More, more, more: with more than 500 stores, the Mall of America, which draws more than 40 million shoppers a year, has more than earned its title as biggest mall in the United States.

The huge steel-and-glass-topped shopping centre in suburban Minneapolis, complete with an indoor theme park, dinosaur museum and gigantic aquarium, is an over-the-top, only-in-America sales pitch. So much so, that it has become a national and international tourist draw.

The Frisby family travelled close to 1000 kilometers from Illinois to spend a weekend here. While mom Christine shops, husband Robert and kids Chloe (7) and August (3) hit the amusement park.

"I like to shop, they like to do rides. So we all get happy," smiles Christine Frisby.

Nothing was left unplanned by developers of this 390 000m², four-storey mega-mall, which has made a big mark on the US midwest for 14 years.

There are 520 boutiques and stores, 50 restaurants and 14 movie screens. And then there is the biggest indoor amusement park in the country, complete with roller coasters; the dino-museum; an aquarium home to 4500 marine creatures; a stage fit for a pop concert; and an in-house police station.

Its website boasts that the mall is big enough to hold 32 Boeing 747s.

If a visitor spent just 10 minutes in each of its stores, it would take 86 hours to make the complete rounds of the 'Mall of America'. Just outside the facility, some 30 hotels welcome mall-bound visitors.

Have fun spending money

Some businesses offer their star employees trips to the mall, and it is quite common to see packs of women arriving on group bargain hunts.

With more than 40 million visitors a year, "we have more visitors than Disneyworld, Graceland and the Grand Canyon combined," boasts Dan Jasper, spokesperson for the mall management.

The concept behind the mall is a simple one, he says: "It should be fun to spend money."

Americans, he says, "like instant gratification. 'If I have 50 dollars in my pocket, and I can spend it on something and make me feel good tonight, I wanna do that.'

"I'm not saying it's a good trait," Jasper added, "but I do say that's a trait of our nation."

The university of shopping

In the ultimate consumer society, where spending represents a whopping two-thirds of US economic activity, the Mall of America has become a regional economic hub, racking up annual sales of $1.8-billion.

Normally, it employs 11 000 people; during summer months and holidays, the number hits about 13 000. Nothing short of a city within a city, the mall even has a university.

And, for a moment of wedding bliss amid all the purchasing, there is even a storefront chapel where about 400 couples marry each year.

"There's a lot of people who have met here" in the mall who want to wed under its roof, explains Felicia Glass Wilcox, who owns the chapel and boutique with wedding gowns and flowers.

For those who would rather forsake the long drive to the mall, developers Triple-Five of Canada plan a major expansion this year to add apartments, medical offices and a concert hall.

Though consumer spending edged down late last year, Americans' love for shopping has since picked right back up.

Just ask Patricia Flowers, all aglow with her mall booty: "I have already spent $500 on clothes and jewelry today. I do that every two weeks," she explains. "Shopping is just a habit," she says. And so much more.

To find out more, visit www.mallofamerica.com.

AFP