The Manalapan EpiCentre opened in 2002 on the corner of
U.S. Route 9 southbound and Symmes Drive in
Manalapan, New Jersey
Manalapan Township (, ) is a Township (New Jersey), township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is centrally located within the Raritan River, Raritan Valley region and is a part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of ...
. The mall serves the
Marlboro
Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Marl ...
and
Freehold
Freehold may refer to:
In real estate
*Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple
*Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England
*Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...
area. It replaced the earlier Manalapan Mall that was demolished in 1998.
History
The Manalapan Mall was a shopping mall in
Manalapan,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. It opened in 1971 on the corner of
U.S. Route 9 southbound and Symmes Drive and was demolished in 1998 to be replaced by the Manalapan EpiCentre.
The mall was anchored by
Steinbach, and had 25 stores attached to its south side. A second phase would have included a
Macy's
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...
, a
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
, and would have grown to a total of 100 stores, but the plans were shelved because of financial problems. By the 1980s, plans were submitted for a super-regional mall, the
Freehold Raceway Mall
Freehold Raceway Mall is a super-regional high-end shopping mall, located in Freehold Township, New Jersey. A premier shopping center for Central Jersey, the mall is located off of U.S. Route 9, Route 33, and County Route 537, opposite the Freeh ...
, about south on Route 9. In 1996, the Steinbach chain was bought out, and the Manalapan Mall store was not included in the purchase. The former Steinbach store was converted to a
Value City
Value City was an American discount department store chain with 113 locations. It was founded in 1917 by Ephraim Schottenstein, a travelling salesman in central Ohio. The store was an off-price retailer that sold clothing, jewelry, and home good ...
location. In October 2008, Value City declared bankruptcy and announced they would close all stores by early 2009. The Value City became a
P. C. Richard & Son, which opened on November 11, 2011. A
Sports Authority
Sports Authority, Inc. (formerly The Sports Authority) was an American sports retailer. At its peak, Sports Authority operated 463 stores in 45 States and Puerto Rico. The company's website was on the GSI Commerce platform and supported the reta ...
opened on August 11, 2012, in the same building as the P. C. Richard & Son, along with a
Bonefish Grill
Bonefish Grill is an American casual dining seafood restaurant chain owned and operated by Bloomin' Brands, headquartered in Tampa, Florida. The company was founded on January 15, 2000, in St. Petersburg, Florida by Tim Curci and Chris Parker.
...
on January 27, 2014. Sports Authority only lasted less than four years as they closed in June 2016, two months before the company went out of business as a whole. On February 28, 2019, the space was replaced with
HomeSense
HomeSense (stylized as Homesense in Europe and the United States) is a Canadian chain of discount home furnishing stores owned by TJX Companies. It originated in Canada in 2001, and was expanded to Europe in 2008 and the United States in 2017. O ...
.
A proposal in the early 1990s to expand the deteriorating mall faced opposition from neighbors fearing increased traffic. By the late 1990s, while Freehold Raceway Mall was prospering,
Manalapan Mall Manalapan may refer to some places in the United States:
*Manalapan, Florida
*Manalapan Brook, a tributary of the South River (Raritan River tributary) in New Jersey
*Manalapan Township, New Jersey
Manalapan Township (, ) is a township in Mon ...
was becoming a
dead mall
A dead mall (also known as a ghost mall, zombie mall, or abandoned mall) is a shopping mall with a high vacancy rate or a low consumer traffic level, or that is deteriorating in some manner.
Many malls in North America are considered "dead ...
. In 1998, the mall, except for the Value City, was torn down to make way for a big-box Epi-Center with a total of of retail space, some four times the area of the original site.
The HomeSense store site is a stand-alone store while the south and west corners of the old mall were turned into
Wegmans
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is a privately held American supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Gates, New York, and was founded in 1916 in Rochester.
As of , Wegmans has 110 stores, mostly in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions. The ...
,
The Wiz
''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown (writer), William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's childr ...
(which was closed in 2003 and replaced by
HomeGoods
HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was founded as a small chain in 1992, and grew to include hundreds of locations throughout the United States. HomeGoods sells furniture, linens, cooking ...
),
Dick's Sporting Goods
Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores an ...
(which later moved to a space at the Freehold Raceway Mall and was replaced by
Marshall's
Marshalls is an American chain of off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store, covering 42 states and Puerto Rico, and 61 stores in Canada. Mar ...
) and a
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
. Other smaller businesses in the Manalapan EpiCentre are
Applebee's
Applebee's Restaurants LLC. is an American company that develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain. The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining, with mainstream American dishes such as salads ...
,
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
,
Pet Valu
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...
, Eyechic Optical Boutique, Gary's Jewelers, Hand & Stone, Cucina Alessi Italian Ristorante, and The Turning Point.
In 2005, plans were released to build an alternative mall facility that would include of space, including retailers, a multiplex theater and hotel.
["Topic of the Day; Manalapan mall plan", ''Asbury Park Press'', April 13, 2005.]
References
{{New York City Malls
Shopping malls established in 2002
Shopping malls in New Jersey
Buildings and structures in Monmouth County, New Jersey
Manalapan Township, New Jersey
U.S. Route 9
2002 establishments in New Jersey