In the Age of Amazon and Online Shopping, Mall of America Thrives
Tuesday, January 29th, 2019 -- 12:14 PM
-While most retail stores and malls struggle to survive in the age of Amazon and online shopping, one 26-year-old attraction continues to defy the odds and bring in the crowds.When the Mall of American first opened, many people assumed it would flop after a short time, especially since it open during a recession. However, Mall of America’s 5.6 million square feet continues to generate over $2 billion in economic activity for the State of Minnesota and draws in over 40 million visitors annually, with 4 out of 10 visitors are tourists. Besides the many stores and eateries, they have an amusement park, rides, attractions, hotels, mini-golf, a movie theatre, an aquarium and much more. So, how do they do it? Well, former Neillsville native Christopher Grap, Senior Manager of Experiential Design says that’s because they’re not just a mall. They have the tropes of an event center and the tropes of a theme park. “The vision was to pull all these things under one roof and it works,” said Grap. “The commodity I’m after is time,” Grap continued. “To me, it’s a wheel and spoke. The wheel is Mall of America and the spokes include retail, entertainment, events, dinning, attractions. And if you focus too much on one of those things and it falls away, you’re not delivering on all those opportunities and that was the brilliance of the idea. The ‘what if’ worked.”
Even with that success, Triple Five, parent company of Mall of America, is ready to push the boundaries even further. Enter American Dream. American Dream is an all new megamall being opened in New Jersey by Triple Five, right next to Mall of America. American Dream will focus on 45% retail and 55% entertainment. As of now, the 3.2 million square foot structure will host an 800ft ski slope, another theme park, an 8 acre indoor water park, an NHL size skating rink, performing arts center, luxury movie theatre, mini golf, aquarium, observation wheel and more. Triple Five will make sure American Dream fulfills all your needs just like Mall of America.
This very concept could be applied to our small communities in Clark County and the county itself. If you imagine an entire community or the county like the hub of a wheel and each spoke is what the community/county has to offer. This concept will allow everyone to work together for the better of our communities and the county as a whole.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.