Original photo by Zoonar GmbH/ Alamy Stock Photo
Baseball, apple pie, and shopping — all three are American favorites. So it may be a bit surprising that one of the country’s largest shopping destinations is overseen by our neighbors to the north. That’s right: The Mall of America is owned by Canadians. Despite its name, the supersized shopping complex — found just outside Minneapolis in Bloomington, Minnesota — was developed by the Triple Five Group, a Canadian retail and entertainment conglomerate. Notably, while the Mall of America is truly humongous, it was once surpassed in sheer size by the West Edmonton Mall, a Canadian shopping center built by the same company in the 1980s, which reigned for decades as the largest mall in North America.
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It's a factImagine heating a building the size of nine Yankee Stadiums. The astronomical cost is one reason the Mall of America doesn’t have central heating. Instead, the shopping complex remains a balmy 70 degrees thanks to 1.2 miles of skylights, warmth from store lights, and human body heat.
Managing a shopping center of such gargantuan size is no small feat. Initial construction on the 4.2 million-square-foot Mall of America, located on the site of the former Minnesota Twins and Vikings stadium, took three years. When the doors opened in 1992, the space contained 330 stores and was staffed by an estimated 10,000 employees. In the decades since, the entertainment destination has grown, increasing to 5.6 million square feet and stuffed with 520 stores and 60 restaurants. For those who aren’t into shopping, there’s more to do than just wait around in the food court — today, the Mall of America is home to a 13-screen movie theater, an indoor theme park, a mini-golf course, and the largest aquarium in the state of Minnesota.
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The world’s largest mall by total area, featuring more than 1,200 shops, is in ______.
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The world’s largest mall by total area, featuring more than 1,200 shops, is in Dubai.
You can shop at a mall in Turkey that’s more than 500 years old.
While it may not have an Auntie Anne’s, the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul offers an eclectic mix of goods and snacks — after all, it’s known for being one of the world’s largest covered markets. It’s also considered one of the earliest shopping malls, with more than 4,000 stores, its own post office, and its own police station, making it essentially a miniature city. Construction on the mall, which stretches across Istanbul’s historic center, began in the 1450s. The dedication across the centuries to completing the trading space was for good reason — it became a major hub for Ottoman Empire merchants, in part because Istanbul geographically links the Asian and European continents. In its 500-plus years, the Grand Bazaar has survived calamities such as fires and earthquakes, and it remains a destination for modern shoppers from around the globe.
Nicole Garner Meeker is a writer and editor based in St. Louis. Her history, nature, and food stories have also appeared at Mental Floss and Better Report.
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