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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a

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Speaker 1: show for those who can never know enough about history.

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Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier, and today we're looking at a red

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Speaker 1: letter moment in retail history, the day when the suburban

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Speaker 1: shopping mall leveled up and became a full blown tourist destination.

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Speaker 1: The day was August eleventh, nineteen ninety two. The Mall

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Speaker 1: of America had its grand opening in Bloomington, Minnesota. It

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Speaker 1: estimated one hundred and fifty thousand shoppers turned out to

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Speaker 1: get a look at the nation's largest indoor shopping mall,

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Speaker 1: and with a footprint of over five million square feet,

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Speaker 1: there was definitely a lot to see. The mall's public

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Speaker 1: walkways alone formed a three mile loop, but visitors would

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Speaker 1: have to walk much more than that if they wanted

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Speaker 1: to check out all three hundred and thirty stores or

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Speaker 1: pay a visit to the mall's Camp Snoopy amusement park.

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Speaker 1: The Mall of America was so big, in fact, that

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Speaker 1: it was even assigned its own ZIP code five five

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Speaker 1: four two five in case you're curious. In nineteen fifty six,

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Speaker 1: America's first modern shopping mall opened in the city of Idina, Minnesota,

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Speaker 1: just outside of Minneapolis. It was designed by Austrian American

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Speaker 1: architect Victor Kruon and was meant to address the local

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Speaker 1: residents demand for a temperate place to shop in the winter,

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Speaker 1: one where they wouldn't have to brave the coal to

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Speaker 1: visit different stores. Gruin's design was an immediate hit with

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Speaker 1: the public, and for the next three decades, similar shopping

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Speaker 1: malls sprang up all over the country. It seems fitting,

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Speaker 1: then that the king of shopping malls was built in

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Speaker 1: the state that kicked off the trend in the first place.

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Speaker 1: The future site of the Mall of am America became

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Speaker 1: available in nineteen eighty two when the Minnesota Twins and

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Speaker 1: Vikings relocated from the Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington to the

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Speaker 1: newly opened Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. The

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Speaker 1: team's move came as a blow to the city's economy,

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Speaker 1: but it also created a remarkable development opportunity, freeing up

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Speaker 1: seventy eight acres of prime real estate. Three years later,

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Speaker 1: the Bloomington Port Authority bought the site of the former

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Speaker 1: stadium and began accepting proposals for new development. The winning

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Speaker 1: submission was the Mall of America, an idea pitched by

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Speaker 1: the Triple Five Group, a conglomerate based in Canada. Developers

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Speaker 1: broke ground on the ambitious project in the summer of

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine. In construction wound up taking three years

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Speaker 1: and more than six hundred and fifty million dollars to complete. Finally,

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Speaker 1: after several months of build up in the press, the

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Speaker 1: Mall of America opened its doors for the first time

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Speaker 1: on August eleventh, nineteen ninety two. More than ten thousand

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Speaker 1: employees reported to work that day, but they were nearly

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Speaker 1: outnumbered by the thousands of eager customers who lined up

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Speaker 1: outside hours before opening. Eventually, the crowd grew so large

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Speaker 1: that it became a safety concern, and mall's staff decided

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Speaker 1: to open thirty five minutes ahead of schedule just to

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Speaker 1: keep the peace. Shoppers counted down the last ten seconds

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Speaker 1: and then charged through the doors, cheering and shouting. One

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Speaker 1: woman from California had actually timed her family's vacation to

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Speaker 1: coincide with the mall's opening, and according to the Pioneer Press,

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Speaker 1: she wasn't disappointed either. It's more magnificent than I thought,

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Speaker 1: she told reporters. It gives you a sense of being

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Speaker 1: proud to be an American. It's shopping, but there's something

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Speaker 1: here for everybody. She was certainly right on that last point,

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Speaker 1: as the mall built itself not only is America's largest

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Speaker 1: shopping mall, but at its largest entertainment complex as well.

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Speaker 1: It boasted an indoor amusement park, an aquarium, a movie theater,

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Speaker 1: even a wedding chapel. Of course, for those who weren't

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Speaker 1: looking to get hitched or ride a roller coaster, there

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Speaker 1: were also three hundred plus stores to shop in. The

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Speaker 1: mall was anchored by retail stalwarts like Macy's, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's,

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Speaker 1: and Sears, and it featured no shortage of clothing, music,

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Speaker 1: and bookstores either. But it also had some rather eclectic

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Speaker 1: specialty shops, including one called Bare Bones, where shoppers could

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Speaker 1: find everything from full scale replicas of animal skulls to

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Speaker 1: detailed charts of the human digestive system. The perfect place

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Speaker 1: to score a last minute gift on your way to

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Speaker 1: your niece's birthday party at Camp Snoopy. The mall was

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Speaker 1: equipped with more than twelve thousand parking spaces, but it

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Speaker 1: was still tough to find a spot on opening day,

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Speaker 1: many people wisely opted for public transit instead. In fact,

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Speaker 1: it was reported that by four pm, nearly six thousand

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Speaker 1: people had taken the bus to the mall, and since

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Speaker 1: demand remained steady throughout the evening, Metropolitan Transit Commission wound

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Speaker 1: up running extra buses to prevent overcrowding. Despite all the frenzy,

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Speaker 1: police and mall officials reported no major problems. Shoppers complained

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Speaker 1: about long lines and heavy traffic, and more than a

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Speaker 1: few got lost or fatigued while exploring the sprawling complex,

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Speaker 1: but all in all, the opening went rather smoothly. The

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Speaker 1: biggest issue, according to retailers, was that most people did

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Speaker 1: more looking than buying, and while its not conclusive evidence,

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Speaker 1: one shopping bag count performed that day found that only

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Speaker 1: one in every ten people had actually made a purchase.

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Speaker 1: Luckily for developers, that trend eventually changed as more and

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Speaker 1: more tourists began adding the mall to their itinerary. Today,

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Speaker 1: more than thirty years later, the average out of towner

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Speaker 1: spends about one hundred and sixty two dollars per visit

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Speaker 1: to the Mall of America, and more than forty two

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Speaker 1: million people visit each year. Despite the challenges posed by

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Speaker 1: online shopping in the COVID nineteen pandemic, the Mall of

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Speaker 1: America is still drawing huge crowds today. It also still

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Speaker 1: holds the record as the largest mall in the country,

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Speaker 1: though it's worth noting it's not the largest mall in

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Speaker 1: the world, or even in North America. The latter distinction

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Speaker 1: belongs to the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada, and

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Speaker 1: wouldn't you know it, that one is also owned and

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Speaker 1: operated by Triple five. If you're planning your own visit

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Speaker 1: to the Mall of America, keep in mind there have

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Speaker 1: been some changes since opening day. For one thing, the

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Speaker 1: mall is now even larger, with more than five hundred

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Speaker 1: retail stores and two built in hotels. Also, while it

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Speaker 1: still has an indoor amusement park, Camp Snoopy is long gone,

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Speaker 1: and the space is currently occupied by a Nickelodeon themed

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Speaker 1: park called Nickelodeon Universe. Oh and bad news if you

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Speaker 1: are hoping to tie the knot over in Orange Julius.

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Speaker 1: The mall's famous Chapel of Love is sadly no longer

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Speaker 1: with us. It closed for good in twenty twenty two,

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Speaker 1: after hosting the weddings of more than eighty three hundred couples,

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Speaker 1: some of whom may still be lost in the mall

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Speaker 1: together even now. I'm Gabe Lucier, and hopefully you now

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Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday.

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Speaker 1: If you have a second and you're so inclined, consider

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Speaker 1: keeping up with us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You

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Speaker 1: can find us at TDI HC Show. You can also

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Speaker 1: rate and review the show on Apple Podcast, or you

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Speaker 1: can get in touch directly by writing to This Day

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Speaker 1: at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing

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Speaker 1: the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see you

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Speaker 1: back here again tomorrow for another day in history class.

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Speaker 1: The Pater Patter Pick, the p