Shopping ‘strategically’ at the Mall of America

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/08/2016 (3310 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mom was in town and that meant a weekend trip to the Minneapolis area for some shopping. I’m not a huge fan of shopping; I consider myself more of a strategic shopper, in that I usually only do it when there is something that I ‘need’.  

Above all else, we had to remember that we have been trying to reduce the amount of stuff in and around the house. With that in mind, we struck a deal. For every item purchased, two similar ones had to leave the house. One in — two out!

With our itinerary planned and deal done, off we went.  

After an uneventful drive, we made it to our hotel, the Four Points by Sheraton on Lyndale Avenue, in good time, despite a quick detour to the Albertville Premium Outlets. Located in Richfield, Minn., the Four Points tends to be our go-to hotel as it is right off I-494 (the ring road around the Twin Cities) and is just a short drive from our preferred shops and restaurants.

Of course, no trip to Minneapolis is complete without a visit to the Mall of America.  It boasts over 520 shops, and we managed to hit five of them (with one being a coffee shop). I’m not sure whether we should be proud to say we were that disciplined or embarrassed that we didn’t make it any further.

According to the Mall of America’s website, it receives over 40 million visitors per year. That is more than the populations of North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and the whole of Canada combined.

Other stops included Southdale Center, which claims to be the first indoor shopping mall in America and Galleria, the home of Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn and Williams and Sonoma, in Edina, Minn.

Finally, AlwaysMod, a modern design store (formerly Finnstyle), indulged the Finn in us.

And yes, there are always lessons to be learned along the way. First, it is not enough to know the names of the shops and/or places that you want to visit if you are planning on relying on GPS. Ideally, you need the complete address, including the zip code.

Second, and this comes from my mother, wear a good pair of walking shoes. They will definitely come in handy if you are planning on truly exploring the Mall of America which could literally take hours.

And finally, there is no sales tax on clothing in Minnesota which is a good thing to keep in mind.

As for our ‘one in – two out’ deal… two pairs of shoes managed to find their way home. That means that four must go.

Debbie Ristimaki is a community correspondent for Bridgwater Forest.