In this special birthday episode of So Much More, Jill Renslow, Daniel Jasper and Sara Johnson take a rapid-fire trip down memory lane to celebrate 34 years of Mall of America.
From the opening birthday speed round to favorite memories, craziest things they’ve seen, celebrity encounters, boxing brides, unforgettable weddings and incredible nonprofit events, this episode is packed with stories…and plenty of laughs.
The three also share a behind-the-scenes look at what guests don’t see: their first days at MOA, the people and teamwork it takes to create an amazing guest experience, and what the walls of Mall of America might say if they could talk.
Plus, they look back at past birthday celebrations, share hints about what’s coming for the 35th birthday in 2027, and finish with their birthday wishes for Mall of America. 34 years of memories. One very special birthday. And so much more to come.
1:15 MOA Birthday speed round
4:15 Things that guests don’t realize about MOA
8:00 What was your first day at the Mall like?
14:15 What makes Mall of America unlike any place else?
16:00 Favorite celebrity appearances
21:30 This or That segments – quick answers
25:30 Our birthday wishes for Mall of America
Visit: www.mallofamerica.com
Hosts: Jill Renslow, Daniel Jasper, Sara Johnson
Presented by Bloomington Minnesota Travel and Tourism the official destination marketing organization for the city of Bloomington, Minn.
00:00 --> 00:04 Mall of America. It's home to world-class shopping, great dining,
00:04 --> 00:08 and amazing attractions and events. And these are our stories presented
00:08 --> 00:12 by Bloomington, Minnesota Travel and Tourism. Hey, Mall of America fans,
00:12 --> 00:16 we have a special birthday episode for you today. I'm Jill Renslow, your host,
00:16 --> 00:19 and I'm joined by my friends Dan and SJ. We are going to have so
00:20 --> 00:23 much fun because today's episode's just a little bit different because it's a party.
00:24 --> 00:28 It is our birthday. We love our birthday. We just celebrated our 34th
00:28 --> 00:31 year of being open here in Minnesota. And if you have never
00:32 --> 00:35 been here, it is on August 11th. It is something that we take
00:35 --> 00:39 really serious. We love to celebrate. Our team members celebrate, our tenants
00:39 --> 00:43 celebrate, our guests celebrate, and somehow every year it feels like
00:43 --> 00:47 one big family party. So today we're putting away the interview format.
00:47 --> 00:51 Instead, we're going to celebrate 34 incredible years of memories,
00:51 --> 00:55 share a few behind-the-scenes stories, play a couple fun games.
00:55 --> 00:59 SJ and Dan are a little nervous about that, and maybe even look a little
00:59 --> 01:02 ahead of what's coming next. So are you guys ready? I am nervous
01:03 --> 01:05 and I'm ready. I am a little nervous as well, but so excited. Yeah.
01:06 --> 01:08 As soon as I talk about games, these guys are like, oh no, what's Joe
01:09 --> 01:11 got up her sleeve? Okay, so we're going to start right out of the gate.
01:11 --> 01:14 Birthday Speed Round. So don't overthink this.
01:15 --> 01:20 So first up, Dan, just answer what comes to mind. Okay. Favorite ride?
01:20 --> 01:24 Log Chute. SJ, favorite place to grab a snack? Ooh,
01:24 --> 01:27 Nordstrom E-Bar. Okay, if you guys are not watching this, they're literally like staring and
01:28 --> 01:31 like focusing and like getting this. This is so funny. Okay, Dan, favorite holiday
01:32 --> 01:35 at MOA? Every holiday, but I'm gonna go with my,
01:36 --> 01:39 in 2006, because we built something really big, but I said I wouldn't talk about
01:40 --> 01:42 it, but it was amazing. We told him he couldn't talk about the gingerbread house
01:43 --> 01:47 and he's doing it incognito. I love it. SJ, favorite event?
01:48 --> 01:50 Oh, Marshmallow comes to mind. I feel like it was just such a big hit
01:51 --> 01:53 a couple, was it last summer? Yeah, that was fun. People loved it. Yes,
01:53 --> 01:56 we love that. Dan, favorite celebrity encounter?
01:57 --> 02:00 Ooh, I've had so many here and I'm going to say that
02:01 --> 02:05 my very favorite one was The Lennon Sisters
02:06 --> 02:08 from the old Lawrence Welk Show. Yeah, that was a long time ago. That was
02:08 --> 02:11 a long time ago. I had a long story with them and they were just
02:11 --> 02:15 awesome. Or JoJo Siwa, who I also love. That's great.
02:15 --> 02:17 SJ, last one. Favorite store, past or present?
02:19 --> 02:22 I love Aritzia. Big Aritzia gal. I feel like it's one of my favorite.
02:22 --> 02:25 There's so many, Jill. This is so hard. But Aritzia came to mind first.
02:25 --> 02:28 I know. And when I think about past stores, we've had so many
02:28 --> 02:32 favorites. And I always default to FAO Schwarz.
02:32 --> 02:36 That was because growing up here, like, it was just so fun. And nostalgic to
02:36 --> 02:39 just have that, you just got immersed in it. So that was my favorite.
02:40 --> 02:44 And I also loved Oshman Super Sports, was amazing.
02:44 --> 02:48 But then the Disney Store and the Universal, was it Universal?
02:49 --> 02:51 No. Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers Store. Warner Brothers, there's a big Bugs Bunny outside.
02:52 --> 02:55 Yes, both of those, they were among my favorites. We've had so many. And I
02:55 --> 02:58 know whenever we put social content out there for our birthdays,
02:59 --> 03:02 everybody reminisces about all their favorite brands that have been here and
03:03 --> 03:05 it's changed so much, but that's why we are who we are. Absolutely. Because it's
03:05 --> 03:09 constantly changing. Okay, so finish this sentence. Dan, you get to
03:09 --> 03:12 start first. Mall of America is amazing.
03:12 --> 03:15 We can do both. Go ahead. We can all add these to the list.
03:15 --> 03:18 Fun. Fun for you. Full of memories.
03:20 --> 03:24 The craziest thing I've ever seen at MOA is— where
03:24 --> 03:28 do we start? Jill, that is such a hard question.
03:29 --> 03:32 Oh my gosh, I feel like I've seen such crazy things. Okay, I'm gonna go
03:32 --> 03:36 kind of generic, but like Black Friday morning, people running in is insane. It is
03:36 --> 03:40 the energy, the excitement, but it does— you, you see people do some
03:40 --> 03:44 interesting components when they come in. I would agree. Uh, I've seen so many crazy
03:44 --> 03:48 things too. Sumo wrestlers and water skiing squirrels
03:48 --> 03:51 and, and elephants and, uh, horses.
03:51 --> 03:55 And, um, but I'm going to say, uh, brides in bridal
03:55 --> 03:59 gowns beating each other in a ring. I was just gonna say the weddings.
03:59 --> 04:03 We've had so many fun weddings because they've always been like a
04:03 --> 04:07 unique stunt of some sort, whether they're on a roller coaster or they were out
04:07 --> 04:10 in the ice castles. We've had really fun weddings here. But I'd
04:10 --> 04:14 also say just the most recent Ryan meetup. Yeah, that was
04:14 --> 04:17 a little crazy. We had over 1 Ryans together in the
04:17 --> 04:21 rightunda. It was fantastic. I love it. Okay, one thing guests
04:22 --> 04:25 don't realize is how much takes
04:26 --> 04:30 place behind the scenes and how many people it takes to keep this place working
04:30 --> 04:34 seamlessly. We have an underground city here, and there's so many people
04:34 --> 04:38 that work behind the scenes to make your experience amazing, and people
04:39 --> 04:42 don't realize that. I think it's even just the number of people. We talk about
04:42 --> 04:45 32 million people a year, but when you're in this space, 5.5 million
04:46 --> 04:49 square feet, like, you can spread out. So when you're here, it doesn't feel sometimes
04:49 --> 04:53 as busy as the numbers portray, but I think
04:53 --> 04:57 that that's always a wow moment for people when they realize, okay, there were like
04:57 --> 05:00 100 people here today, and I was shopping, and Another day at the mall.
05:01 --> 05:04 Yeah. SJ, anything you can think of? I was going to say just to capitalize
05:04 --> 05:07 on what Dan said, but that everyone who does work here, the whole goal is
05:07 --> 05:10 the same thing, which is to make sure your experience is amazing. So it's like
05:11 --> 05:13 it takes everyone to do so, but the goal is always about the guest,
05:13 --> 05:16 which I don't think people realize or think about when they come here.
05:17 --> 05:19 One word to describe birthday week.
05:21 --> 05:24 Fun. I was going to say, well, excitement. I feel like it like generates that
05:24 --> 05:28 nostalgia and excitement that it's like it's another year. It's another opportunity to celebrate how
05:28 --> 05:31 amazing we are. Festive. Ooh, I'd also add tradition.
05:31 --> 05:35 We have so many shoppers, fans, guests that
05:35 --> 05:39 come every year on our birthday because it's become a tradition. And we love that.
05:39 --> 05:42 We love that. And next year is a big one. It's gonna be big.
05:42 --> 05:45 I love it. Hint, hint. Okay, the best part of working here is?
05:45 --> 05:49 The people, for sure. Yeah, for sure. Connections,
05:49 --> 05:52 which goes with people. And it's connections with team members, but it's more than that.
05:53 --> 05:56 It's connections with our guests. Because some of my most meaningful
05:57 --> 06:00 moments at Mall of America have been random connections with our guests.
06:01 --> 06:04 And they are just, just amazing and they're from everywhere. I feel like, and people
06:04 --> 06:07 don't realize, Dan walks around and gets coffee in the morning and approaches people.
06:07 --> 06:11 You have such good connections with people and stories just by actually approaching them and
06:11 --> 06:14 asking them about their day and what they're here for. I do. Which I need
06:14 --> 06:17 to do. On Monday of this week with the helmets out front, I, um,
06:17 --> 06:21 I went out there and I met families from South Dakota and Nebraska and Wisconsin
06:21 --> 06:25 and were taking, and they had me in their family photos. I love that.
06:25 --> 06:28 So you said helmets. So fans, we have the NFL helmets
06:29 --> 06:32 that are Pepsi. Sponsored, and we have them every year this time of year,
06:32 --> 06:36 training camps in place. And people love to take photos, and we obviously
06:36 --> 06:39 encourage people to go behind the Vikings helmet,
06:39 --> 06:43 of course. Was it wrong that I heckled the Packers fans? Not at all.
06:43 --> 06:46 Okay. Heckle them. Although they do love to shop here. They do. We do welcome
06:46 --> 06:50 everyone, even if they're wearing green and gold. But that's okay. That's okay.
06:52 --> 06:55 If these walls could talk, what would they
06:55 --> 06:59 say? I think that the walls would talk
06:59 --> 07:03 about how people's lives have changed
07:03 --> 07:07 here. And I'm thinking more team members. We've had a lot of team members with
07:07 --> 07:10 a lot of longevity who have grown up with this building.
07:11 --> 07:14 And I think the walls would like to tell their stories. There's so
07:14 --> 07:18 many stories. And just the, like you're saying, like people's
07:18 --> 07:22 journey here and their career paths and It's all the experiences.
07:22 --> 07:26 And it's just, even when you come here at night, I mean, we've had
07:26 --> 07:29 the joy of being able to be overnight and it's a whole new place.
07:29 --> 07:33 It comes to life at night to reset for the day, for the next
07:33 --> 07:36 morning. And back to your point of like, people don't realize what goes on behind
07:37 --> 07:40 the scenes. Like, when you see what happens overnight, it's the stores doing their inventory,
07:40 --> 07:44 replenishing for the day, our housekeeping teams cleaning, everything's getting
07:44 --> 07:48 reset for a fresh new day, which is always exciting to see. I was
07:48 --> 07:50 going to say generations, if you don't mind, like, me adding on to that.
07:51 --> 07:53 I feel like the walls would talk about, like, the familial. Jill, you already alluded
07:54 --> 07:57 to, like, traditions. We get so many people who have been here on the day
07:57 --> 08:00 it opened, but now they're bringing their kids and their grandkids. And I feel like
08:00 --> 08:03 it's just such a beautiful part of who we are is that people really value
08:03 --> 08:06 that about us, which I think is beautiful. Well, all 3 of us have been
08:07 --> 08:10 here for several years. A few. Can you guys remember
08:11 --> 08:13 back to your first day and what it was like? I feel like everybody has
08:14 --> 08:16 their first day story. SJ, what was yours? Dan, I feel like I've heard yours
08:17 --> 08:20 numerous times, and I think ours is similar. I started on holiday season. Launch in
08:20 --> 08:24 2018. So November 5th was my first day, and I was like,
08:24 --> 08:27 what is this? Who— like, where am I? It was amazing.
08:27 --> 08:31 I feel like the energy was high, everyone was excited. The property had flipped
08:31 --> 08:35 over to all things holiday. So I feel like it really— to start during holiday,
08:35 --> 08:39 I feel like, is such an amazing opportunity that I didn't realize at the time.
08:39 --> 08:42 It just happened to be that way. But to see the excitement and the
08:42 --> 08:46 effort and energy that goes into creating those memories and moments It
08:46 --> 08:50 was exciting for me as a professional and a person, but also exciting to witness
08:50 --> 08:53 the guest interaction too, starting on that day. And I feel like yours is
08:53 --> 08:56 the same, similar? Well, it is really similar. I actually visited the
08:57 --> 09:01 first time the week the mall opened. I was not here opening day, but I
09:01 --> 09:04 came in the week that it opened with my son, who was 7 at
09:05 --> 09:08 the time. And I remember, first of all, just being overwhelmed by the traffic and
09:09 --> 09:12 coming in on the ramps because it was big and massive, right? And then finding
09:13 --> 09:14 a parking place in one of the ramps and being the first-time visitor, not knowing
09:15 --> 09:19 where I'm going. But the thing that I really
09:19 --> 09:22 remember more than anything was walking into what was then Camp
09:22 --> 09:26 Snoopy with Bryce when he was 7. And we were both,
09:26 --> 09:29 you know, our eyes were wide open and he was so excited.
09:29 --> 09:33 His— he had 2 favorite things that he loved to do back then. One was,
09:33 --> 09:37 do you remember we had the squirt gun things in the middle of
09:37 --> 09:40 the big water fountain and stuff? Oh, he had to do that. That was his—
09:40 --> 09:43 he loved doing that. And he loved also the
09:43 --> 09:47 gold mine. You could mine for gold in old Camp Snoopy.
09:47 --> 09:51 And he thought he found a gold— Gold Nugget. So he thought we were
09:51 --> 09:54 rich. He was struck it rich. Right? And then we took a ride on
09:54 --> 09:57 the log chute that very first visit, and I have that photo in my office.
09:58 --> 10:01 And I love that photo. Which is awesome. Because it reminds you of where it
10:01 --> 10:04 all started. And I think that we all have stories,
10:04 --> 10:08 and even if it's not the specific first day, because I remember the first week
10:09 --> 10:12 that I started, I started in events, and Chris Seglow, who's with
10:13 --> 10:16 us still on our team, she was our events manager at the time,
10:16 --> 10:19 and she had 2 big events that she let me help out with right out
10:20 --> 10:23 of the gate. It was Shania Twain. Oh wow. On the Lego bridge. And then
10:23 --> 10:27 we had a gigantic scream. She was doing a, a CD release
10:28 --> 10:31 at that time. So she was performing on the bridge simultaneously. We had
10:31 --> 10:34 Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway.
10:34 --> 10:38 I mean, I remember that. Yes. And so we were opening up that attraction and
10:38 --> 10:41 so we were jumping back and forth and I'm just like, what is going on?
10:41 --> 10:45 Like, this is fantastic. We have a race car legend.
10:45 --> 10:48 Yes. We have a country legend at the same time. And then the next day
10:48 --> 10:52 or the day before it, they had a, an underwear model search in the
10:52 --> 10:56 rotunda. And it was for that kind of structure. Did they
10:56 --> 10:58 bring it back? But now it's Express Men. But I was, you know, I'm in
10:59 --> 11:02 my early 20s. I'm like, this job is amazing. I'm like,
11:03 --> 11:07 I get entertainment, I get all this stuff. Like, this is fantastic. So yes,
11:07 --> 11:10 I did. You're gonna do everything when you join the Mall of America team.
11:10 --> 11:13 100%. Underwear models. This was fun. No,
11:14 --> 11:17 but they're so much fun. And so I say what surprised me surprised you most
11:17 --> 11:20 in your role here, what you've experienced over the years?
11:21 --> 11:25 What surprised me most was I was overwhelmed when I first started.
11:25 --> 11:28 I came from a nursing home and I was— A little different. A little different.
11:28 --> 11:31 And I was thinking, I can't do this. I can't do this, right?
11:32 --> 11:35 Was the teamwork and how people were willing to and happy to
11:36 --> 11:39 help you and mentor you and encourage you to move forward.
11:40 --> 11:44 It was a different kind of a team philosophy for me. So that was That
11:44 --> 11:48 was, for me, amazing. But the other thing that surprised me about Mall of America
11:48 --> 11:51 that still holds true right now is the encouragement
11:52 --> 11:56 to try new things. Just do it. Let's give it a shot. What the heck,
11:56 --> 11:59 right? And we'll learn from it. So that's been the
11:59 --> 12:03 best thing for me. I was gonna just add on, as collaboration
12:03 --> 12:06 comes to mind, everyone collaborates. Not one person does anything by themselves
12:07 --> 12:10 in a silo. You need everyone to participate, whether that's people in the corporate office
12:11 --> 12:13 or people on the grounds crew. I mean, everyone has to bring it to life
12:14 --> 12:16 together, which I think is a really beautiful aspect of who we are. We are,
12:16 --> 12:20 but I don't think other organizations do it like we do in that capacity.
12:20 --> 12:23 I mean, it is so tangible, which is so fun. So that shocked me.
12:23 --> 12:27 How about you? I think it's the pace at how we
12:28 --> 12:31 just move so quickly, and— but the ability to do that,
12:31 --> 12:34 because there's so many organizations that have layers of red
12:35 --> 12:39 tape and decision makers, and knowing that when we have an idea and we're behind
12:39 --> 12:42 it 100%, like, go, like, do it yesterday, we're ready to go. And so to
12:43 --> 12:47 be able to move so quickly has been a blessing and a curse. It's just,
12:47 --> 12:50 'cause you're just, you never have downtime 'cause we're constantly working on
12:51 --> 12:54 what's next. But I also just love that. And I feel like people that want
12:54 --> 12:58 that type of energy and that environment to
12:58 --> 13:02 work in, it's awesome. It's not for everybody because it can drive you absolutely
13:03 --> 13:06 insane and stress, but it's so much fun.
13:06 --> 13:09 It is. But I've heard from so many of our team members, people when they
13:09 --> 13:13 join the team, that's one of the first things they say is, oh my goodness,
13:13 --> 13:16 how do I catch my breath? You guys do so much stuff, right?
13:17 --> 13:20 And luckily, most of the people love it. Yeah, I think that's
13:20 --> 13:23 why we have such longevity, truly. I mean, our office, I don't think people realize
13:23 --> 13:27 that about the mall. So many people have been here for so long, and honestly,
13:27 --> 13:30 since inception, but that is because we have variety and we keep it fresh all
13:30 --> 13:33 the time. So we all want to keep coming back day after day, which is
13:33 --> 13:36 amazing. I also think, and I say this all the time,
13:36 --> 13:40 that what makes it really special here is we're actually able to see every
13:41 --> 13:44 single day the joy that is on our guests' faces and
13:44 --> 13:48 what we're able to create. And there's not a lot of brands or organizations
13:48 --> 13:52 that you can see actually what you do, what that result is.
13:52 --> 13:55 And it is contagious. Like when we make people smile and
13:56 --> 13:59 laugh and scream on rides and all the fun things, like we helped
14:00 --> 14:02 make that possible and they're making memories here and we're impacting that.
14:03 --> 14:06 It's pretty awesome. It is amazing. We get to every day
14:06 --> 14:10 walk out and interact with our guests and be out there and see that.
14:10 --> 14:14 And a lot of jobs you don't, right? They're stuck in an office and they
14:14 --> 14:18 don't see the end result. It's fun. It is. So what made you realize this
14:18 --> 14:21 place was unlike anywhere else? Do you
14:22 --> 14:25 want me to go first? Yeah. Honestly, the retailtainment. This is my favorite term that
14:25 --> 14:28 I feel like I've learned over the last couple years, but I did not understand
14:28 --> 14:31 the scope and breadth of what retailtainment is and what it means to a guest.
14:31 --> 14:35 And I feel like we do it like nobody else. And we honestly paved the
14:35 --> 14:38 way for what retailtainment is. And for those that aren't familiar, it's how do you
14:38 --> 14:42 blend the two? So retail as a destination is a huge piece of
14:42 --> 14:45 who we are, our brands and our tenants here, but it's also blending it with
14:45 --> 14:49 the other touchpoint of having celebrities and those other types touchpoints that
14:49 --> 14:52 just create a bigger experience, and we do it like no one else.
14:53 --> 14:57 I agree, and it's the experience for me from a guest perspective, and what surprised
14:57 --> 15:01 me about this place is even before I worked here was some of the
15:01 --> 15:04 experiences I had out here as a guest.
15:05 --> 15:08 And I've talked about it before, like there was one where one of the country
15:08 --> 15:11 visits was Iceland, and they had a big display, and I just wanted to go
15:11 --> 15:14 see the Blue Lagoon, but there was another one where they did sand art and
15:15 --> 15:18 stuff. I've never seen stuff like that before.
15:18 --> 15:22 And they immersed me into different ways of thinking and different cultures and
15:23 --> 15:25 opened up to new adventures. I mean,
15:26 --> 15:30 SJ, you already said about retailtainment, but it's, I think it's just all the fact
15:30 --> 15:33 that it's not about shopping or only about shopping, even though mall is
15:33 --> 15:37 in our name. It is truly about milestones. It's about people
15:37 --> 15:41 getting engaged here, people celebrating birthdays here, people having family reunions,
15:41 --> 15:44 bringing their kids, and then years later, those kids bringing their
15:44 --> 15:48 kids, the generational connection. So very, Very few places become
15:48 --> 15:52 part of people's lives and stories like Mall of America does. So let's talk about
15:52 --> 15:55 some of those memorable moments. Who is the biggest celebrity that
15:56 --> 15:59 you guys can remember or that you were excited to meet or watch perform
16:00 --> 16:03 or sign autographs? I honestly, I've referenced this before, but I
16:03 --> 16:07 didn't realize when I had volunteered to participate in the Cat's Eye event
16:07 --> 16:09 a couple of years ago, it was our first time that we've had them here
16:10 --> 16:13 and we've had them since again. But I did not understand the scale
16:13 --> 16:16 of who they were at that time to the audience that came in. I don't
16:16 --> 16:20 think any of us did. Oh my gosh, no. I was like, what is happening?
16:20 --> 16:23 I mean, thousands of people poured in, but it was fascinating to watch
16:24 --> 16:27 an up-and-coming celebrity or group of celebrities, 'cause that's what they are now.
16:27 --> 16:31 They've won Grammys, they are participating at scale. I mean, that was the
16:31 --> 16:34 first big one for me where I was like, oh wow, like you are going
16:34 --> 16:38 to be something huge. And they are. I mean, they are an international group.
16:39 --> 16:43 Go ahead, Dan. I've had so many celebrity interactions here. The thing that
16:43 --> 16:46 kind of saddens me a bit is that I rarely know who they
16:47 --> 16:50 are before they come, right? 'Cause I'm not into the, into the, um,
16:51 --> 16:54 pop culture kind of thing, but like when the cast from Glee or the
16:55 --> 16:58 cast from Twilight or— I knew who Zac Efron was,
16:58 --> 17:01 but a lot of these people come in and I have no clue. And One
17:01 --> 17:04 Direction, right? I don't know who these people are, but I'm there working
17:05 --> 17:07 with them and going like— and then later I realize, oh my gosh,
17:08 --> 17:13 it's cool. But I mean, think of some of the names from Christina
17:13 --> 17:15 Aguilera, Britney Spears, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
17:16 --> 17:20 Taylor Swift, Garth Brooks, Shania Twain. Like I said before,
17:20 --> 17:24 I mean, there's been so many. And it's just, you look back and
17:24 --> 17:27 to your point, some of them were on the upswing when they came and then
17:28 --> 17:30 they became big. But also it's like some of those iconics,
17:31 --> 17:34 like Kevin Bacon was one of my favorites because growing up with Kevin Bacon
17:35 --> 17:38 and watching Footloose and it was so cool to meet him. Kevin James and Kevin
17:39 --> 17:41 Hart. And there's been so many. All the Kevins have been here. All the Kevins.
17:42 --> 17:44 Every Kevin's been here. Maybe we should do a Kevin meetup. There we go.
17:44 --> 17:47 We had the Ryan meetup. We need a Kevin meetup. It's 6 degrees away from
17:47 --> 17:50 Kevin. Yeah. One of my, I guess one of my favorites was when I didn't
17:50 --> 17:53 really get to meet him, but I stood right next to him in a dark
17:54 --> 17:57 theater, was Cary Elwes from The Princess Bride. If you remember,
17:57 --> 18:00 he did an event and we were running the theaters at the time. And one
18:00 --> 18:03 of my favorite movies of all time, right? And I remember he was gonna talk
18:04 --> 18:06 to the audience or something. So I was standing at the back of the theater
18:07 --> 18:09 and then all of a sudden, I can sense someone standing next to me and
18:10 --> 18:13 I look and it's like, there he is, a movie star. We've had a couple
18:13 --> 18:16 of those surprise appearances in the theaters. Remember when Jason Segel was there? He showed
18:17 --> 18:19 up for, it was something with the Muppets, wasn't it? Yeah, it was the Muppets
18:20 --> 18:23 and Jason Segel. Awesome guy. He was really, really cool.
18:23 --> 18:27 Nice person. Yep. And we had Woody Harrelson here for filming. Mary-Kate and Ashley
18:27 --> 18:30 Olsen was one of my first projects that I worked on for their mall party
18:31 --> 18:33 video. But there's been so many. So many good ones. And that's, we've had so
18:34 --> 18:37 much star power here. And I think that's really special where we've kind of self-proclaimed
18:37 --> 18:40 that we're the Hollywood of the Midwest. We are. We are. And it's super cool
18:40 --> 18:44 because now when these artists are coming in the marketplace with all the fabulous venues
18:44 --> 18:47 that we have in the Twin Cities, oftentimes they're coming here to just have a
18:48 --> 18:50 little fun with their families. And so we get a chance to do a little
18:51 --> 18:54 behind the scenes with them as well. Or bring them forward like we had
18:54 --> 18:58 with, um, why am I totally blanking on it? Lego. Um, oh yeah,
18:58 --> 19:01 Ed Sheeran. Yes. And I was gonna say Shawn Mendes, but he was here too.
19:01 --> 19:04 He was here too. Yes. Yeah. I mean, there's just, it's so much fun.
19:05 --> 19:06 So I was, can I just add in really quick too? Yeah. Because we just
19:07 --> 19:10 had Hilary Duff here and I didn't realize that she came in with her family
19:10 --> 19:13 as well. And to Jill's point, we always joke about it the weekend after or
19:13 --> 19:16 the day after everyone's like, did you know that this person came in this weekend
19:16 --> 19:19 with their family? And everyone's like, oh my God, I should have been there.
19:19 --> 19:22 Yeah. But she's just the latest and greatest. I mean, Same thing with Usher.
19:22 --> 19:25 Usher was here recently too. It's so fun to hear about. It is really fun.
19:25 --> 19:28 So how about the biggest crowd that you guys can remember?
19:28 --> 19:32 Because Cat's Eye was definitely a huge crowd. Remember back in the
19:33 --> 19:36 day, um, when I started in events, that the second time NSYNC was here,
19:37 --> 19:41 it was absolutely bananas. Um, there were people
19:41 --> 19:44 in the rotunda that were all levels, but it went all the way back on
19:45 --> 19:48 all angles. Like, it was just a sea of people, and that was That was
19:48 --> 19:52 probably one of the biggest crowds. We've had tons of big crowds. The 2 that
19:52 --> 19:55 I remember being here for were when the Jonas Brothers were here and they performed
19:56 --> 19:59 on the bridge. That was really big. And then when Zac Efron launched
20:00 --> 20:04 his movie Charlie St. Cloud, I just remember it being so loud. My ears
20:04 --> 20:07 hurt so bad. Yes, it was kind of crazy.
20:08 --> 20:10 Anything else? I was gonna say Cat's Eye. I mean, it was like, I think
20:11 --> 20:14 we quoted about 8 people here. It was bananas. I mean, to Jill's point,
20:14 --> 20:17 in the way that you're describing it, it would all the ways around the
20:18 --> 20:21 rotunda. Amazing. How about biggest
20:21 --> 20:22 surprise?
20:25 --> 20:28 For me, it's having the ability to see behind the scenes.
20:29 --> 20:33 So to learn how the rides operate, to learn the— we have
20:33 --> 20:35 an underground area where a lot of operations take place.
20:36 --> 20:40 Having that insider look that I couldn't believe how much takes place there.
20:41 --> 20:43 For me, that was the biggest surprise. Unique talent of all of our teams.
20:43 --> 20:49 I mean, our ride engineering teams, they have done Unbelievable
20:49 --> 20:53 things with the rides. I mean, the safety checks and just the additional levels
20:54 --> 20:57 of parameters that they put on these rides that they actually educate sometimes the manufacturers
20:58 --> 21:01 on them. It's fascinating. I was going to say the same thing, the teams and
21:01 --> 21:04 the buildouts to do things. I just don't think people realize. So it's like when
21:04 --> 21:07 you come in and you see an art installer, you see certain things around the
21:07 --> 21:09 mall that you're like, how did that get there? That was a full team that
21:10 --> 21:12 had to do it. And it is amazing to watch them and to your point,
21:12 --> 21:16 learn from them. Like, what are the processes to do so? I think that's been
21:16 --> 21:19 my educational piece as a professional. It's like, oh, I want to bring something to
21:19 --> 21:21 the mall, I have to work with all of these teams to do it,
21:21 --> 21:25 and here's what has to take place to get it approved. Okay,
21:25 --> 21:28 a couple little— a quick segment, this or that. So Dan,
21:28 --> 21:29 Nickelodeon Universe or Sea Life?
21:31 --> 21:35 Nickelodeon Universe. SJ, holiday season or summer?
21:36 --> 21:39 Jill, that's such a hard one. I'm so biased, I love the summer.
21:40 --> 21:44 Okay, Dan, roller coaster rides or shop all day?
21:44 --> 21:47 Roller coaster rides. That's an easy one. This is a good one for us,
21:47 --> 21:50 Jake, because I know how Dan would answer this. State fair or Mall of America
21:50 --> 21:53 birthday? Um, oh, Jill, it's also so hard.
21:54 --> 21:55 I know. Be careful. I know.
21:57 --> 22:00 Okay, I'm gonna go— can I say both?
22:00 --> 22:04 Can I say birthday first? It's the same.
22:04 --> 22:06 This or that. Okay, birthday.
22:06 --> 22:10 Birthday, thank you. Yeah. Morning mall or
22:10 --> 22:13 closing time mall? Morning mall for me. Okay,
22:13 --> 22:17 SJ, new attraction or new retailer? Uh,
22:17 --> 22:20 retailer. I'm a shopaholic, so I feel like I'm always on the retail side.
22:20 --> 22:23 We're like night and day here. We're like night and day. Complementary.
22:24 --> 22:27 So there are a lot of malls, there's a lot of attractions,
22:28 --> 22:32 there's a lot of shopping centers, but somehow people have an emotional connection
22:32 --> 22:35 to this place. Dan, why? I'm going to
22:35 --> 22:39 go back to what SJ said earlier, is people and
22:39 --> 22:43 the generations. I think people come back for repeat visits, and it becomes part
22:44 --> 22:47 of their tradition and part of their family tradition. To not get
22:47 --> 22:50 into, like, too much marketing, but, like, variety. I think we are just
22:50 --> 22:54 such a different destination. We talked to retailtainment, but we also just have
22:54 --> 22:57 more. You could truly do anything you want here, and that's what really sets us
22:57 --> 23:00 apart. I think it's because people don't always
23:00 --> 23:04 remember what they purchased, but they do remember who they were with.
23:04 --> 23:08 Yes. And I think it goes back to those traditions, those memories,
23:08 --> 23:11 and it's about those stories that we can tell time and time again.
23:12 --> 23:14 Okay, so if we're sitting here one year from today,
23:15 --> 23:18 35th birthday, what do you hope we're talking about?
23:19 --> 23:21 I hope we're talking about a giant cupcake.
23:22 --> 23:25 Oh my. I don't know what I thought you were going to say, but that
23:25 --> 23:28 was not it. I hope we're talking about a celebrity appearance.
23:29 --> 23:31 I feel like we've talked so much about the history of what that is,
23:31 --> 23:34 and I think that that has potential for a big day. A celebrity eating a
23:34 --> 23:38 giant cupcake. That also has, has legs. So you can probably
23:38 --> 23:42 anticipate we're going to have some big things happening. We're going
23:42 --> 23:46 to lean into the number 35 with giveaways
23:46 --> 23:49 and community engagement and performances and events.
23:50 --> 23:53 We're going to be collaborating with some really cool brands. So you're going
23:54 --> 23:57 to have to wait and see what that looks like. But we'll be kicking it
23:57 --> 24:01 off early next year. We're not going to wait till August 11th to celebrate.
24:01 --> 24:04 We're going to be celebrating all year long. So definitely
24:04 --> 24:07 stay in store. So I'm really excited for us to be able to be right
24:07 --> 24:10 in the middle of it next year at this time, because we're just going to
24:10 --> 24:13 celebrate and we're going to bring our guests along for the ride and the tenants
24:14 --> 24:17 and our partners and just all our friends. Absolutely. Ironically,
24:17 --> 24:20 next year's my 35th as well. So you're so funny,
24:20 --> 24:23 Dan. Oh, I know. That's funny. It's my 35th as well.
24:24 --> 24:28 I'm guessing she's telling the truth. It actually is. So the
24:28 --> 24:32 same year of our birthday is my birthday. Awesome. So I am the
24:32 --> 24:34 same age as the mall. Oh, that's okay. Never knew that. So every single time,
24:35 --> 24:38 so I always hit mine first and then our birthday comes second. So I always
24:39 --> 24:42 know how old I am based on the mall. It'll be coming very
24:43 --> 24:46 helpful as you get older. So you're catching up to Dan and I. This is
24:46 --> 24:49 great to hear. This is great to hear. Well, you know, 34 years ago,
24:49 --> 24:53 people walked through our doors wondering if this place would ever become what it is
24:53 --> 24:57 today. But millions and millions of people have visited. And we know
24:57 --> 25:01 the answer. It's because it has become part of people's lives. It's where first
25:01 --> 25:06 dates have happened. It's where families celebrated birthdays, where grandparents bring grandkids,
25:06 --> 25:10 and where kids rode their very first roller coaster, where lifelong traditions
25:10 --> 25:13 began. And that's something pretty special. So whether you're
25:13 --> 25:16 here visiting once or 100 times, thank you for making Mall
25:17 --> 25:20 of America part of your story. So happy birthday to Mall of America, and thanks
25:21 --> 25:25 for listening. And before we sign off, I'm going to have SJ Dan and myself,
25:25 --> 25:28 provide one birthday wish, not for yourself,
25:28 --> 25:31 but for Mall of America. What would your wish be?
25:32 --> 25:36 Dan? My wish is that the mall continues
25:36 --> 25:39 to grow and thrive and welcome even more guests.
25:40 --> 25:43 SJ? I think mine would be to continue to create joy and like love moments.
25:43 --> 25:47 We talk love moments all the time. I hope that continues on. Yeah. And my
25:47 --> 25:50 wish is for us to continue to be a leader in the space. To continue
25:51 --> 25:55 to innovate, bring new and exciting things to our guests, because that's what's expected,
25:55 --> 25:58 to continue to entertain and drive memories for families
25:59 --> 26:03 each and every day. So here's to another year of celebrating and creating
26:03 --> 26:07 memories. Happy birthday, Mall of America. To all of you listening and watching,
26:07 --> 26:11 we appreciate your support and celebrate with us each and every year
26:11 --> 26:15 and looking forward to next year's big 35. Thanks for tuning in to
26:15 --> 26:19 this week's episode of So Much More. We'll see you soon. Thanks for listening
26:19 --> 26:22 to So Much More, a Mall of America podcast. Subscribe wherever
26:22 --> 26:25 you find your favorite podcasts. This show is presented by Bloomington,
26:25 --> 26:27 Minnesota Travel and Tourism.