Shopaholics Rejoice! KOP Expansion Will Snag ‘Biggest Mall’ Title

The King of Prussia Mall is already enormous. It’s the country’s biggest shopping mall by retail space (the Mall of America has more square footage, when its theme parks are taken into account), sporting three food courts, seven anchor stores, and hundreds of retailers. Proving that bigger really is better, however, the mall is fixin’ to shoot up like spring flowers. Construction will start soon on a mammoth expansion that will – briefly! – make KOP the largest  mall in the U.S.

Glowing and growing: King of Prussia takes the title this spring. Photo: Creative Commons

The expansion will connect the two existing sections of the mall, the (upscale) Court and the (mid-range) Plaza. The two are currently accessible through a covered outdoor walkway, but now shoppers will enjoy uninterrupted climate control – a perk I’m sure we all can appreciate in light of this past winter! The new section will be dubbed the Pavillion, will incorporate about forty new retailers and “several” restaurants.

This is only the latest – although, arguably, the greatest! – of the mall’s recent changes. The Container Store recently opened the doors on its first Philadelphia location, joining other retailers brand new for 2014: Uniqlo, Ugg Australia, and Ted Baker, among others.

King of Prussia won’t get much time to rest on its laurels, however. Both the Mall of America and Miami’s Aventura Mall are planning expansions that will, when finished, steal back the #1 and #2 spots for size. In the case of the Bloomington behemoth, the final square footage will actually trump that of the next two comers combined. (Whatever. Those poor Minnesotans need something to do when they manage to unbury themselves from the snow.)

One thing is for sure: the KOP Mall will continue to dominate the Greater Philly Area’s mall shopping scene for the foreseeable future.

Bringing new meaning to “shop ’til you drop.” Photo: King of Prussia Mall

By the numbers:

97% – Simon Property Group’s ownership share in the King of Prussia Mall

$600 – The mall’s average sales-per-square-foot, which is among the industry’s highest.

250,000 – The amount of square feet to be added to the mall.

2.39 million – The current square footage of the Mall of America.

2.83 million – The projected square footage of the King of Prussia Mall following expansion.

5.6 million – The projected square footage of the Mall of America after a huge planned expansion is completed.

5 – The number of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels locations within King of Prussia Mall (mmm… cinnamon sugar!).