Traffic jams and long, chaotic lines did little to deter more than 150,000 curious visitors who thronged BIG Fashion Glilot for the opening of the shopping center near Tel Aviv over the weekend.

The open-air mall, featuring some 43,000 square meters (463,000 square feet) of retail space in Ramat Hasharon, opened on February 26 with a healthy dose of hype for its two levels of shopping and dining replete with stunningly expansive and elegant spaces.

With a design resembling the outdoor “lifestyle centers” that have replaced indoor shopping malls across the American retail landscape, BIG drew some 70,000 visitors to its 160 stores and restaurants on Saturday alone.

But by Monday afternoon, much of the initial hoopla and excitement around the opening appeared to have somewhat evaporated. Crowds still milled around the complex, but many appeared to be window shopping, with foot traffic much sparser inside the mall’s large fashion outlets; clothing stores such as Fox, Castro, Delta, Renuar, Golf & Co., H&M and Cos take up some two-thirds of the retail space.

“In terms of the shops, there is nothing different or new to write home about,” said Tel Aviv-based Sivan Moscovich, 29, as she and two friends gave their feet a rest on a wooden bench between trees and other green spaces in one of the mall’s outdoor corridors. “The shops are the same shops we can find elsewhere in other shopping areas for the same expensive prices, but there is a wider variety in one place.”

The hype around BIG Fashion Glilot somewhat mirrored hullaballoos surrounding other openings in recent years, such as the nearby Arena mall complex on Herzliya’s seafront or the TLV mall in Tel Aviv. But both malls have struggled to draw in crowds since the initial excitement died down, especially on weekdays.

Moscovich and her friends — twins celebrating their birthdays — had hopped on a bus from Tel Aviv to get to the mall after their curiosity was piqued by the buzz surrounding the opening.

But so far, they were less than........

© The Times of Israel