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 IGA Foodliner and A & P supermarkets as two of its tenants. 

America's second retail mall, Greater Boston's SHOPPERS' WORLD, opened for business October 4, 1951. The center include a Brockelman's supermarket in its original retail mix. This store, rebranded by Stop & Shop in 1953, moved to a newly-built mall store in October 1961.

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.

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 Stores inaugurated its own development subsidiary, Food Fair Properties, in September 1955. This company built Miami, Florida's 163rd STREET CENTER (1956) and Baltimore's REISTERSTOWN ROAD PLAZA (1962). New Jersey's Grand Union Company also delved into shopping mall development by forming Eastern Shopping Centers, in May 1956. Some of their projects were Hyattsville, Maryland's PRINCE GEORGES PLAZA (1959) and  Orlando's PARKWOOD PLAZA (1960).