I recently returned from Istanbul. While there isn't a shopping mall on every corner, it sure seems like. I'm sure every city has a "x on every corner" that isn't literally true, but x is more numerous that one might imagine. I was amazed not at the number of malls in Istanbul, but the sheer size of them. Each one seemed bigger than the last, and the first seemed like the largest mall I've ever seen. Now Istanbul is a large metropolis, home to almost 20 million people. And there was way more shopping that I would have expected. Is this person exaggerating? Of course, but not as much as you might think.