Minnesota Shopping Center Now #1 In Midwest For Holiday Shopping

Once Thanksgiving is over, Black Friday officially ushers in the holiday shopping season. Shopping on Black Friday itself requires a bit of strategy if you want to do it right.

For example, Black Friday shoppers should plan to start very early to get the first shot at the best deals. You should also already be comparing prices online and through store apps and while you're at it, sign up for free retail rewards programs for bigger savings.

Another key is strategizing exactly where you'll shop on Black Friday and beyond for the holiday season. After all, time is money so you want to hit as many deals in as little time as possible, and shopping centers provide the best opportunities.

For shoppers in and near Minnesota, a recent study brought good news because the best place for holiday shopping in the Midwest is in the Land Of 10,000 Lakes.

Determining The Best Places For Black Friday Shopping In The United States

A study conducted by Journo Research set out to determine the best shopping centers to visit for holiday shopping.

First, it determined the top 20 biggest malls in America and then it weighted the following metrics:

• Size in square feet (20%)
• Number of stores (25%)
• Number of parking spaces (25%)
• Average Google star rating (/5) (20%)
• Number of Instagram posts under mall’s hashtag (10%)
• Parking spaces and the number of stores were further categorized as parking spaces and stores per 10,000 square feet.

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The metrics were then given an index score from 1 to 10, then overall were ranked between 1-100 for the index score.

Minnesota Is The Home Of The Best Place For Holiday Shopping In The Midwest

After all the numbers were crunched, the Mall of America, located at 60 E. Broadway in Bloomington, Minnesota finished an impressive #3 overall in the country for holiday shopping, beating out four locations in New York City, and a resounding #1 in the Midwest.

Here are the Mall Of America's key metrics:

• Size in Square Feet: 5,600,000
• Parking Spaces: 12,300
• Stores: 520
• Average Google Rating: 4.5
• Instagram Posts: 279,000
• Total Score: 89.3

The study elaborates on those numbers by noting that the Mall of America is the largest mall in the country, spanning over 5.6 million square feet and 520 stores.

However, a negative for Mall Of America shoppers is that its number of stores per square foot ranks 17th, which means shoppers may spend longer walking between stores than other malls in the ranking.

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If you want to shop at the #1 mall in the United States, you'll need to travel to Pennsylvania’s King of Prussia Mall, which was named the best for shopping in the country.

The King of Prussia Mall is the third-largest nationwide and has the second-highest number of parking spots and stores, at 13,400 and 450, respectively. It has more stores and Instagram posts than the Mall of America when compared to its size, at 1.6 stores per 10,000 square feet compared to 0.93. It is the third most Instagrammable, at 186,000 posts.

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