A shopping mall is a specially built covered area containing shops and restaurants which people can walk between, and where cars are not allowed. mall a group of shops together in one large covered building. or shopping centre Collection of independent retail stores, services, and parking areas constructed and maintained by a management firm as a unit. It is a 20th-century adaptation of the historical marketplace. In the U.S., postwar migration from cities to suburbs and increased automobile use created a perceived need for centralized shopping facilities. The urban shopping arcade developed out of the need for shelter from the weather; Buffalo, N.Y., and Cleveland, Ohio, have charming trussed and glass-roofed examples. The next generation of shopping malls, the large regional centre sited in a vast sea of parking lots, bears little resemblance to its small, arcaded ancestors. Two of the world's largest malls are the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta, Canada, and the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. In recent years large shopping malls have attempted to revive an arcadelike atmosphere, often featuring atriums and balconies
mercantile establishment consisting of a carefully landscaped complex of shops representing leading merchandisers; usually includes restaurants and a convenient parking area; a modern version of the traditional marketplace; "a good plaza should have a movie house"; "they spent their weekends at the local malls"