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Shopping Centers Today -> May 2002
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IT’S THE THEME PARK THAT SETS MOA APART
By Debra Hazel
Without the theme park, Mall of America would be, quite bluntly, just a large mall.
The substantial entertainment component, particularly Camp Snoopy, is what draws the tourists, who make up 40 percent of the mall’s business.
“The theme park has been instrumental in building Mall of America’s reputation as an attraction,” said Maureen Bausch, the megamall’s director of business development.
Though the Christmas season is usually the busiest period for centers, Mall of America’s high seasons, like Disney World’s, occur in June through August and November through December.
“[Mall of America] transcends all seasons,” said Michael Scott, senior vice president of retail for locally based commercial real estate brokerage United Properties. “During the summer, when shopping centers normally are quiet, it’s busy as tourists come to shop there.”
About 30 percent of the people who shop also go play in the amusement park. Conversely, 50 percent of amusement park visitors buy something in the mall, according to Simon Property Group, the majority owner.
Though Camp Snoopy remains Mall of America’s largest and most dominant theme park, the mall has continued to add new attractions. But they haven’t all done well. Underwater World, an aquarium, opened to tremendous fanfare and substantial business in June 1996. But customer interest quickly fell off, and the original owners filed for bankruptcy.
Todd Peterson, the attraction’s current CEO, acquired the aquarium in mid-1999. Now dubbed Underwater Adventures, the aquarium serves as a breeding facility as well as an attraction. Marketing programs include visitor dives, and attendance rose to 600,000 last year.
“The mall has two personalities that work together pretty well: a retailer/shopping-oriented clientele, and the tourist-attraction clientele,” Peterson said.
The newest attraction is General Mills’ Cereal Adventures, which takes children (and adults) on an educational trip from wheat field to breakfast bowl and also features a Wheaties Hall of Champions. The 16,000-square-foot feature opened on the mall’s third level in June last year.
Money generated by visitors and product promotions have made the amusement park a serious business, both for the mall and for the city. “It’s put Minneapolis on the map,” Scott said.
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