The Minnesota Marvel celebrated its 25 Years As North America’s Largest Retail And Entertainment Complex in 2017.
At a time when big-name stores such as Macy’s and Sears are closing branches throughout the USA and shopping complexes across the country are feeling the pinch because of online shopping, Mall of America (MOA) in Bloomington, Minnesota, just keeps on breaking records.
So much so that MOA, the largest retail and entertainment complex in North America, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary with a series of events, celebrity appearances, promotions and concerts. And in that quarter of a century the statistics the Mall has built up are just staggering.
More than a billion people have visited the Mall since its opening. That’s 40 million visitors annually despite economic fluctuations and outlet mall and internet competition. Tourists, who make up 40 per cent of the visitors, spend around $600 million a year at the Mall, out of the $1.2 billion that crosses the counters. In fact, international visitors spend two-and-a-half-times more per visit than the average local shopper.
Checking out one of the Mall’s 520-some shops at Mall of America
The building itself covers 5.6 million square feet and is large enough to house 43 Boeing 747 aircraft. It has around 520 stores; 50 restaurants, ranging from elegant dining to fun family eateries; 28 rides and attractions in Nickelodeon Universe, the largest indoor theme park in the United States; a 1.3-million gallon aquarium; and the Barnacle Blast Zip Line, which is the longest indoor zip line in North America at 405 feet long and 55 feet above ground. There are also two on-site hotels – the Radisson Blu (500 rooms) and JW Marriott (342), both of which offer concierge package pick-up from the Mall. Then there’s an important added attraction: no sales tax on clothing or shoes in Minnesota.
MOA is owned by the New York-based Triple Five Worldwide, which opened Canada’s West Edmonton Mall in 1982. It was the first retail centre in the world to combine shopping, eating and entertainment, with hundreds of stores, restaurants, an indoor theme park, a water park and a hotel.
After a new stadium was built for the Minnesota Vikings NFL team and Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball team, leaving the site of the old, demolished stadium empty for several years, the governor of Minnesota got the owners of the West Edmonton Mall interested in creating Mall of America on the site, says Doug Killian, MOA’s Senior Director of International Tourism. Building started in 1989, involved 10,000 workers over three years and cost $650 million. The Mall opened on August 11, 1992.
ADDITIONAL MALLS ARE NOW PLANNED
“Sceptics said it would never be successful long term after the novelty wore off, but here we are today, 25 years later, and the Mall has been very successful,” says Killian. “Now, Triple Five Worldwide is building American Dream, a large retail and attraction destination located in New Jersey at the Meadowlands. It will open in spring of 2019 with 350 stores, an indoor water park, theme park and ski hill, restaurants and attractions. They also have plans to create American Dream Miami, which is conceived as being larger than Mall of America. It is expected to open within the next ten years.” Malls, he points out, like theme parks, can never stay still. They are always looking for ways of attracting new customers and encouraging repeat visits.
“We have a lot of brands that you will find in London, Paris, Los Angeles and New York, but we are always searching and trying to find new brand names,” says Killian. Asked about competition from outlet malls, he replies: “We have one outlet store in the Mall, Nordstrom Rack, which has different goods to our regular Nordstrom store. But I say we are better than the outlet malls because on any given day there are at least 100 stores that have prices that will match or beat the prices at an outlet centre.”
Over the years, stores have come and gone. One, MinneNAPolis, offered the chance to catch a power nap at 70 cents a minute; it only lasted a few months. Sox Appeal, on the other hand, which prompted the question 25 years ago,
“How can you have a store that just sells socks?”, is still there. Today, relative newcomer ME3D offers visitors the chance to have a 3D image of themselves, “combining photogrammetry and 3D printing technology.” Also using 3D technology, the Escape Game is a new attraction in which contestants have an hour to solve million-dollar robberies, decode secret service missions, or navigate through prison passageways.
“We try to add one new ride a year in our theme park,” says Killian, “but limited space means it can only be by subtraction and addition. A new ride can generate more revenue and more excitement so we are always looking for new opportunities.”
New family attractions that have opened recently include FlyOver America and FlyOver Canada (both soaring flight simulation rides and both highly recommended), Crayola Experience (with 25 hands-on activities, it’s ideal for young children and their families) and SMAAASH (cutting-edge virtual reality experiences, two-level go-kart racing and other attractions).
One feature of the Mall that makes finding a store or attraction very easy is the interactive information guides located throughout the building. Enter into the guides what you’re looking for and they respond, sat-nav style, with precise directions. Text, tweet or Facebook the Mall’s high-tech ESP (Enhanced Service Portal) centre to find a parking spot, report a faulty loo or check the latest sales promotion and you’ll get a response almost immediately.
Looking towards Christmas, Killian tells me about the Mall’s three Santa Clauses, tweets that can prompt ‘snow’ falling inside the building, and the facility to send advance information via social media regarding a child’s present requests so that Santa can hand it over to the child’s surprise.
You might even get the impression they think of everything!
STAYING OVERNIGHT: Both the Radisson Blu and JW Marriott are linked to Mall of America.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.mallofamerica.com,
