The luxury wing at American Dream mall opened with five stores and closed storefronts

The owners of the American Dream decided not to wait until the luxury "Avenue" was at least half full.

The American Dream, the largest mall in the United States, is opening in New Jersey. It also houses the long-awaited luxury brand gallery, positioned as "an incredible luxury retail space." 

In reality, things aren't looking good at this moment. Forbes writes that at the time of opening, only five stores and one restaurant were operating in the mall's luxury wing. 

The anchor tenant is a Saks Fifth Avenue department store with an area of more than 10,000 square meters. The tenants include Hermes, Dolce & Gabbana, Johnny Was and Mulberry, and the haute cuisine restaurant Carpaccio. The rest of the space is still occupied by construction barricades masked by murals, statues, and décor. 

The owners of the American Dream, which has long been preparing to open, decided not to wait until the luxury Avenue was at least half full. Saks Fifth Avenue was initially expected to welcome its first customers as early as March 2020, but due to recent events, the timeline was moved first to the spring and then to the fall of 2021. 



So the Triple Five Group, which manages the mall, adopted a strategy that has become popular -- if the mall is open, tenants will pull up on their own. 

"Avenue is a dream street, which will become more and more magnificent as we add new brands," commented Ken Downing, creative director of Triple Five. 

 The companies responded to skeptics who didn't believe the American Dream could even open; back in late 2019, the first phase of the megamall with a giant Nickelodeon theme park, ice skating rink, and Big Snow ski slope was launched. 

The company obtained the site for the mall's construction back in 2011 after the previous owner's bankruptcy. It was announced that the first phase of the complex, with 300 stores and 50 restaurants, would open in 2013, but the developer's plans were never implemented. The company, which owns the Mall of America in Minnesota and West Edmonton Mall in Canada, among other projects, was having trouble getting large loans for the project. At the end, when many no longer believed the megaproject could open, the launch of the first phase and then the long-awaited Avenue luxury gallery is considered a great success by the mall's owners, noting that the best is yet to come. 

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