Manalapan Mall which now has a life as a big box center called the EpiCenter
Another of the malls that had a short life as a mall turned into a big box center just like Seaview square Manalapan Mall opened in 1971 with Steinbach as an anchor with only 20 something stores in the mall section with plans to expand and add more anchors but never came to reality I read Macy's and Lord and Taylor were part of the plans. By the early 1990's, Freehold Raceway Mall opened just a 5 min drive down rt 9 and that spelled doom for the small Manalapan Mall and closed by the end of the decade and demolished. Also Steinbach met its fate in 1995 as it was replaced with a Value City in 1996. As the Value City stayed open, A big box center called the Manalapan EpiCenter replaced the Manalapan Mall adding New Jersey's first ever Wegman's in 2001, Target, Marshalls which moved from Raceway Malls lifestyle center and also a Wiz was there in the early years. Also a Verizon store was added as well as Gary Michael Jewelers and a Applebee's. The Value City Closed in...