Harbor Square
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2007) |
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| Location | Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, USA |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1968 |
| Owner | Cedar Shopping Centers |
| No. of stores and services | 50+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 3 |
| Total retail floor area | 620,000 ft² |
| No. of floors | 1 (2 in Boscov's and former Value City/Steinbach) |
| Parking | lighted lot |
| Website | shoremall.com |
Shore Mall is a regional mall, opened in 1968, located in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey on U.S. Route 40 / U.S. Route 322. The mall is accessible from Exit 36 off the Garden State Parkway. The mall is owned by Cedar Shopping Centers. The mall has a gross leasable area of 620,000 ft², located on 73 acres (300,000 m2) of land.[1] The mall's anchor stores include Boscov's and Burlington Coat Factory.
History
Shore Mall originally opened in 1968 as an open-air mall called Searstown. Original anchor stores included Sears, Grant City and a Pantry Pride supermarket. Between 1971 and 1974, the mall was enclosed and expanded, with regional up-market department store Steinbach being added as a fourth anchor store. A time capsule was buried next to the Steinbach store to be opened 100 years later on March 20, 2074. Grant City was shuttered in 1976 when the chain declared bankruptcy; by the end of the year, JCPenney opened in the former Grant City space. Pantry Pride was subsequently replaced with Foodtown, and the mall was renamed Shore Mall.
In 1987, anticipating the construction of a newer mall known as Hamilton Mall being built nearby in Mays Landing, Shore Mall enclosed the remaining outdoor stretch of the mall that featured a Radio Shack and KB Toys as well as connected the Sears and JCPenny stores. However both JCPenney and Sears moved from the older mall to the new Hamilton Mall when it was finished.
In 1988 Clover, a discount chain owned by the Strawbridge's chain (now Macy's), soon opened in the former JCPenney/Grant City space, while Boscov's replaced the former Sears. Circuit City opened in the former Foodtown, which closed in the early 1990s. Steinbach closed in 1995 and Clover closed in 1997 as both chains went under; their stores at Shore Mall were replaced with Value City in 1996 and Burlington Coat Factory in 1998, respectively. Circuit City moved closer to the Hamilton Mall in a strip mall called Hamilton Commons in 2004 and closed in winter 2009 due to bankruptcy, and was replaced with K&G Fashion Superstore (which has since closed).
The Shore Mall was sold in January 2006 to Cedar Shopping Centers, who has announced plans to convert the property to a strip mall. A year later, the Value City store at Shore Mall was among 24 locations sold by Value City's parent company to Burlington Coat Factory. The store closed on September 21, 2008.
In 2010, construction began on a Golden Corral restaurant near the main entrance to the mall.
In August 2010, Cedar Shopping Centers applied for a state Economic Redevelopment and Growth(ERG) grant in the amount of $3 million to $41 million. The grant would be used to help finance an $87 million dollar revamp of the mall. The plan calls for demolishing most of the mall (except Boscov's and Burlington Coat Factory), then converting the site to a strip mall with four additional large stores. It also includes $23 million for transportation upgrades such as a reconfiguration of Exit 36 of the Garden State Parkway, an intersection between West Jersey Avenue and the Black Horse Pike, and a boulevard style road network.[2][3]
If the mall is converted to a strip mall, it is not known what will happen to the famous time capsule buried inside the mall in front of what used to be Steinbach.
References
- ^ [1], accessed November 12, 2007
- ^ Watson, Sarah (September 27, 2010). "Shore Mall owners seek grant for expansion". The Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
- ^ Wompierski, Jordon (September 29, 2010). "Township backs state grant for Shore Mall redevelopment". Shore News Today. Retrieved September 29, 2010.