Envisioned as an "Asian mall" in anticipation of the coming wave of migration from Hong Kong due to the impending 1997 Handover of Hong Kong, Aberdeen Centre's developer Thomas Fung had trouble finding tenants initially since there had been no Asian malls in North America in the 1980s.

[citation needed] The current Aberdeen Centre, opened in 2003, is about three times the original mall's size and has around 100 stores.

An indoor musical fountain, similar to the one in front of Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas but smaller in scale, was built at the centre of the mall and performs shows every hour.

[3] On August 8, 2008, the largest viewing party in the Vancouver area for the 2008 Summer Olympics took place at the mall, with thousands of spectators, some of whom had lined up since 3:30 in the morning.

Public transit buses, serviced by TransLink, have connections to the mall, with routes serving Richmond and New Westminster.

[7] On September 15, 2016, masked suspects wielding hammers broke several display cases at a jewelry store before escaping in a stolen pickup truck.