The suburban shopping mall debuted in the early years of the post-war era. America's first bona fide mall, Seattle, Washington's NORTHGATE CENTER, held its official grand opening April 21, 1950 and included an IGA Foodliner supermarket as one of its tenants. 

America's second retail mall, Greater Boston's SHOPPERS' WORLD, opened for business October 4, 1951. The center did not include a supermarket in its original retail mix. However a Stop & Shop was eventually added. It welcomed its first shoppers on October 4, 1961.

The third mall in the United States, Southern California's LAKEWOOD CENTER, was officially dedicated October 3, 1952. Its Hiram's supermarket had opened for business in November 1951, followed by a second food retailer, Boys Market, which had logged its first sale in April 1952.

OTHER EARLY OPEN-AIR MALLS

AND THEIR SUPERMARKET TENANTS:

*STONESTOWN CENTER, San Francisco, CA (July 1952)

Stonestown Market (November 1952)

*LEVITTOWN CENTER (SHOP-A-RAMA), Bucks County, PA (October 1953)

Penn Fruit supermarket (1953) and Food Fair supermarket (1955)

*SUNRISE CENTER, Fort Lauderdale, FL (January 1954)

Food Fair supermarket

The nation's first regional-class, fully-enclosed mall, Edina ["uh-diy-nuh"], Minnesota's SOUTHDALE CENTER, held its grand opening October 8, 1956. It featured a 30,000 square foot Red Owl supermarket, reputed to be the largest in the Upper Midwest at the time. America's early interior malls almost always included a supermarket as a customer drawing point.

OTHER EARLY ENCLOSED MALLS

AND THEIR SUPERMARKET TENANTS:

*BIG TOWN MALL, Mesquite, TX (February 1959)

Wrigley's supermarket

*CHARLOTTETOWN MALL, Charlotte, NC (October 1959)

Colonial Stores supermarket

*NORTH STAR MALL, San Antonio, TX (September 1960)

H-E-B supermarket

Before long, large supermarket chains and major shopping center developers had formed partnerships. Cincinnati's Kroger Company and Cleveland's Jacobs, Visconsi, Jacobs Group co-built Fairview Park, Ohio's WESTGATE CENTER (1954). Kroger and Youngstown, Ohio's Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation developed centers such as Indianapolis' LAFAYETTE SQUARE (1968) and Greater Youngstown's SOUTHERN PARK MALL (1970).

Philadelphia's Food Fair chain formed its own development subsidiary, Food Fair Properties, which built Miami, Florida's 163rd STREET CENTER (1956) and Baltimore's REISTERSTOWN ROAD PLAZA (1962). New Jersey's Grand Union grocery conglomerate also delved into shopping center development.