Almanac: Mall of America opens

(CBS News) And now a page from our "Sunday Morning" almanac . . . Aug. 11, 1992, 21 years ago today . . . a red letter day for American retailing.

For that was the day the Mall of America opened just outside Minnesota's Twin Cities to eager crowds.

Built on the site of a former sports stadium, the mall bills itself as America's largest retail and entertainment complex with more than 500 stores, an indoor amusement park, a wedding chapel, an aquarium, theatres and restaurants -- nearly five million square feet in all -- with more than 42 million guests from all over America and the world every year.

The mall also welcomes a constant parade of big-name celebrities. It has even starred in movies, serving as a backdrop for the 1996 film "Jingle All The Way," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a desperate father battling other Christmas shoppers for an elusive "Turbo Man" action figure.

Real-life trouble has sometimes intruded on the mall as well.

In 1996, a rash of youthful crime forced the mall to bar access by unaccompanied teens on Friday and Saturday evenings. A variation of that policy remains in effect today.

On the other hand, the mall invites hundreds of so-called "Mall Stars" to walk its hallways every day, and it plays host to charity events that raise more than $12 million a year.

With more than a dozen larger malls now in operation overseas, the Mall of America is launching a huge expansion project that will more than double its size -- and, it hopes, attract another 20 million eager shoppers every year.