Opened in July 1985, Ayalon Mall was the first mall in Israel to have a large shopping complex outside the city centre with a parking lot surrounding it. Ayalon Mall is also notable for its owner, David Azrieli, inventing the word for "mall" in Hebrew for this mall, "kanyon".
In addition, Ayalon Mall is the place of the first McDonald's location in the Middle East, which opened there in 1993.[1]
The mall was originally one story tall, but in 2006 an extension which contains a second floor with cinemas above some of the mall was built. A second extension in 2015 added many shops and restaurants.
In July 2006, a partial new two-story wing was added, which included a new 15 screen movie theatre, "Yes Planet" (sponsored by the Israeli satellite company Yes), and some fast food restaurants. The new theatre replaced the old approximately 10-year-old one, which had only 4 screens. The old cinema was replaced with about 10 new stores.
In mid 2014, the construction of the second floor extension had begun, and in April 2015 the construction was completed. The second floor extension contains the addition of several more international stores, such as American Eagle, H&M, Desigual and Forever 21.