(WEM), located in
Edmonton ,
Alberta ,
Canada is one of the largest shopping malls in the world, and as such is one of western Canada's major tourist attractions.
West Edmonton Mall is located at , in a suburban part of the city, covers a gross area of 500,000 m² (5.4 million ft²) and cost
C$ 1.2 billion to build. There are approximately 600 stores, restaurants and services located on two floors. There are also several major tourist attractions (see below), and parking for more than 20,000 vehicles in the world's largest parking lot. More than 23,000 people are employed at the property. The mall receives 22 million visits per year, and sometimes refers to itself as "the eighth wonder of the world".
The mall includes major
Department Store s and junior department stores.
Sears is located in the northeast corner,
The Bay in the east, and
Zellers in the southeast. Junior department stores include
The Brick ,
London Drugs ,
Sportchek ,
Chapters Books , and
Winners . Since 2003, the mall has attracted an increasing number of global retailers including
Abercrombie & Fitch ,
French Connection UK ,
Hollister Co. ,
Old Navy ,
Tommy Hilfiger ,
Swarovski , and
Zara .
Galaxyland is an indoor amusement park located on the north side of the mall. There are more than 20 rides and attractions including the triple loop
Mindbender roller coaster.
The World Waterpark is North America's largest indoor
Waterpark with a size of over 20,000 m
2 (5
Acre s). The park is known for its high-speed waterslide called the Sky Screamer, which is often mistaken as the park's tallest slide at 78 ft (23.8 m). The highest slide in the park is the Twister, which is 83 ft (25.3 m) high.
The Deep Sea Adventure is an indoor lake which contains a salt-water habitat with performing Sea Lions and a replica of Christopher Columbus'
Santa María , built during the
1986 World Exposition in
Vancouver . The Santa Maria has been used for an annual fundraiser for Christmas, raisng toys for under priveleged children. Also, the submarines, a long time favorite, have been replaced with the Deep-Sea Derby, a bumper boat ride with squirt guns.
Professor WEM's Adventure Golf, an 18-hole mini-golf course, and the Ice Palace, an NHL-size skating rink, are some of the mall's other attractions (see below).
West Edmonton Mall first opened its doors to the public on
September 15 ,
1981 . The mall has been expanded three times since its opening in 1981, with these additions completed in 1983 (Phase II), 1985 (Phase III) and 1999 (Phase IV).
The mall's amusement park was originally called Fantasyland, until the
Walt Disney Company took the mall to court, claiming ownership of the name, which is used in its theme parks such as
Disneyland . WEM lost and was forced to rename the attraction Galaxyland. However, the mall was allowed to retain the name Fantasyland Hotel for its on-site hotel.
In the early 1990s, the
Woodward's department store chain, one of WEM's anchors, went bankrupt, and its locations were purchased by the
Hudson's Bay Company . As a result, WEM boasted two full Bay department stores until the late 1990s when one of the locations was closed, leading to a renovation that added a
Famous Players multiplex and a two-floor
HMV location.
The closure in the early 1990s of
Canadian Tire left a vacancy that sat unfilled for nearly a decade until it was converted into a "Chinatown"-themed area in 2002, which includes an
Asian Grocery Store .
Throughout the 1990s, the actual store and restaurant count gradually declined to around 600, a result of store expansions, renovations and increasing footprints of today's popular chains. However, mall advertising still trumpets the "Over 800 Stores" tagline.
The mall suffered millions of dollars in damage on
July 11 ,
2004 when a severe storm of
Hail and
Rain caused roofs to fail and drains to overflow. The Ice Palace and surrounding sections were the most damaged, the World Waterpark saw a sewage overflow. The damage was promptly repaired.
Numerous celebrities have been attracted to West Edmonton Mall over the years, either for pleasure or for business. The celebrity-owned
Planet Hollywood had a location in WEM for several years, and
Arnold Schwarzenegger considered shooting a movie there.
In September 2005, the mall was mentioned in gossip columns around the world when
Angelina Jolie and
Brad Pitt visited while Pitt was filming a movie in various sites throughout Western Canada, including Fort Edmonton Park. At the time rumours were correct regarding the two actors' relationship, and two WEM employees subsequently became
Causes Célèbres when they managed to photograph the two together.
Permission from the City of Edmonton was recently granted for an expansion. This will include additional retail space, a facility for sports, trade shows and conventions, a 12-story office building, and a 600-unit apartment building, along with more parking.
Currently, a number of large shopping malls, all larger than the West Edmonton Mall, are under construction in
China , and the retail centre in
Beijing has already displaced the West Edmonton Mall as the world's largest. The
Dubai Mall , to be located in
Dubai ,
United Arab Emirates , with a total area of 9 million sq. ft., including more than 1000 stores, claims to be the largest mall in the world, when completed.
The mall also includes several "theme areas" including:
- Bourbon Street — featuring clubs and restaurants in a New Orleans -influenced setting.
- Europa Boulevard — eclectic shops in an area designed to look like a European streetscape.
- Chinatown — Businesses catering to the Asian population
- Before 1998, the mall owned more Submarines than the Canadian Navy . The mall had a Submarine ride that went to depths of 6 Metres .
- The Edmonton Oilers occasionally practice in the Ice Palace, which is an NHL-sized rink. This drew huge crowds during the Gretzky years in the 1980s.
- WEM is the official title sponsor of Edmonton's Champ Car World Series race. The race will be called West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix Of Edmonton .
- The TV show 6teen is rumoured to be based in the West Edmonton Mall.
- The mall apparently has the largest drug paraphernelia shop ever. Pipes, bongs, rolling papers, blunt wraps and such are available at plenty in the mall.
- Also, Cameron Diaz was found in the bathroom of the mall one night in October 2004.
