Menlo Park Mall opened in September 1959, as an open-air complex. It was named after Thomas Edison's laboratory in the Menlo Park area of Edison, the site of which is about two miles from the shopping venue. The structure was fully enclosed between June 1966 and December 1967. After the remodeling, it was renamed Menlo Park Mall. The original center was anchored by Bamberger's, Montgomery Ward, a small, dry goods only, JCPenney, a two-level Woolworth, as well as two grocery stores: ShopRite, and Pantry Pride, later a Big Buy. Originally a one level structure, the fully enclosed mall had a lack of skylights, with only shaded windows along the sides of the ceiling. The low lighting made the interior quite dark, as was customary with interiors of malls at the time. The mall had unique flooring with patterns of orange, black, yellow and white throughout the mall. The Montgomery Ward space was taken over by Alexander's in 1972. JCPenney moved to Woodbridge Center in 1981. Bamberger's was rebranded by Macy's in October 1986. When Alexander's went out of business in 1992, the mall was able to secure the 2nd Nordstrom in the state of New Jersey, but changes had to be made to prepare for the opening. Most of the mall was closed from 1990–1991, when it underwent a significant renovation and expansion that converted it from a single-story structure into its current two-story form. In expanding and fitting into the space, the new Menlo Park Mall was built on an angle with the vertex occurring at center court. The renovated Menlo Park Mall was also changed to have galleria style skylights, domed fountain courts, marble flooring, dramatic lighting, sculptures and a large, skylit food court featuring trees and sculptures, designed to look like a "formal garden." The new mall was designed by architecture firm RTKL Associates Inc. of Dallas Texas. Two parking decks were also added, as was a 12 Screen Cineplex Odeonmovie theater which replaced the smaller Menlo Park Cinema on Route 1. Cineplex was later replaced by an AMC Dine-In Theater. Macy's was the only store to remain open during the primary expansion. Nordstrom also opened in 1991. On March 9, 1997, Target Greatland opened across the street from the mall as part of a shopping center. Rainforest Cafe opened on September 17, 1998. On January 27, 2003, The Cheesecake Factory opened its doors for the first time. In 2014, Smashburger opened along with an upgrade to the food court. In 2015, a renovation project was started which removed such features as the central fountain and trees. The food court's raised platform, sculptures, and trees were also removed, and the food court was renamed "Dining Pavilion." On September 22, 2018, a Disney Junior themed kids zone opened by Nordstrom. On June 24 2020, GNC Announced that it closed it's location at Menlo Park Mall.
