2026 Top 10 Retail Center Experiences: No. 4 — American Dream
(Chain Store Age ranks the most innovative shopping center experiences each year. We will be counting down the top 10 until No. 1 is revealed.)
What much bigger promotional break could an already formidable piece of retail real estate get than having the FIFA World Cup soccer final played in its backyard?
Spain’s capture of its second World Cup at New York/New Jersey Stadium (nee MetLife Stadium; the insurance company wasn’t a World Cup sponsor) sits just a bicycle kick across the parking lot from Triple Five’s Meadowlands megamall. And American Dream, well, got to live the dream!
World Cup-themed events and promotions crowded the events calendar at the 3 million square foot center starting last October. A partial look at the lineup it presented to soccer fans included a two-day soccer exhibition called the “Legends Match” inside the mall at which football fanatics got to meet and greet soccer legends that included Carlos Valderrama, Sergio Goycochea and Oscar Cordboa.
In January, Adidas entered American Dream with a flagship soccer-only store featuring footwear, performance gear, and Adidas Originals. In March, the mall opened “The Messi Experience,” a multi-room, nine-installation journey giving fans of the Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi. Employing holographic visuals and cinematic audio, fans got to step into Messi’s childhood bedroom and explore a replica of his locker room.
And, Build-a-Bear Workshop introduced a soccer-themed overlay for their concept to get young children — many for whom soccer was their first sport — to take part in World Cup celebrations.
World Cup promotions in American Dream ran heavy for more than a month leading up to the game, and mall management estimated that two million fans from around the globe would train or bus or take Exit 16W off the New Jersey Turnpike to honor the hallowed ground.
“In retail, when you’re in the right place at the right time with the right brands and the right guests,” said American Dream’s chief marketing officer Adam Petrick. “You really are on top of the world.”
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2026 Top 10 Retail Center Experiences: No. 3 — Tuscan Village
2026 Top 10 Retail Center Experiences: No. 5 — Mall of America
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