St Louis Mills Mall

I've chosen to start with a review of this mall because it the closest to my residence, at just over 2 miles. St Louis Mills is a relatively new mall in North St Louis County. It's kind of out in the middle of nowhere off highway 370, not too far north of interstate 270. It's got the feel of an Outlet mall, but there are only a couple "Outlet" type stores. Mostly, you'll find standard mall fare and, surprisingly enough, a large number of local retailers.

Here's a view from an intersection near the mall. As you can see, it's quite expansive, but only one story.



Many of the mall's destinations can be seen from the vast parking lot, which is bordered on two sides by a moat! These include the Theater 18 and the Nascar Speedpark (complete with outside go-cart racetrack).



Inside, the halls between stores are spacious, leaving plenty of room for kiosks, gumball machines, and even an indoor playground. Despite only having one story, this mall has a LOT of square footage. There's even an ice skating rink inside (the official practice rink of the St Louis Blues hockey team, no less). Inside, it's divided up into "neighborhoods," most of which have their own entrances. Walking from one neighborhood to another is something in the area of a city block, so a complete walk around the mall is quite a hike. If you visit, try to use the outside of the mall as a guide to where you are most likely to exit, because after a day of walking around this place, you're done.



The food court is pretty average (at least for St Louis); it has a Subway, a Chinese place, a Sushi place, a Sbarro, and a Johnny Rockets (like Steak and Shake but not as cool). There's even a Burger King here, which serves all you can drink soda (a rarity in St Louis malls, where you usually have to pay for refills or at least walk up to the counter and ask). Off the food court, there's a Tony Roma's and a Chevy's. Outbuilding restaurants include Steak and Shake and Bob Evans.

There are some stores here for everyone, though you might not find your favorite. This is not the "hip" mall of St Louis, it's a tourist place with some useful stores (Payless Shoes, Books-A-Million), plenty of clothing stores (forever 21, Old Navy, Burlington Coat Factory) and some locally owned shops. It's very kid friendly, having a large indoor play area, a toy store, a candy store, indoor glow-in-the-dark mini-golf, and a couple game stores, as well as a train that actually carries passengers around the mall. For the outdoor fishing and hunting enthusiast, there's even a (very large) Cabela's in which you can actually purchase firearms and ammo (great zombie mall).

Pluses - Large variety of shops makes everyone happy. WiFi available in the Food Court area. Plenty of parking.
Minuses - Doesn't necessarily have the stores you might expect: definitely look before at the directory online before you go. With WiFi in the Food Court, you'd expect available power outlets: you'd be disappointed.

All total, I give St Louis Mills Mall 3.5 kiosks!