Have you ever wondered which was the world’s first shopping mall? Or why escalators are placed in the middle of the mall? If one thing that embodies the spirit of consumerism is our very own shopping malls with their “shop till you drop” craze in its zenith. The world was swept up by the craze ofshopping malls in the 80s. But do you know that malls made their appearance after the second world war in the 50s? The word “mall” was used to refer to the way which was bordered with shops, but in the 60s, it came to associated with large enclosed spaces with shops all around them. Here are some of the fascinating facts about shopping malls that you might not have known. The oldest shopping mall in history? If we look at our history books, we will find that the earliest shopping mall was probably Trajan’s market in Rome. It was the place where people often gathered to trade and purchase; it was built around 100-110 AD. Shopping malls have been premised for many horror movies. The shopping mall is the highlight setting for many famous horror movies such as Eight-legged freak, Chopping Mall, Phantom of the Mall. This trend was started by the father of zombie movies, George A. Romero. His movies often depicted the creepy settings of empty shops in a deserted mall. Why are escalators placed in the centre of the mall? Have you ever wondered, like most of us that why most malls have escalators placed at the centre of the mall when they could have easily saved some space and placed it in the corners? It is pure psychology as when we go out to shop; we often start with whatever catches our eye first, or would go straight to our favourite shop and go home. But when you are on an escalator that is strategically placed in centre so that you could see many stores on your way up and down and be motivated to shop. World’s largest shopping mall. According to Wikipedia, the title of the largest shopping mall goes to “The Dubai Mall”. Its floor area is more than fifty football pitches. The most intriguing part about the mall is that it gets about seventy-five million shoppers every year! Some of the largest malls in the world includeSM City in the Philippines, New South China Mall in Dongguan, and the Mall of America in Minnesota. So, which one is your favourite shopping mall?
