Plans were announced in 1952 for the construction of Southdale, the first U.S. enclosed shopping mall.

The Dayton brothers, owners of Minneapolis’ largest department store, conceived the plan for Southdale in 1950. The shopping mall was their response to population shifts from cities to the suburbs. The Daytons saw a need for a new kind of shopping environment, both to meet the needs of the growing suburban communities and to augment their own downtown businesses. After a year of studying population trends and other economic and real estate data, the Daytons announced the project on this day in 1952. They purchased 500 acres of land in Edina, Minneapolis, and broke ground for the shopping center on October 29, 1954. The 800,000 square foot center, with 5,200 parking spaces and 72 tenant spaces, was envisioned as a community gathering place. Art shows, charity functions and other events were held there. Southdale’s three-storied interior plaza design, cutting-edge at the time, is now a familiar one, having served as a model for malls around the world. Southdale was the first shopping center to provide space for competing businesses, the first to commission original works of art for its decor and the first to maintain a controlled interior temperature. The mall offered a wide variety of stores and services when it opened in 1956, including helicopter service to Dayton’s downtown Minneapolis store, the airport or downtown St. Paul.

Illuminations
In Shopping Mall Math (3–8), students participate in activities in which they develop number sense in and around the shopping mall.

Xpeditions
In International Food Court (6–8), students learn about the characteristics of the world’s regions by investigating the types of food that are common in different parts of the world. They compile their findings into a plan for an international food court in a local mall, describing the types of food that will be served, the decor and the entertainment.

Mapping What Matters (K–2) introduces the concept of mental mapping through shopping mall maps. Students then find on maps the places that are important to them.

ReadWriteThink
Malls are for shopping and what better way to motivate students to write than by having them create their own shopping lists! In Authentic Writing Experiences and Math Problem-Solving Using Shopping Lists (K–2), students use their problem-solving skills to stay within their budget as they choose items they plan to buy and create their personal shopping lists.

EconEdLink
Students examine the factors that influence the shopping choices they make and calculate savings for different products when using coupons in Clipping Coupons (K–5).