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The Mall of America (also MOA or MoA) is a shopping mall located in the Twin Cities suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
The mall became the largest shopping mall in the United States when it opened in 1992. However, the mall is not and has never been the largest in the world; that distinction falls to the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which reached the Mall of America's approximate size by 1985.
However, the Mall of Arabia inside Dubai Land in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will be completed in 2006. At that time, it will become the world's largest shopping mall.
The Mall of America has a gross area of 4.2 million ft² (390,000 m²), with 2.5 million ft² (230,000 m²) available as retail space.
The mall is a nearly symmetrical building, with a roughly rectangular floor plan. Over 520 stores are arrarged along four levels of pedestrian walkways on the sides of the rectangle. Four "anchor" department stores are located at the corners. The mall employs over 12,000 workers.
Two nearly identical seven story parking ramps on East and West sides provide approximately 13,000 parking spaces. Parking lots on the North and South of the building, along with nearby overflow parking, bring the total number of spaces up to approximately 20,000.
Despite being located in Minnesota, the mall is largely unheated. Enough heat is allowed in through skylights above Camp Snoopy, produced by lighting fixtures and other devices, and produced by the employees and guests of the mall to keep it comfortable. Only the mall's entrances are heated.
The mall is located along Interstate 494, and is across the highway from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. It will have a station on the almost-completed local Hiawatha Light Rail network.
Camp Snoopy is an indoor theme park in the centre of the mall. The park features two rollercoasters among numerous other rides and attractions, and is the largest indoor theme park in America. The theme involves Snoopy and other comic strip characters from Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz, who was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Camp Snoopy is managed by Cedar Fair, a company which owns a number of amusement parks around the country, including Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, Knott's Berry Farm, near Los Angeles, California, and Valleyfair, in Shakopee, Minnesota, near the Mall of America.
The Mall of America is located on the former site of Metropolitan Stadium, where the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Twins played until the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome opened. The teams left Met Stadium in 1982. A plaque in Camp Snoopy commemorates the former location of home plate.
In 1986, The Bloomington Port Authority signed an agreement with the Ghermezian Organization, who had previously worked on West Edmonton Mall.
Groundbreaking for the mall took place on June 14, 1989. Organizations involved include Melvin Simon and Associates, Teachers Assurance and Annuity, and the Triple Five Group.
The mall opened its doors to the public in 1992. Even before opening, the Mall of America had earned several nicknames, including "The Megamall," "Hugedale" (in reference to the four major area shopping malls Rosedale, Southdale, Ridgedale and Brookdale) and, simply, "The Mall." In the Twin Cities metro area, if one says one is going to "the Mall" without any further qualifiers, it is generally understood that the mall being referred to is not a local shopping center but the Mall of America.
Many significant expansions to the mall have been proposed, but they have run into safety issues because of the mall's proximity to an airport.
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