During the last fifteen years the number of malls in Costa Rica has increased by leaps and bounds. In the 1980s Curridabat’s Plaza del Sol was the first mall built here. The first mega-mall was the Mall San Pedro which opened in the 1990s followed by Multiplaza West. Now City Mall, or the “Mother of all Malls, ” is set to open in the city of Alajuela. Costa Ricans and expat retirees who live in Heredia, Alajuela, Grecia and San Ramón will now have a mall to shop at on the west side of San José.
More than a place to shop, City Mall promises to become Costa Rica’s favorite mall because it will offer a whole slew of attractions for people of all ages. The concept is to have a mall that combines entertainment as well as shopping. It will boasts 330 shops, 58 stands, 14 restaurants, movie theaters (Cinemark), a gym (BE FIT chain), an amusement park, banks, one of the biggest food courts in the country with room for 1600 people and a floor with medical and dental offices and beauty salons.
The mall will open just in time for the holiday season so it will feature many Christmas-related activities including the lighting of a huge tree. There will even be a indoor park with man-made snow where children can play and a 120 foot-long toboggan run.
An added benefit of the mall is that it will help the country’s economy and people since it will create 3,500 direct jobs and 4,000 indirect jobs.
The mall will have 2000 parking spaces. The cost to park will be one dollar for three hours and a dollar per hour after that. Hours will be from 10 am to 9 pm daily. For information call: 2400-5100.