Phillipsburg Mall was an indoor
shopping mall
A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
located along
U.S. Route 22
U.S. Route 22 (US 22) is a west–east route and is one of the original United States highways of 1926, running from Cincinnati, Ohio, at US 27, US 42, US 127, and US 52 to Newark, New Jersey, at U.S. Route 1/9 in the Newark Airport Interchange ...
in
Warren County, New Jersey
Warren County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 109,632, representing an increase of 940 (0.9%) from the 108,692 residents counted at the 2010 census. The county borde ...
, United States. Despite its name, the mall was actually located on the border of
Lopatcong Township and
Pohatcong Township, just east of
Phillipsburg.
The mall was located on the eastern edge of the
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley (), known colloquially as The Valley, is a geographic region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County and Northampton County in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bound to the no ...
, the metropolitan area of
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The city has a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 United ...
. The mall's anchor store was
Kohl's
Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawai ...
. There were 3 other anchor stores that were once
The Bon-Ton
Bon-Ton Holdings Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded in 1898. After rapid expansion in the 1990s and early 2000s, the original company had financial troubles, ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2018 ...
,
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 ...
, and Black Rose Antiques & Collectibles. As of February 2021, the mall is scheduled to be demolished in the near future.
History
Crown American
Crown American is a privately held American company that manages and develops commercial real estate. The corporate headquarters is in downtown Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in a building designed by architect Michael Graves.
History
The company wa ...
first announced Phillipsburg Mall in 1985. The original anchor stores chosen were
Bradlees
Bradlees Department Store, more commonly known as Bradlees, was a discount department store chain based in Braintree, Massachusetts, which operated primarily in the Northeastern United States. Bradlees sold various retail items in its stores, inc ...
,
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 ...
, and
Hess's
Hess's was a department store chain based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The company started in 1897 with one store, originally known as Hess Brothers, and grew to nearly 80 stores by its peak in the late 1980s. The chain's stores were closed or sold ...
, then a subsidiary of Crown American. As Bradlees was undergoing store closings at the time, Crown American instead chose to make that anchor space a
Kmart
Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States.
The company was inc ...
. The Mall was originally slated for a 1987 opening, but was delayed due to highway and sewage system issues. Upon opening on September 24, 1989, the mall had Kmart, Hess's (the first and only
location in New Jersey), and Sears as its anchor stores, as well as 90 smaller stores, with more to come later in the year.
Over 7,000 people attended the mall's grand opening. The Hess's store even had to skip its ribbon-cutting ceremony due to the crowd of 2,000–3,000 waiting to shop there. Traffic on U.S Route 22 was backed up to a mile from the mall in both directions on opening day.
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 ...
would later open in March 1990. The Hess's store was sold to
The Bon-Ton
Bon-Ton Holdings Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded in 1898. After rapid expansion in the 1990s and early 2000s, the original company had financial troubles, ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2018 ...
in 1994. Kmart closed its store at Phillipsburg Mall in 2002 as part of bankruptcy proceedings; one year later, the space was sold to
Kohl's
Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawai ...
. The store would open in April 2004.
PREIT
Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers mostly in the Mid-Atlantic states.
History
The company was founded by Sylvan M. Cohen in 1960 as one of the first equi ...
, which acquired the Crown American portfolio in 2003, sold the mall to
Mason Asset Management
Namdar Realty Group is an American shopping mall investment company based in Great Neck, New York. They primarily purchase shopping malls with partner Mason Asset Management. Namdar and Mason are both family owned, and as of 2021, own over 400 pr ...
/
Namdar Realty Group
Namdar Realty Group is an American shopping mall investment company based in Great Neck, New York. They primarily purchase shopping malls with partner Mason Asset Management. Namdar and Mason are both family owned, and as of 2021, own over 400 pr ...
for $11.5 million in 2013.
On January 15, 2014, it was announced that the JCPenney store would be closing as part of a plan to close 33 locations nationwide.
In addition to this anchor, many stores left the mall in 2013 and 2014.
As those stores were closing, other new shops began to open. An
antique shop
An antique shop (or antiques shop) is a retail store specializing in the selling of antiques. Antiques shops can be located either locally or, with the advent of the Internet, found online.
An antiques shop can also be located within an anti ...
called Black Rose Antiques & Collectibles began to occupy the former JCPenney space. The store opened on January 1, 2017. Meanwhile, a
record store
A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record shops sold the new formats that were ...
called Spin Me Round Records opened near the former JCPenney space. In 2017, a
Gold's Gym
Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as gyms) originally started by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of cardio and strength training equipm ...
opened in the space once occupied by
Hot Topic
Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, ...
and several restaurants.
On November 2, 2017,
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 ...
announced that Sears would also be closing as part of a plan to close 63 Sears and Kmart stores nationwide. The Phillipsburg Mall location closed on January 28, 2018.
In November, 2017,
Bon-Ton
Bon-Ton Holdings Inc. is an American online retailer and former department store chain founded in 1898. After rapid expansion in the 1990s and early 2000s, the original company had financial troubles, ultimately filing for bankruptcy in 2018 ...
, struggling with around $1.1 billion in debt, announced a plan to close over 40 stores in 2018, including its Phillipsburg Mall location. On January 31, 2018, Bon-Ton confirmed that closing sales would begin February 1 and run for 10–12 weeks until the store is closed in April. The store closed on April 29, 2018.
In August 2018, due to a heavy rain storm, an approximately portion of roof in the former Sears collapsed.
Due to the roof collapse, stores that were on the Sears side of the mall moved closer to the Kohls side of the mall and Sears was blocked off. In September 2018, the
Old Navy
Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...
store, that had opened around 2000, had closed and relocated down the street to a Shopping Center.
The former Sears was later demolished in August 2019, followed by the former Bon-Ton in October of that year.
Communication from mall ownership about changes has been virtually non-existent.
Closure and redevelopment
![Pburg-mall-closing-gamestop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Pburg-mall-closing-gamestop.jpg)
Mason Asset Management President Elliot Nassim said in March 2019 that the property "...is better suited as something other than a mall." Throughout 2019, many stores in the mall closed, including
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...
,
Gold's Gym
Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as gyms) originally started by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of cardio and strength training equipm ...
,
H&M,
Victoria's Secret
Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ret ...
, and others. On December 23, 2019, the remaining tenants of Phillipsburg Mall received lease termination notifications, informing them they had 30 days to vacate the mall. As of July 2020, the interior mall was shuttered.
On January 28, 2020, Black Rose Antiques announced that it would be closing in March 2020. In March 2020,
Kohl's
Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawai ...
stated that it would not be closing because it is separately owned.
On January 29, 2021, Mason Asset Management announced that demolition of the mall is scheduled to begin "within the next couple of weeks" and will be completed by June 2021 to make way for a proposed warehouse.
References
{{Namdar Realty Group, state=autocollapse
Lopatcong Township, New Jersey
Pohatcong Township, New Jersey
Phillipsburg, New Jersey
Shopping malls in New Jersey
1989 establishments in New Jersey
Buildings and structures in Warren County, New Jersey
Shopping malls established in 1989
Tourist attractions in Warren County, New Jersey
Namdar Realty Group
Defunct shopping malls in the United States
Shopping malls disestablished in 2020