The Mall of Switzerland is the biggest shopping mall in Central Switzerland. It is located in Ebikon. The mall contains 150 shops, that are located on 3 floors. The construction of the mall begun in 2013, and it was completed and opened on November 8, 2017. The mall spreads over and built at a cost of US$ 500 million, The anchor tenant is Switzerland's largest retail company Migros.
Concept
The mall concept combines shops and restaurants with leisure and sports facilities, a Playground, the first standing indoor wave of Switzerland and the country's second largest IMAX-cinema screen at Pathés, with 12 auditoriums and a total of 1962 seats. Furthermore there is a Training Center Fitness- & Wellnessclub with over 2'000 square meters. Switzerland's largest children's playground in a shopping center has an area of 1,500 square metres. The Promenade "La Strada" offers brand shops from the areas of fashion, beauty, shoes, jewelry and accessories. So called "Pop-up stores" offer changing offers with niche products, for example from up and coming designers from home and abroad. Customers have access to a comprehensive WiFi information point, Lounge areas with living room character and cloakrooms. This includes a delivery service in cooperation with Swiss Post. The gastronomic offer of the Mall of Switzerland includes a restaurant ensemble with adjoining roof terrace on the attic floor, various restaurants on the ground floor of the Mall and the leisure area, each with outdoor seating, as well as numerous bars. Regular events are planned on the central square, named after the former name of the Ebisquare project. One side of the mall contains a PathéMultiplex movie theater with 12 screens. The mall also contains 17 restaurants.
Location
The mall is located on Ebisquare Street next to the Schindler Group elevator factory premises in Ebikon. With the stop Buchrain the mall is directly connected to the so-called S-Bahn-Netz in Lucerne. The Train runs every half hour towards Rotkreuz-Zug-Baar and Lucerne-Sursee. A pedestrian bridge leads directly from the platform to the first floor of the mall. At Ebisquare there is the bus stop Fildern, which is accessible by bus lines 23 and 111 in the direction of Gisikon, Inwil and Waldibrücke. There are also plans to extend the Bus Line 1 to the mall from the end of 2019. By car, the mall can be reached via the Buchrain exit of the Highway A14.
Architecture
The mall consists of the structures mall, leisure and multi-storey car park buildings. In terms of urban development, the buildings with innovative architecture fit into the large scale character of the surrounding industrial area, which stretches along the railway line in Rontal. The so called "Jumping Facades" are unique in Switzerland. This refers to the flexibility and variety in the planning and creation of the shop fronts. Among other things, the fronts of the individual shops instead of juxtaposing along a common line as usual can also jump forward or backward individually, reminding the mall of a naturally grown shopping street. The Mall of Switzerland logo was derived from the Swiss cross and condensed into a pattern known from fashion brands. It takes up Swiss red.
Scheduling
In 2005, the Ebikon Municipal Assembly approved the development plan Ebisquare, on which the current concept of the Mall of Switzerland is based. After the former investor had to quit due to a financing bottleneck, Halter took over the project in 2011 with the idea to divide it into the different parts shopping, leisure, living and hotel. Halter consulted the project developers FREO, with whose help the current investor could be found. The foundation stone was laid on 11 June 2014, and the shell was completed after one and a half years, on December 23, 2015. The mall opened on November 8, 2017.
The planned opening on September 28, 2017 was postponed to the beginning of November 2017 due to a construction stop in March 2017. The mall publishes a list of all shops and restaurants in one post in 20-minutes newspaper. Until the beginning of October 2017 about 80% of the space was rented. One of the planned attractions of the leisure offer, the "indoor surf wave", will not open as planned in March 2018, but on September 13 2018.
