Here’s What The First Shopping Mall In America Looked Like

(via BuzzFeed)  In 1956, the Southdale Shopping Center, located in Edina, Minnesota, opened to the public as the first modern shopping mall in the nation. It offered a shopping experience new to postwar America: Two floors with 72 storefronts and two department stores ; a food court and gaming arcade for leisure; 5,000 free parking spaces; and a central common area where families would cross paths, rest, and spend time together.