West Edmonton Mall, also known as WEM, is a privately owned entity headquartered in Canada. Founded in 1981 by the Ghermezian brothers, the company, which is owned, managed, and operated by Triple Five Group, has an estimated 470 employees and operates a shopping mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The mall holds the distinction of being the second most visited in Canada, trailing only the Toronto Eaton Centre. Globally, it ranks as the 29th largest by gross leasable area, tied with Fashion Island and the Dubai Mall. In North America, it is the second largest shopping mall by square footage, after the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, encompassing 490,000 m² (5.3 million square feet).