Description
The Mall of America (abbreviated MOA) is a shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, United States. It lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north of the Minnesota River, and across the Interstate from the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. It opened in 1992, and is one of the largest shopping malls in the world.
The mall is managed by the Triple Five Group (which in turn is owned by the Ghermezian family, along with the West Edmonton Mall and the American Dream). Eighty percent of visitors to the Mall of America are from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Illinois, Ohio and Canada.
History
The mall's concept was designed by the Triple Five Group, owned by the Ghermezian brothers, who also own the largest shopping mall in North America, the West Edmonton Mall. The Mall of America is located on the site of the former Metropolitan Stadium, where the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins played until the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome opened in 1982. A plaque in the mall's amusement park commemorates the former location of home plate and one seat from Met Stadium was placed in Mall of America at the exact location it occupied in the stadium, commemorating a 520-foot (160 m) home run hit by hall-of-famer Harmon Killebrew on June 3, 1967.
In 1986, the Bloomington Port Authority signed an agreement with the Ghermezian organization.[citation needed] Groundbreaking for the mall took place on June 14, 1989. Organizations involved include Melvin Simon and Associates, Teachers Insurance and Annuity, and the office of architect Jon Jerde.
Mall of America opened its doors to the public on August 11, 1992. Its anchors were Nordstrom, Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Sears. Even before opening, the mall had earned several nicknames, including "The Megamall", "Sprawl of America", "Hugedale" in reference to the four major "dale" shopping malls within the Twin Cities: Rosedale, Southdale, Ridgedale and the now-defunct Brookdale.
Mall of America became the largest shopping mall in total area and largest in total store vendors in the United States when it opened. The Mall of America's 42 million annual visitors equal roughly eight times the population of the state of Minnesota. As of 2015, the mall employed over 11,000 workers year-round and 13,000 during peak seasons.
On September 4, 1995, the mall hosted the first episode of WCW Monday Nitro.
In spring 2020, Mall of America closed for a period of twelve weeks in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, closing on March 17, and reopening on June 10 with only 150 tenants open for business. The mall was originally scheduled to reopen on June 1, but civil unrest in the Twin Cities around this time caused the mall to postpone the reopen.
