Deptford Mall is a major shopping mall in

Deptford Township, New Jersey Deptford Township (pronounced DEP-ford) is a township in Gloucester County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,561, reflecting an increase of 3,798 (+14.2%) from the 26,763 counted in t ...

. Owned and managed by

Macerich Macerich ( ) is a real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. It is the third-largest owner and operator of shopping centers in the United States. As of December 31, 2020, the company owned interests in 52 properties comprisi ...

, it is the county's only indoor regional shopping center. The mall is anchored by

Boscov's Boscov's Inc. is a family-owned department store with forty-nine locations in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Twenty-six of these stores are located in Pennsylvania. Corporate headqu ...

, Dick's Sporting Goods,

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

, and Round 1 Entertainment. The mall has over 160 stores. It is located off of Route 42 and Route 55 at County Route 544. The mall has a

gross leasable area In architecture, construction, and real estate, floor area, floor space, or floorspace is the area (measured as square feet or square metres) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the buil ...

of , making it the largest mall in the Gloucester County region and placing it in the top eleven among the largest

shopping malls in New Jersey Shopping malls in New Jersey have played a major role in shaping the suburban landscape of the state following World War II. History New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the United States, and in the suburban sphere of influence of b ...

History

The fully enclosed mall opened in August 1975 with three anchor stores —

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

, Bamberger's, and

Wanamaker's John Wanamaker Department Store was one of the first department stores in the United States. Founded by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, it was influential in the development of the retail industry including as the first store to use price tags. ...

— and 150+ specialty stores. In 1986, Bamberger's became

. In 1995, the Wanamaker's store became

Hecht's Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores that operated mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States. The firm originated in Baltimore, Maryland. By 20 ...

. Hecht's became Strawbridge's in 1996 after its parent company,

May Department Stores The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many c ...

, acquired the Strawbridge's chain. In 2000, construction began to build a

as a fourth anchor, which opened on August 1, 2001. In 2006, the Strawbridge's store closed after

Federated Department Stores Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito ...

acquired May Department Stores; the Strawbridge's was replaced by

. On August 5, 1996, an armed gunman attempted to rob an armored vehicle inside the mall. During the shootout, the gunman and a 17-year-old youth were killed on the scene. A younger girl who was in critical condition after being hit by ricochet later died from her injuries at the hospital. In January 2007, Macerich purchased the Deptford Mall for $241 million from

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...

. In October 2015, Macerich sold a 49 percent stake in the Deptford Mall to Heitman. By November 2012, the mall had completed its first renovation since the early 2000s with the vertical movement project, which involved removing the two escalators the mall had and removing stairs at each end and at the center of the mall. Escalators were added at each end of the mall, and an elevator was located in the center, with corresponding stairs. The floor was replaced throughout the mall. New chairs, booths, and tables were added in the food court along with a children's play area (in front of Jalapeño's). Also, the up escalator in the food court (across from JCPenney) is being replaced by an up and down escalator. Originally, the Deptford Mall did not have a food court; its eating establishments were spread throughout the mall. In 2015,

Sears Holdings Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-l ...

spun off 235 of its properties, including the Sears at Deptford Mall, into Seritage Growth Properties. On October 15, 2018, it was announced the Sears store would be closing as part of a plan to close 142 stores nationwide as a result of the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The store closed in January 2019. The lower level of Sears was replaced by Dick's Sporting Goods, which relocated from its location across the street on Almonesson Road. It opened in September 2020. In 2019,

Round One Entertainment , stylized as ROUND1, is a Japan-based amusement store chain. In Japan, the amusement centers offer bowling alleys, arcade games, karaoke, and billiards. They also have a larger variation of Round One known as SpoCha, abbreviated for Sports Chal ...

announced plans to occupy the upper level of the former Sears building by fall 2020. It opened on October 30, 2020.

Anchors

Current anchors are: *

(former Bamberger's) opened 1986 - * J. C. Penney (mall's fourth anchor) opened August 1, 2001 - *

(former Strawbridge's) opened 2006 – * Dick's Sporting Goods (former lower level of

) opened 2020 *

(former upper level of

) opened 2020

Former anchors

* Bamberger's (original anchor) opened August 1975, renamed Macy's 1986 *

(original anchor) opened 1975, closed 2019 – *

(original anchor) opened 1975, closed 1995 *

(former Wanamaker's) opened 1995, closed 1997 * Strawbridge's (former Hecht's) opened 1997, acquired by

in 2006, converted to

"Federated finds buyer for Strawbridge's sites"
''

Philadelphia Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor News ...

'', February 6, 2006. Accessed February 15, 2018. "Boscov's Inc. will buy 10 department stores owned by Federated Department Stores Inc., including five Strawbridge's locations, the department-store companies said Monday.... In the Philadelphia market, the deal includes Strawbridge's locations at the Deptford Mall, Deptford, N.J...."

Gallery

File:Deptford Mall second floor from Sears.jpg, The second floor of the mall looking from the former Sears File:Boscov's Storefront.jpg, Boscov's mall entrance from upper level File:Boscov's Wing.jpg, Upper level looking towards Boscov's File:Macy's Storefront.jpg, Lower level mall entrance of Macy's. A label scar of Bamberger's is visible behind the sign File:JCPenney Storefront.jpg, Lower level mall entrance of JCPenney File:Sears Storefront.jpg, Lower level mall entrance of former Sears

References

External links

*
International Council of Shopping Centers: Deptford Mall
{{Philadelphia Malls Macerich Buildings and structures in Gloucester County, New Jersey Shopping malls in New Jersey Tourist attractions in Gloucester County, New Jersey Shopping malls established in 1975 Deptford Township, New Jersey