West Edmonton Mall (WEM) is a large shopping mall and entertainment complex located in the city of Edmonton, Alberta.
It is the number one tourist attraction for the province of Alberta. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the mall is the largest in the world. The Mall of Arabia in Dubai Land in Dubai, United Arab Emirates will take this title in 2006.
West Edmonton Mall has a gross area of 5.3 million square feet and it cost CDN $1.2 billion to build.
More than 800 stores and services are located on the two main floors, including 110 eating establishments. There are six anchor tenants (department stores and junior department stores), in addition to six other major stores including The Brick, London Drugs, Sport Check, Chapters Books, Winners and Playdium. Sears is located in the northeast corner, the Bay, in the east and Zellers in the southeast. Galaxyland is an amusement park located near the centre of the mall; World Waterpark and WEM's Adventure Golf are located in the west end; and Ice Palace is directly in the centre. The mall has over 23,500 employees.
There are large parking areas which together have more than 20,000 parking spaces, making it the world's largest parking lot.
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History
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, 1985 and 1999. Permission from the City of Edmonton was recently granted for an expansion with 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.
The mall is often called "the eighth wonder of the world" by international travel writers and receives 22 million visits per year.
Notable Attractions
External Links
