The Cherry Hill Mall, owned by

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust 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 ...

(PREIT), was originally known as Cherry Hill Shopping Center, commonly reported as the first indoor, climate-controlled shopping center east of the Mississippi River in the United States, and opened on October 11, 1961. Cherry Hill Mall is located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey and is bound by

Route 38 The following highways are numbered 38: Australia * A38 (Sydney) Canada * Alberta Highway 38 * Ontario Highway 38 (former) * Saskatchewan Highway 38 Czech Republic * I/38 Highway; Czech: Silnice I/38 Germany * Bundesautobahn 38 India * N ...

, Haddonfield Road ( County Route 644), Church Road ( County Route 616), and Cherry Hill Mall Drive. The center was designed by architect

Victor Gruen Victor David Gruen, born Viktor David Grünbaum
retrieved 25 February 2012 (July 18, 1903 – February 1 ...

and built and managed by

The Rouse Company The Rouse Company, founded by Hunter Moss and James W. Rouse in 1939, was a publicly held shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. Beginnings - Moss-Rouse Company ...

. Rouse sold its shopping center portfolio to Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust in 2003 as PREIT converted its holdings from residential to retail. 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 , placing it in the top ten 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 ...

. The mall is currently anchored by

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

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original Wallin & Nordstrom store operated exclusively as a shoe store, a ...

. The farm that was near the site of the Cherry Hill Mall is widely held to be the source of the 1962 renaming of what had been called Delaware Township to its current name of Cherry Hill Township. The town was named Cherry Hill in a voter referendum due to the development of a new U.S. Postal Service office for the region, and historical ties to Cherry Hill Farm, which once occupied land opposite the current mall site, and various locations named for the farm, including the Cherry Hill Estates housing development and the Cherry Hill Inn.

History

Cherry Hill Mall opened on October 11, 1961 on the former site of the George Jaus farm. It was designed by

Victor Gruen Victor David Gruen, born Viktor David Grünbaum
retrieved 25 February 2012 (July 18, 1903 – February 1 ...

and built and managed by The Rouse Company at a cost of $30 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Upon opening, it was the largest mall in the nation and is commonly referred to as the first enclosed and climate-controlled mall in the Eastern United States. The mall featured 90 stores, exotic birds, tropical plants, fountains and a movie theater. The mall layout was unique for the time. Unlike the dumbbell malls of the time, the mall started from the east anchor, Bamberger's, with a large "Delaware Mall" concourse to the west of it. About halfway along this concourse was an exit way that led back to a twin movie theatre and a children's amusement park with six rides and a mini roller coaster with a giant arcade. The center of the mall featured Cherry Court, a court with high ceilings, more tropical plants, fountains, parrots, plus a staircase leading directly to the second floor into Strawbridge & Clothier. The northern wing featured the "Market Court",

Food Fair Food Fair, also known by its successor name Pantry Pride, was a large supermarket chain in the United States. It was founded by Samuel N. Friedland, who opened the first store (as Reading Giant Quality Price Cutter) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in ...

, and

Thrift Drug Thrift Drug was a U.S. pharmacy chain founded in 1935 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was purchased by JCPenney in 1968, and was expanded greatly thereafter, serving as the flagship chain of JCPenney's pharmacy group. The cha ...

. There were also a

Kresge's Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of Big-box store, big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The co ...

, Woolworth's, and two liquor stores.Newman, Andy
"Shopping Around: At The Mall; The Making of a Mall: Managing the Mood and the Merchandise "
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', November 16, 1997. Accessed March 15, 2022. The mall changed through the years; 1973 brought a detached nine-story office tower. In 1977 a new two-story wing was built in the north part of the mall, following the closure and demolition of Pantry Pride and the Market Court. This wing was anchored by

. The 1990s brought more change to the mall, with the mall being remodeled once more, featuring a teal/gray color scheme and skylights. The mall received different fountains and the ornate Strawbridge's staircase was replaced with a simple escalator/stairs combination. By 1997, two distinct parts of the mall had formed: an upscale wing near Macy's featuring

Banana Republic In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resources. In 1904, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring c ...

and

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 ...

, while the

wing featured General Nutrition Centers and several urban shops. In 2003, the mall was sold to

(PREIT).

PREIT renovation and expansion

Under PREIT's ownership,

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 ...

moved in early on, but the company had bigger plans for the mall. From the period of 2007 to 2009, the mall underwent a massive $220 million renovation that saw of new retail added. Jim Ryan and his team at JPRA Architects were brought in to create the mall’s new design. Following Strawbridge's closure after the

takeover, the store was razed and backfilled to make way for the new Grand Court featuring of new retail, along with a new 138,000 sq ft.

anchor store which opened on March 27, 2009. On December 26, 2022, the Cherry Hill Police Department banned shoppers under the age of eighteen from entering the Cherry Hill Mall unaccompanied between the hours of 4:00 and 7:00 p.m.; this was in response to a fighting incident that occurred at the J.C. Penney store at the location five years prior."Police: Shoppers under 18 banned from Cherry Hill Mall for last week of the year"

News 12 New Jersey News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. Ne ...

Anchors

(opened 1986) *

(opened 1977) *

(opened 2009) * H&M * Forever 21

Former anchors

* Strawbridge's closed and demolished in 2006. Nordstrom was built in its spot. * Bamberger’s (now Macy’s)

References

External links

Cherry Hill Mall websiteCherry Hill Mall

International Council of Shopping Centers The International Council of Shopping Centers, doing business as ICSC, is the global trade association of what it calls the "Marketplaces Industry" (i.e., shopping centers, shopping malls, and all other retail real estate). Founded in 1957, it fea ...

{{Philadelphia Malls Cherry Hill, New Jersey Shopping malls established in 1961 Shopping malls in New Jersey Buildings and structures in Camden County, New Jersey Tourist attractions in Camden County, New Jersey Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust Victor Gruen buildings