West Edmonton Mall (WEM), located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is the largest shopping mall in North America and the tenth largest in the world by gross leasable area. It was the world's largest mall until 2004. The mall was founded by the Ghermezian brothers, who emigrated from Iran in 1959. West Edmonton Mall covers a gross area of about 490,000 m. There are over 800 stores and services in the compound, and parking for more than 20,000 vehicles.