West Edmonton Mall (WEM), located in Summerlea, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is the largest shopping mall in North America and the tenth largest in the world (along with The Dubai Mall) by gross leasable area. It was the world's largest mall until 2004. The mall was founded by the Ghermezian brothers, who emigrated from Iran in 1959.
West Edmonton Mall covers a gross area of about 490,000 m2 (5,300,000 sq ft). There are over 800 stores and services in the compound, and parking for more than 20,000 vehicles. More than 24,000 people are employed at the property. The mall receives about 32 million visitors per year; it attracts between 90,000 and 200,000 shoppers daily, depending on the day and season. The mall was valued at $926 million (CAD) in January 2007, and in 2016, for tax purposes, it was valued at $1.3034 billion (CAD), making it the most valuable property in Edmonton.
Video West Edmonton Mall
History
West Edmonton Mall first opened its doors to the public on 15 September 1981. The mall was developed in four phases, completed in 1981, 1983, 1985 and 1999. It was the largest indoor shopping centre in the world until 2004, and was named such in the Guinness Book of Records. The four phases of construction are used in a colour-coded system as a guideline for finding stores and attractions. The Mindbender indoor roller coaster had a fatal accident on 14 June 1986 when one of the cars came loose and came off the track and slammed into a concrete pillar. Three people died and one was injured in the accident.
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 1999 when the company closed the store that had replaced Woodward's, leading to a renovation (known as Phase IV) that added a Famous Players multiplex, a two-floor HMV location, which is complete with an HMV stage, which has played hosts to autograph signings for bands, Hollywood celebrities and World Wrestling Entertainment superstars, a $12.6 million Playdium entertainment complex/arcade (now closed), an indoor shooting range, a Chapters bookstore with a Starbucks, and several other smaller stores. In 2005, the upstairs space previously occupied by Playdium was rented by three NewCap Radio stations: 790 CFCW, K-97 97.3 (Formerly, 97.3 K-Rock), and 96.3 Capital FM (formerly 96.3 Big Earl). The area was at one point partially used as a paintball playing area, but is now a coin & stamp store. In 2007, the Famous Players multiplex, formerly known as Silver City, was renamed Scotiabank Theatre.
The closures of Canadian Tire and IKEA in the mid-1990s left vacancies that sat unfilled until the spaces were converted into a T & T Supermarket in 2002, and an entertainment complex called Ed's Rec Room that consists of a billiard hall, bowling alley and nightclub, respectively. Among the stores that are only found in Edmonton at WEM are DeSerres along with others.
On 11 July 2004, the mall suffered millions of dollars in damage 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, and the World Waterpark had a sewage overflow. The damage was promptly repaired. The Ice Palace has suffered occasional flood damage as well. In the summer of 2009, the mall's dinner theatre was relocated and Edmonton's second branch of Bed, Bath and Beyond opened in the dinner theatre's old location above the west-end food court. On August 12, 2010, Victoria's Secret opened their first Canadian store in the mall. La Maison Simons opened a 115,000 sq ft (10,700 m2) store in the mall on 31 October 2012, its first outlet outside of Quebec. The construction of the Simons store resulted in HMV reducing its second-floor footprint.
In early February 2014, Sportchek opened an 80,000-square-foot (7,400 m2) flagship store in the old Edmonton Event Centre location in West Edmonton Mall. The new Sportchek features 800 display screens. Zellers closed in 2012 and was replaced by Target which later closed in 2015.
In January 2017, Cineplex Entertainment announced that it would open a second Edmonton location of its entertainment restaurant concept The Rec Room at West Edmonton Mall. The original location opened at South Edmonton Common the previous year. The West Edmonton Mall location of The Rec Room opened in August 2017.
World records
Past and current West Edmonton Mall world records include;
- World's largest mall (1985-2004) - West Edmonton Mall itself
- World's largest indoor amusement park - Galaxyland
- World's largest indoor roller coaster - the Mindbender
- World's largest indoor lake - Deep Sea Adventure Lake
- North America's largest indoor waterpark - World Waterpark
- World's largest parking lot with 20,000+ spaces, and over 10,000 overflow spaces. - WEM's parking lot
Other records
- Most bungee jumps in 24 hours record while indoors was set by Peter Charney, on 6-7 November 2007 at the World Waterpark, completing 225 jumps.
Maps West Edmonton Mall
Major attractions
Galaxyland
Galaxyland was originally known as "Fantasyland;" however, during a court battle with the Walt Disney Company, West Edmonton Mall changed the park's name to Galaxyland in July 1995 after completing some minor renovations. It is an indoor amusement park located on the north side of the mall. It is the second-largest indoor amusement park in the world, behind Ferrari World, and features 24 rides and attractions. There are 8 beginner rides, 9 intermediate rides, 7 thrill rides, the triple loop Mindbender roller coaster, (which derailed in 1986 causing 3 deaths) .The Mindbender is the world's largest indoor triple loop roller coaster. The latest attraction in Galaxyland, which opened on 17 July 2007, called the Galaxy Orbiter, begins at the Mindbender and intertwines with the entire park. The Drop of Doom was shut down in the early 2000s. The tower area was replaced shortly after by a more modern launch ride, the Space Shot, a S&S Double Shot Tower Ride.
World Waterpark
The World Waterpark is the world's second largest indoor waterpark, built in 1985, with a size of 20,903 square metres (5.165 acres). The park has the world's largest indoor wave pool. The highest slides in the park are the Twister and Cyclone, which are each 25.3 metres (83 ft) high.
The wavepool has six wave bays, each with two panels with a total of 1,500 horsepower (1.1 MW) generating waves up to two metres high.
Sea Life Caverns / Sea Lions Rock
West Edmonton Mall has an indoor lagoon which contains a salt-water habitat with four California sea lions and a replica of the Santa María, built during the 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver. The Santa María has been used for an annual Christmas fundraiser, raising toys for underprivileged children. Also, the submarines, a longtime favorite, had been replaced with the Deep-Sea Derby, a bumper boat ride with squirt guns. This attraction has since been removed. Deep Sea Adventure is also home to the mall's aquatic life, most of which are housed beneath the main floor in the "Sea Life Caverns". Sea Life Caverns is home to a wide variety of animals including fish, reptiles, amphibians and penguins. There is a 525,000 litre tropical salt-water aquarium that is home to an array of fish, sharks and sea turtles. This is the largest of its kind in Western Canada. Today, what was once the 'Dolphin's Lagoon' is now known as 'Sea Lions' Rock', which is home to four California sea lions (Pablo, Kelpie, Clara, (2004-present) and Quinty (2008 - present)). They have educational shows with a focus on conservation that run twice a day from Monday to Friday (2pm, 4pm), and three times a day on Saturday and Sunday (12pm, 2pm, 4pm).
Mayfield Toyota Ice Palace
Ice Palace is a scaled down version of a National Hockey League (NHL) regulation sized ice rink located in the centre of the mall. The Edmonton Oilers occasionally practiced at the Ice Palace. This drew huge crowds during the Wayne Gretzky years in the 1980s. The Oilers' contract for using the rink has since expired. The rink is used for various hockey and other sporting tournaments. In 2015, the Ice Palace was renamed Mayfield Toyota Ice Palace after the mall sold the naming rights to a local auto dealership.
During special events, such as Remembrance Day, the ice rink is covered with fabric and a ceremony is held on it. In 2017, West Edmonton Mall announced that the Mayfield Toyota Ice Palace will get a $3 million renovation. Due to this, it is closed until December 2017.
Professor WEM's Adventure Golf
Professor WEM's Adventure Golf is an 18-hole miniature golf course. The miniature golf course was originally known as Pebble Beach Mini Golf, and was designed to be a mini golf version of Pebble Beach Golf Links. The course was refurbished and given the Professor WEM theme in the mid-1990s.
Movie theatres
Originally, the mall was home to four movie theatre complexes. However, as of 2017, only the Scotiabank Theatre (with IMAX), formerly Famous Players SilverCity (which opened with an animatronic fire breathing dragon, which was removed in 2014 due to high maintenance costs, and drying-out, cracking rubber skin ), is in the mall. Until 2010, a discount cinema, owned by Cineplex Odeon was located outside the Phase I entrance to Galaxyland; the majority of the space it occupied was bought out by skateboarding/snowboarding store West 49 which also built an indoor skatepark in the basement. Prior to the opening of SilverCity, in the late 1990s there was a Famous Players theatre located near the Palace Casino, as well as a second Cineplex Odeon below Ed's Recreation Centre (formerly Red's), on the main level with the Gourmet Court (Phase III).
Ed's Bowling
Ed's Bowling (formerly Red's), is an entertainment complex consisting of a bowling alley, arcade, and formerly a pool hall, music stage, and restaurant. The stage was one of Edmonton's major music venues. Past players have included many bands, both Canadian and international. Wilco, Arcade Fire, The Flaming Lips, The Mars Volta, Motörhead, Matthew Good Band, Sloan, P.O.D., Joe Satriani, Cradle of Filth, Theory of a Deadman, Our Lady Peace, In Flames, Lifehouse, Children of Bodom, Bring Me the Horizon, Testament, DragonForce, Opeth, GWAR, Muse and Switchfoot are just some of the bands that have played at the venue. It was formerly known as the nightclub/restaurant/rec room Red's. At the end of June 2006, the owners of Red's closed its doors after they chose not to renew their lease. The mall separated it into three areas, converting the stage/restaurant area into a separate concert venue known as the Edmonton Event Centre, while the other area containing the lounge, the arcade and the bowling alley was re-dubbed Ed's Rec Room and a mini-golf course, Putt 'n' Glow. The Edmonton Event Centre closed on New Years Day 2013. It was demolished in December 2013, and Sport Chek took over its former space. In 2017, Ed's Rec Room renamed themselves to Ed's Bowling, so they would not get confused with the newly opened Rec Room, operated by Cineplex.
Other attractions
- Fantasyland Hotel, located within the mall; WEM is also affiliated with a second hotel, the West Edmonton Mall Inn, located across the street from the shopping centre on 90th Avenue.
- An indoor shooting range (named "Wild West Shooting Centre")
- Large-scale replica of the Santa María, one of the ships sailed by Christopher Columbus in 1492 to San Salvador Island. The deck can be booked for private functions.
- 24-hour Gym, Crunch Fitness
- Dinner Theatre: Jubilations Dinner Theatre offers original Canadian three-act musical comedies along with a four-course dinner. Full bar service is available and the theatre's productions run Wednesday to Sunday. This space was formerly a Famous Players theatre.
- Nightclub Empire Ballroom. The mall has had a history of night clubs, as the space occupied now by Empire as well as other locations nearby the Edmonton Events Centre (now demolished) and Ed's Rec Room have seen several tenants over the years including The Joint and Ka'os Nightclub. The space has been purchased by Gateway Casinos & Entertainment for their expansion of the Palace Casino, which will be renamed to Starlight Casino.
- Envy Nightclub (formerly SET Nightclub), a dance club featuring top 40 and electro music. The space was formerly Whisky Jack's, a country-themed nightclub.
- West 49 skate shop with indoor skate park, built in a converted cinema.
- An Internet café
- An inter-denominational chapel
- Three radio stations: K-97 (classic rock), 840 CFCW (classic country and news/sports programming), 96.3 Capital FM, are owned by Newcap Radio. The Newcap-owned area features studios, offices, and a small free museum. Newcap is located in the space formerly occupied by Playdium, with the broadcast studios visible from the mall (illuminated "on air" signs indicate when broadcasts are under way from those studios).
- Dragon's Tale Black-lit Mini Golf is located nearby Galaxyland, along with the Crystal Labyrinth Mirror Maze.
- A bronze whale sculpture is located nearby the former Sears
- A brass man sculpture is located in the Phase I (formerly III) food court
- A statue of three oil workers is located outside of the Phase I food court
Themed streets
The mall also includes several "theme areas" including:
- Bourbon Street: Features clubs and restaurants in a New Orleans-influenced setting. Several restaurants and clubs are located here including 1ST RND, Albert's Family Restaurant, Boston Pizza, Earls, Hudsons Canadian Tap House, Jungle Jim's Eatery, Marble Slab Creamery, Moxie's Classic Grill, MR MIKES Steakhouse & Bar, Old Spaghetti Factory, Rick Bronson's The Comic Strip, The Sherlock Holmes, Aussie Rules, Cajun Bistro and Dueling Piano Bar, and Tony Roma's. The lighting in this area is left intentionally darker than other parts of the mall to simulate a nighttime atmosphere. The area is situated in such a way that it can be closed off from the rest of the mall, allowing for hosting of special events, and for its establishments to stay open past the closing time of the rest of the mall. In the mid-2010s, this area was renovated and Bourbon Street was renamed BRBN St.
- Europa Boulevard: Eclectic shops in an area designed to look like a European streetscape. It is home to Europa Watch & Jewelry, Fleurs Flowers, Norquest College, Opulence, G-Star Raw, Munchkin Patch, Dr. Martens, Henry Singer, B3, Cafe Levi, FYidoctors, Scotch & Soda, and several rentable conference rooms that look down on the Boulevard. Also, Europa Boulevard is home to the first La Maison Simons to open outside Quebec.
- "Chinatown": Asian-themed area anchored by a T & T Supermarket (in the former Canadian Tire location). It is located directly above Bourbon Street. The "Chinatown" signage was removed in May 2012 and the section, though still maintaining an Asian decor, is no longer exclusive to such businesses.
- Video game console demos are located in random places around the mall. Nintendo is located near Phase 4 and RAAS, PlayStation is located in the center court, and Xbox is in the Microsoft Store. Besides video games there is also VR demos and a Lamborghini in the center court.
- RAAS: An area where small Edmonton businesses are located. "RAAS" stands for "Retail As A Service".
Former attractions
- Putt 'n' Glow (200? - c.2013)
- Ball machines (1981 - c.1994)
- WEM's ball machines were built by George Rhoads
- One of WEM's ball machines was moved to the Telus World of Science Edmonton centre and still operates today.
- Dolphin Lagoon (1985 - 2004)
- The Dolphin Lagoon housed four bottlenose dolphins. Their names were
- Maria the Atlantic Bluenose Dolphin (1985 - 2000)
- Gary the Atlantic Bluenose Dolphin (1985 - 2001)
- Mavis the Atlantic Bluenose Dolphin (1985 - 2003)
- Howard the Atlantic Bluenose Dolphin (1985 - 2004)
- The Dolphin Lagoon housed four bottlenose dolphins. Their names were
- Flamingo Bay (1985 - c.2009)
- In c.2009, Jungle Hangout, a troop of ring-tailed lemurs and 2 sloths are placed in the Flamingo Bay attraction, but they were removed in c.2012.
- Petting zoo (1985 - 2012)
- Deep Sea Adventure submarines (1985 - 2005)
- The submarines at WEM served as stationary décor from 2005 until 2012
- Deep Sea Derby (c.2005 - 201?)
- Fantasyland (1983 - 1995)
- In 1995, Disney and Triple Five were in court, forcing TF to change Fantasyland's name
- Pebble Beach (c.1985 - mid-1990s)
- Animatronic fire-breathing dragon at Scotiabank Theatre (1999 - 2014)
- The dragon served as stationary décor from either 2010 or 2013 until 2014
- African Village (c.2013 - c.2015)
- Paintball playing area (c.2005 - c.2012)
- Gourmet Court fountains (1985 - 2013)
- Jester masks in Bourbon Street (c.1995 - mid-2010s)
- Trampolines (20?? - c.2010)
Upgrades
Construction on a total retrofit of the mall shopping areas through all the phases began in spring 2011 with the "face lift" completed in 2014.
Future developments
In 2002, the City of Edmonton approved plans for the mall to expand with an additional 30,000 m2 (320,000 sq ft) of 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 SM Mall of Asia, located in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines has also surpassed the mall's gross floor size by 36,000 square metres (390,000 sq ft). As of 2017, however, the mall remains the largest in North America.
Anchor stores expected to arrive in 2019-2021 is Nordstrom in the former Sears, and a mix of various department stores in the old Target.
Controversies
West Edmonton Mall was the object of a controversy in 2011 when, after arresting a woman for trespassing, their security staff were caught on video allegedly assaulting her. A judge had agreed to release the video after the charges against the woman were dismissed.
In February 2015, the jihadist terrorist group al-Shabaab released a propaganda video calling for attacks on the West Edmonton Mall and other Western shopping centres. Although the group had hitherto never launched attacks in North America, security at the mall was tightened in response. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also indicated that there was no evidence of any imminent threat. A few mock/drill lockdowns occurred after the threat.
Anchors
There are currently 17 anchor stores in West Edmonton Mall; and 6 former anchors stores.
Key anchors
- Galaxyland (1983-present)
- World Waterpark (1986-present)
- Scotiabank Theatre/IMAX 3D (2007-present), formerly Famous Players SilverCity
Store anchors
- Bed Bath & Beyond (2009-present), formerly old dinner and a movie theatre
- The Brick (1990-present)
- Chapters (1999-present), formerly Hudson's Bay 2
- Forever 21 (2015-present), formerly XXI Forever
- H&M (2010-present)
- Hudson's Bay (1981-present)
- International Clothiers (2016-present), formerly Designer Depot
- London Drugs (1997-present)
- NewCap Radio (2005-present), formerly Playdium
- Old Navy (1998-present)
- Sport Chek (2014-present), formerly Edmonton Events Centre
- Sunrise Records (2017-present), formerly HMV.
- Simons (2012-present), formerly Petcetera
- T & T Supermarket (2002-present), formerly Canadian Tire
- The Rec Room/Halloween Alley (2017-present), formerly Target.
- Urban Behavior (2004-present)
- Winners (1999-present), formerly Jysk
Future Anchors
- Nordstrom (opening Fall 2020 in former Sears)
- Winners/HomeSense (opening in 2nd floor of Target)
- buybuy BABY (opening in half of the 1st floor of the Target)
Former
- Eaton's (1981-1999), followed by Zellers
- Woodward's (1981-1994), now Hudson's Bay 2
- Hudson's Bay 2 (1994-1999), formerly Woodward's, now Phase IV w/ NewCap Radio, Famous Players SilverCity, HMV (which is now Sunrise Records), Chapters, & more
- Zellers (1999-2012), formerly Eaton's, followed by Target
- Hard Rock Cafe (1995-2000)
- Planet Hollywood (1997-2000)
- Target (2013-2015), formerly Zellers, now The Rec Room
- Designer Depot (2015-2016), now International Clothiers
- Canadian Tire (1985-1995), now T&T Supermarket
- IKEA (1985-1995), now Ed's Rec Room
- Playdium (1999-2005), formerly Hudson's Bay 2, now NewCap Radio
- Famous Players SilverCity (1999-2007), formerly Hudson's Bay 2, now Scotiabank Theatre
- Famous Players 2 (1985-1999), now Jubilations Dinner Theatre
- Cineplex Odeon (1985-2005), now West49 w/ indoor skate park
- Cineplex Odeon 2 (1981-1985), now the Phase III food court
- Jysk (1990-2003), now Winners
- Petcetera (1997-2012), now Simons
- HMV (1999-2017), formerly Hudson's Bay 2, now Sunrise Records
- Sears (1981-2018)
West Edmonton Mall Transit Centre
The West Edmonton Mall Transit Centre is a major transit centre on the south side of West Edmonton Mall, outside mall entrance 48. Buses using the transit centre enter and exit from 87 Avenue. The large shelter building at the transit centre is accessible and equipped with power doors. This transit centre has vending machines and a pay phone but no park & ride, public washrooms, or drop off area. The transit centre is served by Edmonton Transit System (ETS) and St. Albert Transit (StAT).
The following bus routes serve the transit centre:
School special routes that arrive/depart from West Edmonton Mall Transit Centre include routes: 701, 705, 708, 710, 711, 717, 735, 804, 805, 807, 809, 810, 811, 812, 814, 815, 819, 821, 824, 839, 899, 926, 953, 954, 955 and 959.
See also
- List of shopping malls in Canada
- List of largest enclosed shopping malls in Canada
- List of largest shopping malls in the world
References
External links
- Official website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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