Mall of America reopens nearly 3 months after going dark

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — The Mall of America was back in business on Wednesday, nearly three months after the Minnesota tourist attraction shut down because of the coronavirus.

About 150 of the 500 stores in the Bloomington mall reopened their doors to a new shopping experience. It included signs encouraging social distancing, reduced seating, touchless hand sanitizer stations and plexiglass dividers at checkout areas.

The mall, which is the nation’s largest, initially planned to reopen on June 1, but pushed back the date because of protests in the Twin Cities over the death of George Floyd.

One of the first shoppers, Raekwon Martin, of Bloomington, told the Star Tribune that it felt good to be at the mall and “beat the wave.”