destination in downtown Salem, serving the region with a variety of retail and dining options. Daxbot, based in Oregon, builds urban robots that put human safety and comfort first and provides security coverage for commercial properties, retail centers, campuses and private sites through its RaaS model.
