Talk:West Edmonton Mall

Statement doesn't make sense
"The closure in the late 1990s of Canadian Tire left a vacancy that sat unfilled for nearly a decade until it was converted into a "Chinatown"-themed area in 2002, which includes an Asian grocery store, T & T Supermarket."

How can it be nearly a decade between the late 1990's and 2002?

- A decade is 10 years.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.3.214.212 (talk) 15:54, 17 November 2021 (UTC)

I give up trying to maintain accuracy in this lame article
Whats the point? some moron is always going to read 1/8 of the article and replace fact with something they read in a brochure 15 years ago, and then get pissed when I call him out so will post pictures of his rectum. So annoying. Go ahead, continue to sign the praises of the place. I give up. Hey, at least the ugliness and crappiness and utter banality of the article reflects what is going on at this mall.

Mall of Arabia

 * If someone really thinks that the Mall of Arabia will become the largest mall in the world, it should probably have an article. Does anyone know if it has gotten past the planning stage? If we don't get a reply in a reasonable amount of time, I'll remove the reference as unverifiable. I only have the following two articles on it:
 * http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/31239.html
 * http://www.eqarat.com/english/newsletter/76/2.htm
 * - Halthecomputer 23:44, Nov 27, 2003 (UTC)

See: Dubai Land WhisperToMe 08:25, 20 Dec 2003 (UTC)

See also Dubai Mall in Dubai, UAE. When completed, it will cover a total area of 12 million ft² --Jibran1 23:42, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

800 Store claim
There are NOT 800 stores at the mall, the actual number is around 600. Mall promotional material will never stray from this claim. Factually it is incorrect, so please, lets not regurgitate mall propaganda here. 600 stores it is.
 * Sorry! 800 is the only official number we have until you can provide another source. Wikipedia policy. No more changes without a reference. --Tyson2k 05:50, 20 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Sources provided stating 600 stores. One directly from the mall itself, in a non-promotional security flyer.. Another, an engery conservation study . Changed to 600 stores.

The Dubai Mall claims to have a total of more than 1000 stores, when completed. --Jibran1 23:45, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

Beijing
According to a number of media sources (the most recent being, Beijing has a larger mall than Edmonton now. -- Kaszeta 13:09, 25 May 2005 (UTC)

Images
Surely there must be fair use or public domain images of the mall around? With just the logos the article looks awfully dull. 23skidoo 20:03, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
 * The best option might be to ask an Edmonton resident to get some photos. - SimonP 20:12, 25 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Some images have been added; but it was just a big too much so I removed them; perhaps select one or two to use. Peyna 20:01, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

I Have Some Better PIctures but i have no clue how to embeed them.... Plz help. --65.92.151.10 01:50, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

New Images
the concern raised for the new images by the group for the performance issues, I Guess; images gives a good look and feel of the mall, as we know that a picture speak thousand words... is not a bad idea. --Ajayverma 17:55, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

Some new images have been repeatedly added to the article, so instead of reverting until my fingers fall off, I'm opening this for discussion.

The new pictures do not add any content to the article. They only make it cluttered and possibly cause load time problems for users with slower connections. I am not opposed to adding a couple pictures along the side or replacing some of those already there with some of these new pictures. I am opposeed to having a gallery of photos at the bottom of the article. Peyna 15:18, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I agree. If a gallery is desirable, set one up on Commons. - SimonP 15:42, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
 * I believe that these picture add plenty to the page. How about text links to the pictures instead of thumbnails. - Matteso 21:39, 4 December 2005
 * Thumbnails are links. No need to be so conservative with the server.--[[Image:Ewok_Slayer.png|140px|Ewok Slayer]] --(U | T | C) 04:41, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

---

Mall's cursed history
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the history of deaths at WEM. Besides the Fantasyland rollercoaster disaster, there was the man found dead in the Santa Maria pool after a night of drinking, the 3-4 men who died during construction, and the Boxing Day murder of a Vietnamese gang member by hatchet while thousands of customers watched.

Hey, do you have a link to all the stories you mentioned? I've been trying to find them, but I can't look on Google forever....Ultima22 15:24, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Here's A New Death KingRaven (&gt;$.$)&gt; (talk) 06:04, 15 September 2009 (UTC)

Trivia re submarines
What happened to 'em? I can't imagine them just stopping a popular tourist ride like that. My money's on Health and Safety. I guess they could've sold 'em to the Canadian Navy! Heh. Admittedly I've not been for 8 years, so I'm a bit behind the times. How come they've gone now?
 * I think they lost them simply because they were not worth the trouble. It is pretty specific technology for a mall, and I don't think they had enough ridership to make them worthwhile.--SwingLowSweetDeej 02:00, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I had ridden the Submarines in November of '01 so the 98 date could be worng, unless thats when the Canadian Navy bought more of their own. EnsRedShirt 09:21, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
 * That's when I got the date from, the Canadian Navy article, having started the 'trivia' section and written it myself. I didn't know about the sub ride closing then.

Don't forget, the subs had tendency to derail every other month or so. Maybe the Canadian Navy donated them? Heh. Anyway, I do think they took them out because of safety, but they did have some really good stuff down there, which I'm gonna miss. --Ultima22 19:21, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm posting from an internet cafe in the mall - the submarines are still in the water place, on the rails, just unmoving and with the boarding / disembarking platform removed. So I guess the potential is there for them to return at some point [or, indeed, for the submarines to be sold to the Canadian Navy...]

The subs where bought from the navy, so they won't sell them back to them. Doesn't make much sense really. The mall plans to return to the subs at a later date, when they can be more reliable. Or so I hear my former bosses and co-workers at Admissions. If not, they'll just end up like that expensive Ming vase in the lagoon, decorations. --Calamusdraco 06:41, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Where is the source or reference to it having more sub's than the Canadian Navy before 1998? Canking 14:24, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Trivia
An ip addy added thest two factoids:
 * The mall apparently has the largest drug paraphernelia shop ever. Pipes, bongs, rolling papers, blunt wraps and such are available at plenty in the mall.
 * Also, Cameron Diaz was found in the bathroom of the mall one night in October 2004.

I didn't see any evidence of verification on either of em so I removed them. For the first one, if its verifiable I don't see a problem with it, but I don't think it is. As for the second one.. Actress need a place to shop too, and being "found" in a bathroom without any reason why it is any diffrent then anyone else using the bathroom is not in its self notable. EnsRedShirt 06:16, 3 May 2006 (UTC)


 * There's actually two bong shops at WEM. Neither are particularly large though.  64.56.145.130 16:53, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Mall Rats
I remember reading in a 1996 edition of the Edmonton Journal, talking about how bad the mall rats were during those days. Some of them carried weapons, and even lived inside the mall itself. (and not the hotel or inn either.) There were two gangs, one that thrived in the food court by the Red's, and the other in the "Gourmet" food court down by Galaxyland. Both had their different styles, and when they clashed, they clashed HARD.-Ultima22     P.s.    i luv pink!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :?b

Animals
A history of the animal displays at the mall would be nice. They had dolphins for the longest time until they died from various causes, one being the ingestion of coins thrown into the pool by spectators. Now they've got their flamingos and sea lions. A couple weeks ago I was walking along the upper level and ran into a couple penguins out for a walk/waddle with staff from the Sea Life Caverns. The protests against the dolphins also needs a mention because public perception has changed drastically over the years. Personally I saw many of these displays a few years ago where protesters would display large banners and hand out information to tourists just before a dolphin show. It couldn't have been good for business.

Guinness World Record
Why not mention to the Guinness record? —Preceding unsigned comment added by LittleTree (talk • contribs)
 * It seems to conflict with this mall size comparison. Carson 23:15, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
 * The Guinness website hasn't changed in years. It is clearly very out of date. All of the malls that are larger than WEM are fairly new, and so this is not a suprise. And no, I do not think out-of-date information is worth mentioning. --Arch26 06:46, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Oops. I thought the article mentioned that it used to be the world largest for 20 years. BUT I was wrong. The sentence was in the other page. I must have been confused by reading several articles at a time. Carson, the numbers in the Guinness book seems okay comparing to those in the WDM home page. I wonder what the source of the numbers in that comparison. Arch26, So, you don't think it is worth mentioning even as a historical fact? Fine by me. There is no need to mention the record while the article doesn't say it used to be the world largest. --LittleTree 01:21, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I really don't have any problem with it being mentioned as historical fact. Something like: "West Edmonton Mall was the largest indoor shopping centre in the world until 20##." What's wrong with that? --Arch26 01:29, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

What's the deal with this trivia?
"The TV show 6teen takes place in a fictional version of the West Edmonton Mall." So...it takes place in West Edmonton Mall except...it doesn't really take place in West Edmonton Mall? You can have a fictional show set in a real life setting, but it is either set in West Ed or it isn't. Maybe a fictional mall BASED on West Ed would be more acceptable. I'm not familiar with the show, so I'm not touching that. --C civiero 19:49, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

I've seen the show and the mall depicted looks nothing like WestEd (I live in Edmonton, ten blocks from the mall). I vote this piece of trivia be scrapped unless it can be cited. RE-Razor 16:53, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Sea Lions
The assertion that one Sea Lion died on the way to WEM and thus there are only two is incorrect. One may have died, I don't know, but there are, and always have been, three sea lions stationed at WEM.

Only two of them star in a show at a time, I think the third (Clara) is a backup.

Alberta's Number One Tourist Attraction???
Wouldn't that be the Calgary Stampede? Sure, the mall gets more 'visitors' each year, but I think it's misleading (and depressing) to call it the 'number one tourist attaction.' Comments?
 * What about Banff? Either this statement is very vague, or it's very wrong. There is NO WAY that West Ed gets more visitors than Banff OR the Calgary Stampede. And I agree... it would be depressing if it were true. Yay! Our number one tourist trap is responsible for the destruction of the urban fabric of the city of Edmonton and is the epitome of excess, suburbanization and runaway consumerism! Please God... I hope not. --Arch26 07:59, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

WEM does get more visitors than Banff or the Stampede. BUT - its a mall first and foremost. It is assuming that one visitor from Japan who flies in for a week and spends $500/night in banff on hotel and another $1000 a day on food and shopping - is the same as - a 14 year old girl who pops in the door for 5 minutes to buy a $.50 hair clip while waiting for her bus. Not apples to apples, here people. If you want to talk mall visitor stats, go do some research. You will learn that Chinook Centre also has more visitors than Banff or the Stampede. You will also learn that your 22 million visitors is acutally nothing to brag about, but rather be embarrassed about - compared to the MORE THAN 50 million shoppers who visit the Toronto Eaton Centre annually. And there are no flamingos or rollercoasters there.
 * Here here! By referring to WEM as Alberta's top attraction using numbers only (and not common sense), you are probably inadvertantly placing some of Edmonton's famous strip malls such as oh, say, South Edmonton Common in a list of "Alberta's Top 10 Most Visited Attractions"!!! There's something to brag about. Put that on a tourism brochure. "Come to Edmonton. Go to IKEA. YAY!!!" This is all heresay of course. I haven't looked up any numbers... BUT, I know how misleading stats can be and the above unsigned commentator seems to make a valid point. --Arch26 06:20, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Kingsway Garden Mall is the busiest mall in Edmonton. Simply because of it's location. 02:00 April 2, 2007

All right people, start educating yourselves. I've heard many times that west ed is the #1 tourist attraction. The mall recieves 60 000 daily and in a year that would be? Calgary stampede gets 1 million in 10 days.--TelusFielder
 * You missed the whole point of what they were saying....sure maybe the mall does get that many people a day. I doubt that it does get that many but assuming you are correct, not all of them are tourists. Edmonton itself does not get 60,000 tourists a day. Heck I doubt there are many places in the world that get that many tourists a day. --Djsasso 19:35, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Two Three questionable pieces of information
There are two questionable pieces of information that need to be confirmed: 1. The statement it has the largest parking lot in North America. I thought Disneyland/California Adventure in Anaheim now holds this distinction. 2. I'm pretty certain it was Woodwyn, a subsidiary of Woodward's, that sat vacant before becoming the Chinatown section, not Canadian Tire. I don't recall there ever being a Canadian Tire store in WEM. 23skidoo 05:05, 19 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I can't comment on (1), but as for (2), Canadian Tire was where the Chinese thing is now -- I remember it clearly, though not clearly enough to give you the years it was there. It closed when the Canadian Tire at 99 Ave and 178 St opened. Indefatigable 20:52, 21 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I removed the statement that it is the world's largest. The mall's own web site says it is the largest, according to Guiness, but I can not find supporting evidence on the Guiness Web site.  What we do know is that the parking lot surorunding the mall is an assembly of several parking garages and flat parking lots that collectively offer 20,000 parking spaces.  By the same token, the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has 28,000 parking spaces in the central terminal area.  I'm sure that West Edmonton is the largest free parking lot, but I can not say that for certain.  It is certainly a cool honor to have, and I hope to find out who it belongs to. --Meadowbrook 16:02, 25 January 2007 (UTC)


 * As far as I know, there are more American Eagle Outfitters in Edmonton than just inside WEM. I lived in Edmonton, and I worked beside an American Eagle Outfitters store in Kingsway Garden Mall. I also remember seeing one in Southgate Mall. Can you confirm or remove the exclusiveness of this store? ITS PRETTY SWEET!!!!! i luv bikinis!joecdn 02:55, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

Food Courts
Changed image description of food courts from "multiple" to "two". RE-Razor 16:55, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Wikipedia is open to all viewers with Internet Explorer access, so this page may or may not be accurate due to the character of these people. Feel free to change. --12.207.207.146 (talk) 05:13, 22 February 2008 (UTC)Maddie
 * IMPORTANT TO ALL WIKIPEDIA VIEWERS!

Ice Palace question
From the article: "Ice Palace is a scaled down version of a National Hockey League (NHL) regulation sized ice rink..."

How is it scaled down if it's regulation sized? --Emerae (talk) 05:16, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

No longer third largest?
Can someone double-check the facts on this comment in the lead? According to List of tallest buildings and structures in the world it's the sixth largest mall. 68.146.41.232 (talk) 02:22, 16 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I think you ment List of largest buildings in the world. However the source that article uses is the same as the one this article uses. Based on that WEM is now the 4th largest and I fixed it to reflect that. CambridgeBayWeather Have a gorilla 07:08, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

How long?
(that's what she said) ... No really though, how long was the West Edmonton Mall the largest mall in the world? The article states "It was the world's largest mall for a 27-year period from 1981 until 2008", but the Golden Resources Mall in China claims to have been the world's largest mall from 2004 to 2005.

Assessment
For WP Canada, I have rated the article "B", partly because I can't give an "A" but also because of the trivia section and the uncited material it contains.  PK T  18:02, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

T&T Asian Supermarket is in the old Canadian Tire space, not Ikea.
Edmonton Events Centre and Ed's Rec Room occupy the space vacated by Ikea, which moved to Whitemud, then South Edmonton Common. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.148.238.203 (talk) 16:23, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Building cost and current value.
Article says "cost C$1.2 billion to build" and "The mall is currently valued at C$926 million." This may mislead some people into thinking the mall has lost value, but the currency has changed relative to other countries would this change the numbers at all? I.E. maybe in 1980 1USD was equal to 1.3C but now its closer to 1:1 ? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.197.210.91 (talk) 01:18, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
 * You're right to point out the numbers don't make sense, I doubt it has lost value, the cost to build appears to be unreferenced. But both values are in Canadian dollars, so the exchange rate to other countries shouldn't have any affect on the numbers. 117Avenue (talk) 03:56, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Was it the world's largest mall in 1981?
The statement that it was the largest mall in the world upon opening in 1981 is, I believe, incorrect. Phase I consisted of the "normal mall" (for lack of a better term) with the 3 department stores, plus the amusement park. It was a big mall at that time, but I can't see it being the world's largest at that point. I don't believe it attained "world's largest" status until Phase III opened in 1985. Can someone check this? 68.146.71.145 (talk) 12:50, 18 June 2011 (UTC)

Really inaccurate article
This article reads like it was put together by a members of the mall's marketing team, using promotional materials from 15 years ago. Most of the stats are out of date or completely inaccurate. "By 2014, the mall's "face lift" had been completed." is a particularly incorrect statement, as it's near the end of 2016 and the renovations are still ongoing. "Future expansions are underway to more than double the total floor space" also needs citing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.3.167.163 (talk) 05:22, 18 October 2016 (UTC)

Size Matters
On the list of Largest Nalls in the World it is listed at tied for 21st, I do believe. In this article it says 10th largest in the world. Well. . . which is it? 21st or 10th? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.75.55.239 (talk) 00:03, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

Loan controversy
In the late 1990s and early 2000s there was a controversy, involving multiple lawsuits, over a loan guarantee by the Alberta Treasury Branch made to the mall. The claim was that the loan guarantee was not justified on banking principles and was made due to political pressure and cronyism. Some discussion of this belongs in the section on controversies.Bill (talk) 06:34, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

Contradiction
The "It is currently the second largest shopping mall in North America behind the Mall of America and was the world's largest mall until 2004." in a lead contradicts the source which:


 * Lists Mall of America, 2.8-million (260,000), 4.2-million (390,000) 520 as a "Largest shopping mall in the United States (by total area)";


 * Lists West Edmonton Mall, 3.8-million (350,000), 5.3-million (490,000) 800 as a "Largest shopping mall in North America; includes indoor wave pool, amusement areas, hotel, restaurants; 20,000 parking spaces."

This needs to be fixed, because by source, Mall of America is actually behind West Edmonton Mall. --Sleeps-Darkly (talk) 23:36, 17 August 2021 (UTC)