What is a shopping mall? A shopping mall is a building or group of buildings that contains stores. The stores are connected by walkways so that consumers can easily walk between the stores. Shopping  malls can be built in an enclosed or open- air format.

History of Shopping Malls The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is an early shopping mall dating from the 15th century. In 1819,London opened a shopping center called the Burlington Arcade. Milan, Italy built a shopping center in the 1860s called the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. In the United States, people began moving to the suburbs during the 20th century. Shopping malls were built to serve consumers living in areas outside of the cities. By 1916, a shopping mall called The Market Square opened for business in Chicago, IL. The facility was comprised of 28 stores, apartments, and offices. The Market Square was located in the expensive Lake Forest suburb and is thought to be one of the first planned shopping centers in the U.S.   In 1950, the Northgate Shopping Center was built in Seattle, Washington. This shopping mall boasted two rows of stores on each side of an open-air section where shoppers could walk. Two department stores anchored each end of the shopping center. The first enclosed shopping mall was Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota which opened its doors in 1956.