Ghermezian family

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The Ghermezian family is a Canadian Jewish business family with Iranian roots. They are best known for building three of North America’s biggest shopping malls: West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, and American Dream in New Jersey. They have lived in Edmonton since 1964 and are mostly private and Orthodox Jews.

The family began in Pahlavi Iran, selling rugs for generations. Elijah Ghermezian started the family business in 1895. Before World War II they moved to Tehran. Jacob Ghermezian (1902–2000) became very wealthy in Iran and, in 1943, hosted leaders at the Tehran Conference. In the early 1950s he moved the family to Montreal and started Ghermezian Bros. on Sherbrooke Street. By the mid-1960s the business had 16 stores across North America and was the largest importer of oriental rugs to the United States.

In 1964 the family moved to Edmonton to take part in the oil boom. They formed Ghermez Developments Ltd. in 1967, which became Triple Five Corp. Ltd. in 1973. They bought farmland around Edmonton hoping to find oil, but that didn’t work out. In the 1970s the city planned a green belt, and the family profited by selling land to the government. The four sons—Eskandar, Nader, Raphael, and Bahman—grew the rug business into a large real estate and construction company.

In 1994 the family defaulted on about $450 million in loans, contributing to the bankruptcy of their Royal Trust bank. In Edmonton, family members live close to each other in houses connected by enclosed walkways.

Their major projects include West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America, along with many other ventures. In 2011 Triple Five Group bought the Xanadu Meadowlands project in New Jersey and renamed it American Dream. It opened in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic reduced visitors, and their high leverage could affect other malls. Critics say their big mall bets add too much retail space, while the family calls them “retailtainment”—enclosed resorts with shopping. In 2018 they won approval to start American Dream Miami, planned to be the largest shopping center in the United States.