The mall was opened in 1975, being modeled on similar malls in the United States. Like its US progenitors, the mall was intended to be accessed by car, and it is located close to the A1 motorway and provides spacious car parking. In 2010, phase 2 of the Stadtbahn Glattal opened, including an elevated tram stop linked to the mall by a footbridge. Before that the public transportation connections were limited to three bus lines (nr. 94, 759 and 787) connecting the center to the railway stations Zürich Airport, Zürich Oerlikon, Dübendorf, Wallisellen and Dietlikon.
When built, the mall was jointly owned by the Migros, Globus and Jelmoli groups, each of which operated an anchor store within the centre. Today the mall is owned by Swiss Life.[2] The Migros store still exists, as does the (now Migros owned) Globus store, but Jelmoli no longer has any involvement. In addition to the two remaining anchor stores, there are four specialty markets, five restaurants, four bars and 90 specialty shops.
The last renovation of the Glatt shopping center took place between mid-2015 and the end of 2019. The total cost of the renovation was around 100 million Swiss francs. The Glatt Tower, which houses office space and services, rises above the shopping center. HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have been prominent tenants in the Glatt Tower since 2020.