Tom Brady attends the Mall of America opening of CardVault by Tom Brady to hundreds of fans in the Huntington Rotunda at MOA

Mall of America

The year’s biggest holiday at America’s biggest mall unofficially began on November 16^th when Tom Brady launched autographed mini footballs into the upper balconies of Mall of America’s Huntington Bank Rotunda as hundreds of frenzied fans looked on.

The Brady pigskin launch coincided with the opening of CardVault by Tom Brady, one of twenty-five new stores to launch in 2025. Thus began the march to Black Friday and the Holiday Season at MOA. Think of it as the retail Olympics, with Black Friday being the opening ceremony.

Immersive Customer Engagement

This kind of brand celebration and customer engagement is regular fare for MOA. It followed on the heels of a surprise appearance by global girl group, KATSEYE, in conjunction with MOA’s K-pop retail store KPOP NARA.

Jill Renslow, MOA’s chief marketing officer and head of business development calls these “love moments” that bring enthusiastic customers, influencers, and creators together to celebrate special, highly memorable events.

It’s these carefully choreographed happenings that have kept Mall of America our country’s preeminent mall and destination experience since its inception in 1992. MOA is one of the most visited destination locations in the United States, ranking among the top tourist attractions in the country.

With over forty million visitors annually its attendance is on par with Las Vegas. It seems mind-boggling that one Megamall (with its own zip code) can be as strong a people magnet as the entire Vegas strip – casinos, conventions, and all. But it is!

Black Friday Maintains its Mojo

It has been argued that Black Friday has lost some of its mojo in recent years. Blame holiday creep, Amazon, or any number of “grinches.” Not so MOA. Beginning Friday, November 28, at 7 a.m., thousands of eager shoppers will be lined up at the mall’s North Entrance to kick off their holiday celebrations. The “pay-off” will be tens of thousands of dollars in prizes. They include retailer gift cards, “Doorbuster Zone” prizes valued at nearly $600, and a cash sweepstakes prize of $5,000.

Beyond the cash grabs entertainment will abound. Pop icon JoJo Siwa will return after wowing fans last year. This year, for the first time ever, she she’ll debut her brand-new holiday single “Message to the World (Little Drummer Girl)” with a high-energy live performance, in the Huntington Bank Rotunda.

Stores Still Remain the Stars

Mall of America has built and maintained a reputation for featuring the most innovative international brands, often making their U.S. premier at MOA. This year’s over two dozen newbies include SKIMS, NBA Store, Alo Yoga, Laderach, Samsung Experience, MANGO, New Balance, CardVault by Tom Brady, and the international sensation and home of the viral Labubu, POP MART, which premiered in late October.

And beyond bringing in star brands, MOA’s talented team of marketers and leasing specialists continue to mine hot digital native brands that are beginning to build a retail footprint. They’ve helped countless direct-to-consumer online startups enter the realm of unified commerce (aka omnichannel), often helping them set up temporary pop-up shops. Many of them evolve into permanent inline tenants.

A Mall of America “lifer”

I spoke with Jill Renslow, who considers herself a “lifer” at MOA, having served most of her 30-plus year career at the mall. Jill maintains that from the mall’s earliest inception the developers were focused on “retailtainment” the convergence of retail, entertainment, and hospitality – hence providing an authentic experiential destination.

And with digital media driving all things retail and popular culture, Jill’s teams are engaged with social media mavens to engage NextGen consumers. These include nano and micro-Influencers, macro-influencers, as well as mega-influencers and celebrities. Engaging this cadre of digital dynamos is particularly relevant given the number of retail brands with strong ties to celebrities, pop icons, and star athletes.

POP Goes Labubu

This type of star power is made evident in several of the mall’s newest stores. Created by Hong Kong artist Kasing Lung in 2010, POP MART, with 350 locations worldwide, made their Minnesota debut this fall. Hundreds of Labubu seeking minions lined up early in October for the store’s pre-grand opening. Like the millions of “Blind Boxers” before, they came to capture one of the “ugly-cute” gremlins made popular by celebrities like Lisa from K-pop group BLACKPINK and Rihanna.

The Mall had announced POP MART’s pre-opening on a social media post. Ashley Hofmann, Leasing Director at Mall of America noted “At Mall of America, we’re focused on curating a dynamic mix of tenants that excite and inspire our guests. POP MART is a perfect fit.”

In Shape

Also in late October SKIMS, the global brand co-founded by Kim Kardashian and Jens Grede, opened an 8,000 square foot MOA store, their biggest yet. Since its launch in 2019 as a direct-to-consumer brand, SKIMS has become one of the most influential names in fashion. It has catapulted Kim Kardashian’s net worth to $1.9 billion, putting her at #19 on Forbes’ “America’s Richest Self-Made Women 2025” list, well ahead of Taylor Swift at $1.6 billion.

The company has achieved a comfort level in shapewear unmatched by any other brand, and in the process has amassed a $5 billion valuation. The brand’s signature skin-toned graduated color palette became the store’s driving design theme, set against a soft white backdrop. The store’s openness and understated simplicity is amplified by expertly crafted product display and visual merchandising, connoting SKIMS’ high brand value.

Perfect Spiral

CardVault by Tom Brady has emerged as a premier destination for collectors and enthusiasts, delivering a first-of-its-kind retail experience focused on buying, selling, trading and grading sports cards and collectibles. The seven-time Superbowl champion made an appearance for the grand opening of MOA’s CardVault, which Brady described as the biggest opening yet for his nine-store chain.

An avid card collector, Brady acquired a 50% stake in the retailer in February. Founded in 2020, CardVault was rebranded to “CardVault by Tom Brady” as part of the acquisition. Earlier this year, the franchise was named one of Inc.’s fastest-growing private companies in America with 338% growth over the last three years.

Lids Off to the NBA Store

This summer The National Basketball Association (NBA) opened a new store at Mall of America, the third in the U.S., following openings in New York City and Houston. The nearly 20,000-square-foot store features NBA and WNBA official team and league-branded merchandise and collectibles from Nike, Mitchell & Ness, New Era, Pro Standard, Wilson, and Fanatics.

As part of the league’s longstanding partnership with Lids and Fanatics, Lids will oversee store operations. The store also offers on-site customization services to personalize jerseys and hats. This should score well this holiday season as personalization has become a differentiator for Mall of America’s most popular stores.

Other MOA stores offering personalization include the LEGO Store, Water Drop, Love Your Melon, Airbrush Art in Nickelodeon Universe, and Build-A-Bear Workshop. Happy Holiday’s to all.