Deptford Mall is a major shopping mall in Deptford Township in

Gloucester County, New Jersey Gloucester County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, 14th-most populous county

. Owned and managed by

Macerich The Macerich Company ( ) 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 propert ...

, 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 over fifty locations in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Connecticut, West Virginia, and Rhode Island. Twenty-six of the stores are located in Pennsylvania. Corpo ...

Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized in all caps as DICK'S Sporting Goods) is an American chain of sporting goods stores founded in 1948 by Richard "Dick" Stack. It is the largest sporting goods retailer in the United States and is listed ...

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC , Trade name, doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain store, chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalys ...

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

, and Round 1 Entertainment. The mall has over 125 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 in square metres or square feet) taken up by a building or part of it. The ways of defining "floor area" depend on what factors of the bui ...

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 ...

History

20th century

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

Bamberger's Bamberger's was a department store chain with branches primarily in New Jersey and other locations in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. The chain was headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. History 19th century Newark was known for m ...

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

, and

Wanamaker's Wanamaker's was an American department store chain founded in 1861 by John Wanamaker. It was one of the first department stores in the United States, and peaked at 16 locations along the Delaware Valley in the 20th century. Wanamaker's was pur ...

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

. In 1995, the Wanamaker's store became

Hecht's Hecht's was an American department store chain founded in 1857 by Samuel Hecht, Jr. It was headquartered in Washington, D.C., and operated in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and Southern United States. The family business was acqui ...

. Hecht's became

Strawbridge's Strawbridge's, formerly Strawbridge & Clothier, was a department store in the northeastern United States, with stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The Center City Philadelphia flagship store was, in its day, a gracious urban empori ...

in 1996 after its parent company,

May Department Stores The May Department Stores Company was an American holding company of department stores founded in 1877 by David May. It operated several regional department stores throughout the United States, which were managed as distinct business divisions ...

, 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. (previously Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American holding company of department stores. Upon its establishment in 1929, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus (departm ...

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.

21st century

In January 2007,

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

, which relocated from its location across the street on Almonesson Road. It opened in September 2020. In 2019, Round One Entertainment announced plans to occupy the upper level of the former Sears building by fall 2020. It opened on October 30, 2020.

Anchors

, opened 1986 , former Bamberger's - *

, opened 2001 , added as fourth anchor - Holcomb, Henry J
"Investment Pays Off for Retail Pioneer, Builder of South New Jersey Mall."
''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'', November 28, 2003. Accessed February 16, 2018. "To take advantage of these trends, the mall has added a J.C. Penney store, its fourth anchor store, and a new look that Straus believes will age well." *

, opened 2006 , former Strawbridge's – *

, opened 2020 , Lower level of former Sears * Round One Entertainment, opened 2020 , Upper level of former Sears Former Anchors *

, opened 1975, closed 1986 * Wannamaker's, opened 1975, closed 1995 *

, opened 1975, closed 2019 *

, opened 1995, closed 1997 , former Wannamaker's *

, opened 1997, closed 2006 , former Hecht's

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: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

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Gloucester County, New Jersey Deptford Township, New Jersey Macerich Shopping malls established in 1975 Shopping malls in New Jersey Tourist attractions in Gloucester County, New Jersey