It does not matter if you are a shopaholic or not but the wonderful shopping malls located in different regions of the world will leave you no choice but to start shopping. Never mind if you are having a tough time to manage your budget, window shopping is also very joyous. Here we shall discuss some of the top class shopping malls in the world which must be visited once in a life. These shopping malls have been attracting tourists from all over the world for the past decades.
1. Eaton Centre, Toronto, Canada
The Eaton Centre is located in the heart of Toronto; it is comprised of two main sections i.e. the northern section which was completed in 1977 and the southern section completed in 1979. The design of this building was inspired by Galleria Vittorio Emanuele located in Milan, Italy. The Eaton Centre has helped attract thousands of tourists, especially during public holidays the mall gets too much crowded. The Eaton Centre offers restaurants, service stores and other broad range of items. There are 230 retailers in this mall, and almost all of them offer items which are easily affordable.
2. Wako, Tokyo, Japan
This used to be a small jewelry and watch store, when it was first opened in 1881 by Kintaro Hattori. The founder of this shop Hattori then took his business to the next level and upgraded his shop to a watch making company, now known as Seiko. Seiko is a world famous company, selling luxurious and quite expensive watches.The new building was constructed in the heart of Ginza in 1932 and is one of the few buildings which remained untouched and unharmed during the World War II. Ginza is considered to be one of the most prestigious shopping areas of the world.
3. De Bijenkorf, Amsterdam
The first De Bijenkorf department store was opened in the year 1870, located in Nieuwendijk. The De Bijenkorf is now considered to be the oldest chain of department stores in the whole Europe and the highest rated market in the Netherlands.There are total 12 stores running in the country today, but the main store lies in the capital city, Amsterdam. This store is a five storey building and was built in 1957 located in Dam Square. The five storey shopping mall has a lot to offer to the customers. Kitchen accessories, jewelry stores, restaurants and dresses made by the fashion designers are some of them.
4. Galleries Lafayette, Paris
It is believed to be one of the most famous stores in France. The mall was first opened as a small fashion store by Théophile Bader and Alphonse Kahn in 1893. The small outlet was converted to a shopping mall in 1912. The shopping mall today, is a home to many jewelry, cosmetic s, home accessories and gift stores. The shopping mall attracts many tourists every year. Due to expensive rates offered by the mall, most of the people come here for window shopping and to admire the astonishing architectural design of the building.
5. 10 Corso Como, Milan
10 Corso Como is a great choice for all the fashion lovers. The mall was opened in 1990 as an art gallery and a book store by an Italian editor named Carla Sozzani. After one year in 1991, clothing accessories were also added to the items list to attract more customers. Soon the place was crowded by people traveling from different cities and so, a Corso Como Café and restaurant were also launched within the mall in 1999 and were followed by the construction of a small, sleek and stylish hotel in 2003. Dresses designed world famous fashion designers are found here. In addition, you will find another far more cheaper Corso Como store nearby because the prices at the 10 Corso Como are very high and cannot be afforded by average budget holders.
6. The Fashion Shows, Las Vegas
This one is a huge shopping mall and is considered to be the one of the world’s most expensive malls. If you want to spend millions of dollars in a day just come here and start shopping. There are many department stores offering a wide range of items of high quality. Dresses from famous fashion designers are displayed here. In addition, restaurants, fast foods and other cafés are also a part of this shopping mall. The construction of this building was completed in 1981 and is a marvelous piece of architecture. The best feature of this shopping mall is the presence of the huge disc shape cloud; probably 480 feet long and it act as a shade during the day and at night as colossal movie screen.
7. Gum, Moscow
GUM is the most prestigious and largest shopping mall in Russia and is located at the Red Square in Moscow. GUM was constructed in 1890 and has a magnificent architectural design. The huge roof made up of glass resembles the architecture of the good old European train stations. The mall offers shops of different items and restaurants and cafés are also a part of this unique shopping mall. In addition there is a very well managed seating arrangement for the visitors. In 1917, GUM was home to about 1,200 stores and in 1928 it was transformed into an office building by Stalin. It was reopened in 1953 as shopping mall again. The shopping mall was privatized in early 1990s and now comprises of more than 200 stores.
8. Quartier 206, Berlin
Quartier 206 is located in Berlin on the famed Friedrichstraße. The shopping is filled with items from well reputed fashion designers of the world; some of these brands are Gucci, Yves Saint and Bottega Veneta. Other than the fashion collection displayed here, home accessories and book stores are also present. The building is unique in Architectural design and was planned by the famous Peib Cobb Freed & partners from New York. The construction of this mall was completed and was launched in 1997. Anne Maria Jagdfeld is the founder of his famous shopping mall.
9. Saks Fifth Avenue, New York
Saks Fifth Avenue was founded by Andrew Saks in 1867 and in 1902 his business was upgraded from a store to the company level and was named as Saks & Company. Saks Fifth Avenue is now considered to be the most up market in New York. Today 53 Saks Fifth Avenue stores are being operated and 52 Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5TH stores are also working which provided discount on a large number of items. Some of the branches of the Saks Fifth Avenue are also operational in Saudi Arabia, U.A.E, Mexico and Bahrain.
10. Harrods, London
It is the world’s most famous store. The store was first opened in early 1870s as a small grocery store by Henry Harrods. The grocery store was upgraded to a new departmental store offering stationary items and other home accessories. In 1880 Henry Harrods due to the load of too much work had hired 100 workers and in 1985 Mohamed Al Fayed, an Egyptian billionaire bought this store from Henry Harrods for £615 million.Today Harrods covers an area of 90,000 square meters and has around 330 departments offering from almost everything the customers’ desire. The management of the Harrods has hired 4,000 people working day and night, no wonder why it is the world’s most famous store.
