Top 10 Largest Shopping Malls in the World
A cursory look at the world’s largest shopping malls highlights that only two in the top ten are found outside Asia.
Large shopping malls, offering one-stop shopping, that are being built in south-Asia, and some in middle-east are a sign of the growing economic might of the Asian tigers and their counter-parts in the middle-east.
The balance of economic power is shifting to the east as western countries are unable to match the intellectual prowess, dedication of the workforce leading to lower manufacturing costs and higher revenues from both domestic and international markets.
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This rapidly increases the purchasing power of people in the east who now aspire for western brands that were out-of-reach till now and want a memorable shopping cum dining experience leading to creation of some of the largest shopping malls in the world.
What You Will Learn
Get to know the names of the world’s leading brands shopping centers and how consumption and economic development in the east (powered by cheap labor and real estate) is reflecting in the increasing size of shopping malls.
An Insight into the Top 10 Largest Shopping Malls in the World
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Siam Paragon (3.22 million sq. ft.)
Explore this gargantuan mall in Thailand that is home to the Siam ocean World Aquarium, Thai art gallery along with a large bowling alley, karaoke center, opera concert hall, multiplex movie theater along with specialty stores and restaurants. Siam Paragon is one of the 10 largest shopping malls.
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Berjaya Times Square (3.44 million sq. ft.)
A twin tower shaped complex with a shopping complex and two five-star hotels spread over 7.5 million square feet is a leading shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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With 1000 retail shops,65 food outlets, an indoor theme park, Cosmo world, Imax 2d, 3d theater making Berjaya Times Square the fifth largest building in the world.
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Istanbul Cevahir (3.47 million sq. ft.)
One of Turkey’s most popular shopping destinations, Istanbul Cevahir opened its doors to public in 2005.
With 12 cinemas, 343 shops, 34 fast food restaurants, 14 fine dining restaurants, this is the biggest mall you will see in whole of Europe.
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SM Megamall (3.6 million sq. ft.)
Philippines most sought-after shopping destination with 800,000 daily visitors, SM Megamall has two buildings: first one offers food and entertainment facilities while the second building offers retail shops.
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West Edmonton Mall (3.77 million sq. ft.)
Canada’s hottest shopping destination was also the largest mall in North America before mall of America dislodged it from the pole position in 2004.
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Indoor amusement parks indoor water parks, ice parks, 18-hole miniature golf course, movie theater, bowling alley.
The largest shopping mall in Canada West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Canada aims to attract audiences from far and wide and offer the desired critical mass of consumers to help all tenants in the mall make super-profits in the medium to long term.
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Dubai Mall (3.77 million sq. ft.)
Though largest in terms of area, gross leasable area of 3.77 million square feet, places it ranks 6 in this list.
Offering space for 1200 shops, 22 cinema screens, 120 restaurants and cafes and one of the largest aquariums in the middle-east. The Dubai Mall is a must-see on tourist’s list.
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SM Mall of Asia (4.2 million sq. ft.)
Among the list of top 10 largest shopping malls in the world here is another beautiful shopping destination; SM Mall of Asia has four buildings connected by walk-ways.
Perhaps, one of the very few malls that offer a tram service to help shoppers explore the mall.
Add to this the fun of an Olympic size ice-skating rink and an Imax theater with the largest 3d screen, and you get a never before shopping experience in Manila.
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Central World (4.62 million sq. ft.)
An eight-story shopping mall in Bangkok, Central World Mall offers 80% of its retail space for businesses and the remaining 20% for dining and recreation and among the biggest shopping malls in the world.
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Golden Resources Mall (6.0 million sq. ft.)
Located on the outskirts of Beijing, Golden Resources Mall offers 6.0 million sq. ft. of retail space but it is expected to do well in the near future as population in the suburbs of Beijing begin to swell.
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New South China Mall (6.46 million sq. ft.)
Expect the best here, with the entire mall being divided into seven zones on the lines of seven international cities. Look for the replica of Arc de triumphe and a canal with gondolas.
Though the largest mall in the world in terms of total area is the Dubai mall offering 12.1 million square feet, here we have limited our discussion to gross leasable area where the largest shopping mall in Asia New South China Mall (6.46 million sq. ft.), in China has acquired the distinction of being the biggest shopping mall in the world 2017.
Points to Note
- Brand conscious youth ensure that even mall-tenants are conscious of the brands they share retail space with in a large shopping mall. In order to cater to the uber rich, top of the line luxury brands tend to co-habit with equally upscale brands to keep their elitist tag.
- The largest shopping mall in the US, Mall of America and other similar large-format hypermarkets usually have Walmart as their tenant that is now amongst the top companies in the world in terms of revenue.
In India, Walmart runs a b2b cash and carry operation and have not yet penetrated the retail space given the low margins owing to the price-sensitive nature of Indian consumers.
- High number of queries are being put in search engines by tourists for ‘Large shopping malls’, and other such keywords like Leading shopping mall, shopping venues, to complete their holiday experience indicate the rising importance of value-conscious shopping that is replacing wild shopping sprees that were powered by credit cards a few years ago.
Wrapping it up: What you need to know about our consumption driven culture!
It’s the youth that is joining the workforce in large numbers which is driving the consumption.
With growing disposable incomes, the size of the largest shopping malls is only going to become bigger in the near future.
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Buying mementos and certain items of value that are very costly in the home country but are available in the biggest shopping centers in the world at lower prices during happy hours or during the carnival season are the in-thing these days and several websites offering coupons for shopping in the nearest Shopping center have come up.
Discount codes, discount coupons are being aggressively searched for by savvy shoppers and you too can reduce your monthly spends by 30-40% with these coupon codes and vouchers.
Retail spaces in shopping malls are being leased by customer-facing organizations like travel agents, holiday planners, and money transfer agents in order to stay closer to the right set of audiences.
