Mall of America Announces Plans for Midnight Black Friday 2011 Opening

The Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, announced on Friday that it will open its doors at midnight on Black Friday 2011, becoming the first major mall in the United States to do so.

The mall said 70 of its retailers will be ready for the torrent of expected shoppers. That is actually a small percentage of the stores in the mall. According to Wikipedia, the Mall of America has 520 retailers.

The Mall of America joins Target as recent announcers of such hours. Target has also announced a midnight opening for its stores on Black Friday 2011.

The day after Thanksgiving is the traditional start to the holiday shopping season. It is called Black Friday because retailers supposedly return to profitability, going into the black. It is considered the biggest single shopping day of the year for brick-and-mortar retailers, and as such, retailers offer huge discounts on items, including items in limited supply called "doorbusters."

Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, is so called because as the first workday after Thanksgiving, it is the first day many workers have access to broadband. This day is becoming less relevant as broadband becomes increasingly prevalent across the United States, but it is still a day targeted for huge online sales.

The Mall of America, frequently abbreviated MOA, opened in 1992. It is a shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, which is a suburb of the Twin Cities. It is located southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north of the Minnesota River and is across the interstate from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

The Mall of America sees about 40 million visitors annually. It is owned and managed by The Triple Five Group, which in turn is owned by Canada's Ghermezian family. The Triple Five Group also owns and manages the West Edmonton Mall.

The Mall of America is the second largest mall in the United States in terms of retail space, but is the largest in terms of total enclosed floor area. Considering all of North America, the Mall of America is the second largest mall, after West Edmonton Mall, which as we noted, is owned by the same group, and is situated in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

It may not be the largest mall in the world, or even in North America, but with the aforementioned 40 million visitors annually, the Mall of America is the most visited shopping mall in the world. The mall employs over 12,000 workers.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

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