I had a discussion with a friend of mine the other day about some of the largest malls in North America. She spent a couple years living in Minnesota, so she became quite familiar with the Mall of America. It was the preferred shopping destination for many people in the area, because you could find just about every store under the rainbow there, including multiple locations of the most popular stores.

After moving to Calgary, she took the opportunity to visit Edmonton, which is a three hour drive away. While in Edmonton, she took a quick tour of West Edmonton Mall and found it to be quite the different experience than the Mall of America. The latter may have more stores, but my friend said that she likes West Edmonton Mall more because it has more additional features beyond the pure shopping experience. There’s a casino, a waterpark, a theme park, an indoor skating rink, a pirate ship, a sea lion show, a movie theatre and more.

Is West Edmonton Mall more desirable than the Mall of America? This is certainly a matter of personal preference and what each individual wants out of their mall experience, but it seems that the Edmonton mall has more of an opportunity to capture people who may not be interested in just shopping. This can help to expand the business possibilities there and it can expand the potential demographics for visitors. For the Mall of America, it is mostly for shopping and not much for anything else.

Whatever niche your company chooses to approach, it may be worthwhile to think about how you can add extra value and entertainment to your main product draw. This way, you may be able to attract potential customers who may not have otherwise been interested in what you have to offer.