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The Ghermezians build the West Edmonton Mall
Broadcast Date: Nov. 10, 1985
Once promoted as the "Eighth Wonder of the World," West Edmonton Mall is one of Alberta's primary tourist attractions. The men responsible for the monster size mall are the four Ghermezian brothers, who emmigrated from Iran in the 1960s. This colossal monument to conspicuous consumption has seen its share of controversy but the brothers stand behind their mall."When I walk through the centre here in Edmonton... 10 to 15 people, they jump at me, hug me, thank me for what I did and some of them even kiss me... people are happy," says Nader Ghermezian in this clip.
The Ghermezians build the West Edmonton Mall
• The four Ghermezian brothers, Eskandar, Nader, Raphael and Bahman, rarely grant interviews. Little is known about the family including their father, Jacob, who founded the Ghermezian real estate dynasty, Triple Five. Jacob Ghermezian was a Jewish rug salesman born in Azerbaijan in 1902. He immigrated to Canada in the 1960s in part to escape the rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism in Iran.
• The West Edmonton Mall was designed by Maurice Sunderland Architects Inc. and built in four phases. Construction began in 1981 and was completed in 1998.
• With eight major department stores, seven amusement parks, a chapel, a bingo hall and a NHL-sized hockey rink, occasionally used by the Edmonton Oilers, the West Edmonton Mall covers the equivalent of 104 football fields.
• With a total area of 5.3 million square feet, the WEM cost $1.2 billion to build. WEM is North America's largest shopping mall (2005).
• West Edmonton Mall was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the "largest shopping centre in the world" as well as the "world's largest parking lot" but a retail center in Beijing has replaced WEM as the world's largest. Currently there are malls claiming to be bigger than WEM being built in China, Dubai and the United Arab Emirates.
• The Ghemezian brothers' second monster mall, the Mall of America, opened its doors in 1992.
• Despite promises of Mall of America being twice the size of WEM, it is in fact smaller. Located in Bloomington, Minn., the 4.2 million square foot complex cost $800 million to build.
The Ghermezians build the West Edmonton Mall
Medium: Television
Program: Venture
Broadcast Date: Nov. 10, 1985
Guest(s): Nader Ghermezian
Host: Patrick Watson
Duration: 8:00
Last updated:
July 26, 2010
UNBELIEVABLE journalism! This guy has a very unprofessional hate on for these guys who built the mall. He sneers through the voiceover leading up to the interview, and then tells Nader Ghermezian that he looks like Peter Sellers! Christ dude!
The fact that these four brothers are a hard-hitting business team simply means they're very good at what they do. It's Canadians who wobble when business negotiations get stressful or difficult.
Submitted by: Semaj Boyky