The indoor roller coaster, The Mindbender had a fatal accident on 14 June 1986 when one of the rear cars derailed from the track and slammed into a nearby concrete pillar. The four phases of construction are used in a colour-coded system as a guideline for finding stores and attractions. It was the largest indoor shopping centre in the world until 2004, and was named such in the Guinness Book of Records. The mall was developed in four phases, completed in 1981, 1983, 1985, and 1999. West Edmonton Mall first opened its doors to the public on 15 September 1981.

The mall receives about 32 million visitors per year it attracts between 90,000 and 200,000 shoppers daily, depending on the day and season. More than 24,000 people are employed at the property. West Edmonton Mall has over 800 stores and services including nine attractions, two hotels and over 100 dining venues in the complex, and parking for more than 20,000 vehicles. The mall's major anchor stores are Hudson's Bay, London Drugs, Marshalls, Simons, The Brick, and Winners/ HomeSense. The mall was founded by the Ghermezian brothers, who emigrated from Iran in 1959.

By store count, West Edmonton Mall is the highest in the Western Hemisphere as it currently counts over 800 occupants, in comparison to Mall of America's 520 occupants. Mall of America encompasses 520,000 m 2 (5.6 million square feet) and West Edmonton Mall encompasses 490,000 m 2 (5.3 million square feet). It is the second largest shopping mall, by square footage, in North America behind the Mall of America. It is the second most visited mall in Canada, after the Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, followed by Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby, and the 14th largest in the world (along with The Dubai Mall) by gross leasable area. West Edmonton Mall ( WEM) is a large shopping mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that is owned, managed, and operated by Triple Five Group.

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