What is the world's smallest mall? (2024)

What is the world's smallest mall?

At over 12 million square feet (equivalent to more than 50 soccer fields), the Dubai Mall is the largest shopping mall in the world based on total area.

The West Edmonton Mall boasts up to 800 shops. With a surface area of nearly 500,000 square metres, this is the largest mall in North America. Not surprisingly, the shopping complex holds various world records: the world's largest indoor lake, the largest indoor amusem*nt park and the largest wave pool in the world.

The Galleria, or to give it its full name – the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II – dates back to 1861, when it was first designed. It took 12 years to build and was completed in 1877.

The first shopping mall was the Country Club Plaza, founded by the J.C. Nichols Company and opened near Kansas City, Mo., in 1922. The first enclosed mall called South-dale opened in Edina, Minnesota (near Minneapolis) in 1956. In the 1980s, giant megamalls were developed.

Malls are dead. At least, that was the consensus at the height of the pandemic. The shopping mall was already on shaky ground before the pandemic. A 2017 report from Credit Suisse predicted that, by 2022, between 20% and 25% percent of all U.S. malls would close.

The word 'mall' comes from a 16th-century Italian alley game that resembled croquet. It was called pallamaglio, or pall-mall in English; the alley on which the game was played came to be known as a 'mall'.

Overview. With seven major department stores and more than 450 stores, boutiques and restaurants, King of Prussia Mall is the largest retail space in the U.S. and the largest shopping mall on the East Coast. The mall's 2.9 million square feet of retail space welcomes around 20 million visitors a year.

Number of shopping centers in the U.S. from 1970 to 2017

In 2017, there were approximately 116,000 shopping malls spread across the United States. Back in 1970, there were only 30,000 shopping malls in the United States.

Who invented malls?

Victor David Gruen, born Viktor David Grünbaum (July 18, 1903 – February 14, 1980), was an Austrian-born architect best known as a pioneer in the design of shopping malls in the United States.

The last new enclosed mall was built in 2006; 2007 marked the first time since the 1950s that a new mall wasn't built in the United States.

Overview. With seven major department stores and more than 450 stores, boutiques and restaurants, King of Prussia Mall is the largest retail space in the U.S. and the largest shopping mall on the East Coast. The mall's 2.9 million square feet of retail space welcomes around 20 million visitors a year.

At 5.6 million square feet, Mall of America is the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America with more than 520 world-class retail stores and restaurants; Nickelodeon Universe, the nation's largest indoor theme park; SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium; FlyOver America; Crayola Experience; The Escape Game; ...