In this article we are going to list the 15 biggest malls in the US. Click to skip ahead and jump to the 5 biggest malls in the US. When one thinks about America, shopping is definitely in the top ten things that spring to mind. Shopping is a big part of the American experience. Malls are some of the most common places for teenagers and adults alike to hang out or meet up with friends. One can even call the shopping mall America’s public square. Today there is a shopping mall in every corner you turn but less than a century ago, the concept of a shopping mall was as alien as the concept of spaceships is today.
The 18th and 19th centuries saw America’s expansion into the world of retail. Some of the first retail shops to grace the land of the free were what were called “mom and pop” shops.
These shops sold general daily life merchandise from fabrics to medicine to toys. This was a time when America was still taking baby steps; new towns were still cropping up and the American’s were finding their lifestyle. Fast forward to now, these type of family owned shops are not that common but family owned businesses are still out there. According to Bigcommerce, 19% of the 30 million small businesses in America are family owned, out of which 1.2 million are run by married couples. The rise of the coronavirus pandemic saw the resurfacing of these family owned businesses on social media as more and more people from the general public advocated to support these businesses in a time of great economic difficulty.
Building on these small retail stores, America saw the arrival of department stores in the mid-19th century. The revolution brought the emergence of steel, oil and textile factories which created more and more jobs and curbed the economic downfall of the nation. As more and more successful American’s started taking hold of these ventures, big department stores like Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s started popping up in the streets of Chicago and New York. The year 1883 saw the emergence of the cash register which quickly became a staple of the American shopping lifestyle. James Ritty was a saloon keeper in Ohio who invented the machine which elevated the shopping experience for both the customer and the salesperson. This gave rise to credit cards in the 1920’s as paper free shopping took a hold of the nation. The Bank of America started the first bank run credit card in the year of 1958. Though what started as a mode of convenience, soon became a curse as America’s credit card debt has increased tenfold and is now at a record $1.09 trillion. But that is another story.
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Fast-forward to 1956 with the first indoor shopping mall to grace the nation of the free. The whole face of consumer retail was revolutionized with the opening of America’s first indoor shopping mall in Edina, Minnesota. The South dale Center in Edina was the first venue of its kind of feature a cluster of retail store with a temperature controlled environment with modern shops. It quickly became one of the busiest places in the city with teenagers and adults alike flocking to the building in hoards to curb their boredom and seek a respite from their hectic lives. This started a new age of shopping which completely revolutionized the American experience. After the success of the South Dale Center, more and more businesses like Macerich. Co (NYSE: MAC) started to adopt the model and invested in there opportunities. Construction started with more and more shopping malls cropping up across the country. Soon the malls entered into competitions to attract more customers. Businesses and Companies entered a game of chase the customer. With gigantic discounts, and not just during the holidays, and expanding their catalogues of stores, the shopping mall was the talk of the town. Indeed the late 20th century and the early 21st century saw the golden age of shopping malls. With social media rising up in 2007, the competition grew even fiercer which resulted in even more benefits for the retail shoppers. The expansion of the buildings let to the creation of jobs and business opportunities which led to economic benefits for the country as a whole as the malls became a significant source of revenue for the US state and federal governments.
Some of the competing factors which shopping malls participate are the general size of the shopping mall. The larger the shopping mall, the more options for customers it provides which in turn guarantees more foot traffic. Here we have compiled a list of 15 of the biggest shopping malls in the United States of America according to square foot area. So let’s take a look at the places Americans love to shop at, starting with number 15:
15. Woodfield Mall
Starting at number 15 we have Woodfield Mall with an area of 2,150,557 square feet. Located in the northwest Chicago suburb of Schaumburg in Illinois, it is the largest shopping mall in the state. It has 300 stores Including Sears, JCPenney, Macy’s, Nordstrom, H&M, Arhaus, Improv Comedy Club, Pac-Man Entertainment being. It opened its doors to the public in 1971. The Mall is owned by Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE: SPG) The Mall temporarily closed down in March of 2020 because of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
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