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 in western Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is centrally located within the Raritan Valley Region and is a part of the New York Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States cen ...

. The mall serves the

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (PMI, now separate from Altria) in most global territories outside the ...

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 ...

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 U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. 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 is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

, a

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

, 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 shopping mall located in Freehold Township, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of 2020, it was the largest shopping mall in Central Jersey and the state's third largest shopping mall, behind Garden St ...

, 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 Department Stores was an American 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 ...

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 based in Englewood, Colorado. At its peak, Sports Authority operated 463 stores in 45 States and Puerto Rico. The company's website was on the GSI Commer ...

opened on August 11, 2012, in the same building as the P. C. Richard & Son, along with a

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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 was becoming a

dead mall A dead mall, also known as a ghost mall or zombie mall, is a shopping mall that has low consumer traffic or is deteriorating in some manner. Many malls in North America are considered "dead" when they have no surviving anchor store or successor ...

. 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 now headquartered in Gates, New York, but was founded on January 30, 1916, in Rochester, New York. As of late 2024, Wegmans had 111 stores in eight states (New Yo ...

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(which was closed in 2003 and replaced by

HomeGoods HomeGoods is a chain of home furnishing stores headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Midd ...

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized in all caps as DICK'S Sporting Goods) is an American chain of sporting goods stores founded in 1948 by Richard "Dick" Stack. It is the largest sporting goods retailer in the United States and is listed ...

(which later moved to a space at the Freehold Raceway Mall and was replaced by

Marshalls Marshalls, Inc. is an American chain of discount store, off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store (stores operating with HomeGoods combined), ...

) and a

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * 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 artille ...

. 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. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

Pet Valu Pet Valu Holdings Ltd. is a Canadian pet food and accessory retailer founded in 1976. The company's first initial public offering occurred in 2009 when Roark Capital Group took over the company for an estimated $144 million. In 2010, Pet Valu a ...

, 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