SPOTLIGHT MALL OF AMERICA
WORDS BY TRACY WALSH
MALL WONDER
From getting married to rubbing noses with sharks, Minnesota’s huge Mall of America expands the shopping experience.
Remember the Tickle-Me-Elmo stampedes? The Furby frenzy? When it comes to holiday shopping, bigger is usually better. Let’s face it, understatement just isn’t the American way. From Manhattan’s towering skyscrapers to the glitz and flash of Las Vegas, we’re a nation of big dreams and oversized ambitions.
This holiday season, what better place to celebrate American abundance than the Mall of America? Just minutes from St Paul in Bloomington, Minnesota, this monumental marketplace offers an over-the-top experience.
Like a medieval walled city, the Mall of America is a self-contained community. With 500 stores and 50 restaurants in a 4.2-million-square-foot retail complex, it is one of the nation’s largest shopping centers. In addition to a 14-screen movie theater, the Mall houses four nightclubs, a NASCAR speedway, an accredited university and, since 1992, 4,000 couples have tied the knot at the Mall’s Chapel of Love.
With four anchor stores, mainstays like Gap and Victoria’s Secret, and a dizzying array of specialty stores, the Mall of America is a shopaholic’s Shangri-la. High-end stores like Coach compete with quirky independent retailers such as Bead It! and Temptations from the Dead Sea. No less than 36 food stores cater to the gourmet.
But there’s more than just shopping. The Mall houses Camp Snoopy, the nation’s largest enclosed theme park. Gentle rides like the Bloomington Express entertain the littlest campers, while swooping thrill rides like the Screaming Yellow Eagle draw the adventurous. Camp Snoopy also features all-American favorites like the merry-go-round and bumper cars. With 30 rides, five eateries, a petting zoo and a rock-climbing wall, Camp Snoopy has something for everyone.
At the Underwater Adventures Aquarium, visitors can experience marine habitats without leaving the climate-controlled comfort of the Mall. The “Turtley Awesome Woods” features an enclosed forest filled with fish, toads, tortoises and other creatures. Keep an eye out for piranhas! In an underwater tunnel, children can come nose to nose with sharks and sting rays. The popular petting areas even allow visitors to touch sharks.
The Mall of America offers shoppers a completely different shopping experience, with a theme park and a university, as well as 500 stores and 50 restaurants.
With so much to offer, the Underwater Adventures Aquarium draws crowds of budding marine biologists—and their parents.
Not quite at the family stage, but ready to tie the knot? Visit the Mall’s in-house wedding chapel. For lovebirds on a budget, the $299 Dream Wedding package includes a 20-minute ceremony and romantic music. The more extravagant $849 Premiere Wedding package comes with an hour-long customized ceremony, bridal consultant services, a Chapel of Love unity candle, a garter and a bottle of champagne. A variety of Christian, civil and spiritual ceremonies are available in this little chapel near Bloomingdale’s; all are legally binding. And in case you forgot you were in the Mall of America, the nearby Chapel of Love Bridal Boutique sells bride-and-groom bubble gum.
The Mall is an impressive sight any day of the year. But during the holiday season, it is transformed into a festive vision. Two 44-foot-tall evergreens tower in the Mall’s rotundas, each dripping with 40 chandeliers. Large, elaborate wreaths and strands of lights adorn the walls. And forget piped-in Muzak renditions of “Frosty the Snowman”— the Holiday Music Festival brings live music and local performers into the Mall’s main courts every day until December 23. Holiday performers include Erin Rogue, an Irish folk group; Equador Manta, a South American ensemble; and the 451st Army band.
“We’re more than a mall,” says spokeswoman Julie Hansen. “We’re a destination.” Shoppers seem to agree. The Mall of America expects eight million to 10 million visitors this holiday season. Of those, nearly 40 percent will travel 150 miles or more. The Mall’s proximity to Minneapolis/ St Paul International Airport ensures a steady stream of foreign tourists. Visitors from England, Germany, Japan and the Scandinavian countries have trekked to Bloomington, MN, to get a taste of the American zeitgeist.
And yet, even glorious excess is not enough. By this time next winter, developers hope to construct on-site hotels, spa facilities, and yes, even more stores, on 5.7 million square feet of nearby property. So the Mall of America will be even bigger and even better.
AirTran Airways provides daily low-fare flights to Minneapolis/ St Paul Airport. Visit www.airtran.com for more details.