Cherry Hill Mall; Cherry Hill, New Jersey

469 thoughts on “Cherry Hill Mall; Cherry Hill, New Jersey”

1. Wow, what an excellent report. Such a fascinating mall but also one that stands as a perfect example of how the times have certainly changed on the mall scape.

   There’s some treats in there, but the mall isn’t quite a magical as it once was in contrast to the historic images. It’s also interesting how there’s some questionably leftover old stuff in there like that layered metal logo of the Cherry and even the overall distinct feel of the mall which seems to have carried well along the decades trip.

   That TJ Maxx is also a relic! Reminds me of the Caldor in Bedford and Bradlees in Concord which are both now gone in New Hampshire. I never saw more than pictures of those amazing JM Fields buildings but my how they must make you feel like you’re sterring into a wormhole of sorts.

   Speaking of Victor Gruen malls, is Labelscar planning a trip to Midtown Plaza far up there in Rochester, NY? That malls appears to be in some kind of frozen alterworld in itself. It’s on my own radar…

2. Okay, bonus question – what stores replaced Kresge and Woolworth here?

3. I’m a frequent reader, but this is my first comment.

   First, just one small issue. The Sears picture in the “exterior” section is from the Moorestown Mall, a few miles east on NJ 38 from Cherry Hill.

   I think the Cherry Hill Mall, by the way, merits certain comparisons architecturally to the Burlington Center Mall, also a PREIT property, about 15 or so miles to the north, even though the Cherry Hill Mall was built 20 years earlier. As a resident of the area, the Cherry Hill Mall is seen as the “prime” place to go to shop…it’s the nicest mall around, and it has the most diverse retailers. It’s where you go when Moorestown, Burlington, Deptford, and need I say Echelon just won’t do. Also, Cherry Hill is seen (and not, I am sure, wholly independently of Cherry Hill Township itself) as a sort of ritzier, more upscale shopping destination. Moorestown has tried to imitate Cherry Hill in this way with the opening of the Lord & Taylor wing, but has not really succeeded and the mall still feels more or less the same as it always has…pleasant for a Sunday afternoon stroll, but largely devoid of personality (though it seems to do a pretty good business despite its proximity to Cherry Hill and the presence of the East Gate big-box center just outside the premesis). Now that Nordstrom is coming to the mall to replace Strawbridge’s (which has generally been viewed, like Boscov’s, as a sort of dowdy, more local chain that couldn’t quite gain the respect of, say, a Macy’s or a Lord & Taylor), it will only further enhance the perception of Macy’s as, very much like Cherry Hill itself, somewhat more upscale. To me, the Strawbridge’s always seemed somewhat out of place in Cherry Hill…a relic of the Bamberger’s days. The Cherry Hill Mall Macy’s, indeed, was not one of the newest crop (i.e. replacing Strawbridge’s, Hechts, etc.), and so it managed to hold onto a higher-end aura rather than just seeming like the hasty replacement among a bumper crop of such. I don’t know why, but the “authentic” (e.g., Quaker Bridge Mall, Menlo Park Mall, Herald Square) or at least mature (e.g. those that replaced Bamberger’s) Macy’s stores seem for some reason classier and higher quality than the newest replacements. Perhaps it’s just some odd personal bias; I don’t know. Anyhow, I’m glad to see Labelscar stopping into my native South Jersey…I think the only other mall in the Philadelphia suburbs that has been visited thus far is Echelon (which, of course, is in and of itself an archetype of labelscars; a veritable time capsule of 1960s retail chic–it has in genuine form what many try to imitate to capture “retro”–slowly dying a protracted death). Hope to see you guys back here soon!

4. Sorry, just one revision: I erred in saying that Burlington is a PREIT property…sorry, I got a bit confused. Moorestown is, Burlington is not. What I think I was alluding to is that Cherry Hill (if memory serves) used to be a Rouse property, who indeed (now that I’ve checked) did build and used to own the Burlington Center Mall…hence my comparison of the two.

5. Cherry Court is 100 feet tall? That’s like 8+ stories…

6. Put that way, 100 ft definitely seems like I made an exaggeration. However. I have a pretty good sense of 50ft (long story, but I do) and this is almost definitely above that threshold by quite a bit. It’s a REALLY tall room.

7. Oh, good catch on that Sears shot. I tend to take shots of a few dozen malls on each trip, and then have to go back and weed through all of it to get stuff up. I knew there wasn’t a Sears at this mall, but as Moorestown was (as you might imagine) the mall I visited right after Cherry Hill, the photo was right next to the Cherry Hill set and got swept into these.

8. In reference to Joshua’s post, The Quaker bridge Mall Macy’s WAS originally a Bambergers.

   Also, as is the case with the Cherry Hill Mall, Quakerbridge is also ungoing an expansion, however this one quite a bit larger with two higher end department stores (Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom) as well as a 50+ store addition to the mall structure that would include new to area restaurants.

   I believe the other new tenants confirmed as of now for the Cherry Hill mall include Crate and Barell and the Container Store. I would also be inclined to believe that PF Changs and the Ninety Nine chains will continue their rampant expansions with a eateries at the Cherry Hill Mall as well.

   Thanks Labelscar for another terrific article once again and hopefully you can at sometime spotlight Quaker Bridge, which while not the most intriguing mall, has played a huge part in the retail enviroment in Central Jersey over the years.

9. Good call, Jason. I didn’t realize that Quaker Bridge Macy’s was originally a Bamberger’s…that was before my time :-). I /do/, however, remember that Lord & Taylor at Quaker Bridge used to be a Stern’s. Also, I realize in my post above I “misspoke” slightly (it was 2a and we’re in the middle of finals here at university). I said:

   “…it will only further enhance the perception of Macy’s as, very much like Cherry Hill itself, somewhat more upscale.”

   But I meant to say:

   “…it will only further enhance the perception of the Cherry Hill Mall as, very much like Cherry Hill Township itself, somewhat more upscale.”

10. Also, with regard to Jason’s post, that’s very interesting regarding Quaker Bridge’s expansion. I hadn’t heard…I used to live up in Princeton, but have moved further south down into the Philadelphia suburbs, so I don’t get up there as often. I think the Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom will fit in very well with the well-to-do clientele to be found in the Princeton/Lawrenceville/Pennington/Plainsboro area…though I can’t imagine it will help the congestion on Route 1!

11. I’ve only been there twice — 1993 and last year. Have to say the mall seems to have lost a lot of its luster in that time, and I blame a lot of that on the proliferation of shopping options; even in an affluent area like Cherry Hill, malls still apparently struggle to maintain their ground in the face of big-box discounters, and this mall has never been upscale enough to stand out from the competition.

12. Actually Josh, I was born in 1988 so the Bambergers change happened two years before I was born. The Lord and Taylor previously was a Hahnes as well.

    I was always pretty suprised that the 24 screen Loews Theater across the street was never added to mall space, seemed weird to be up the hill at the big box shopping center across from the mall while Nashinimy hosted an equally large theater.

13. I was born in 1986 proper, but of course I can’t actually remember my time in utero; I suppose I just haven’t done the research you have ;-).

    As far as the Loews question, I did a bit of research and found that, at the time the cinema was built, Cherry Hill–under the stewardship of legendary Mayor Susan Bass Levin–was undertaking a massive revitalization effort on the west side of town, namely where the Mall and theater are located. Apparently, there was virtually no open space left in the town, so the local government turned to fixing what was already there. Previously occupying the site where the theater now resides was the historic, yet abandoned and blighted Cherry Hill Inn. Quoth Pat Muscella, then-director of the Cherry Hill Community Development Office, “One of the things the mayor has encouraged me to do is to go after those properties that are blighted and try to get them improved.” The Cherry Hill Inn (along with, for example, the Rickshaw Inn as well further west near NJ 70), were targets for just such an improvement. Evidently, the Mall–which from personal recollection I can never remember struggling–did not merit this type of aggressive suburban renewal, as it were. I can imagine, though this is purely conjecture, that the township offered an attractive price or a tax incentive or some such to attract the theater to pricesly that locale.

    Source: Coloumbis, Angela. “Township Putting Its West Foot Forward \ Cherry Hill’s Five-Year Effort to Revitalize Its Decayed West Side Is Showing Results.” /The Philadelphia Inquirer/ 21 Dec. 1998, Ed. C, p. B01.

14. To me Cherry Hill is an interesting case study because it has the most upscale and trendy stores in the area, and is apparently going further in that direction with Nordstrom et al. But the residential areas closest to the mall are, emphatically, NOT upscale. In fact, it seems like the Camden-Pennsauken blight keeps creeping closer to Cherry Hill Mall and the west side of Cherry Hill. And whenever I shop at Cherry Hill, the clientele doesn’t strike me as particularly well-dressed or upscale. The other side of Cherry Hill has some ritzy neighborhoods, but the well-off people in the area are most concentrated several miles to the south and east, in Moorestown, Medford, Mt. Laurel, Voorhees, Haddonfield. How long will these folks want to keep driving their Beemers past all the vacant commercial buildings like Boston Market and Circuit City on Rt. 38 and on Haddonfield Rd. to get to the shops in Cherry Hill?

15. I don’t get down to that end of NJ, but it is exciting to hear what is going on in Cherry Hill Mall. Nordstrom will be a nice addition because the decor of the mall, with the exception of the lush foliage (not a lot of malls in NJ have oversized palm trees), is getting tired. I just hope they keep at least 1 fountain in the mall, keeping with the mall’s history (used to be as many as 7 or 8). To go along with the expansion, something needs to be done about route 38.

    Moorestown Mall’s success is similar to that of Paramus Park…for Paramus Park, the northern Bergen population like it better than GS Plaza because it’s smaller and they don’t have to deal with the traffic. While smaller, it has similar stores. Down on the route 38 corridor, it is a lot easier for the Mt. Laurel and Moorestown population to go to Moorestown Mall. My only complaint about Moorestown Mall is that it needs more sit down restaurants. I think it’s a great atmosphere.

    On Quaker Bridge, I am very excited about the upcoming expansion. I haven’t gotten down there recently, have they started to break ground? The plans that I saw is that they are going to build the new wing perpendicular to JCPenney (which btw will be torn down). A new JCPenney will face route 1, Nordstrom will be at the intersection of the new and old wings and Neiman Marcus will be on the other end. Some roadwork will definitely need to be done…maybe a service road along 1 and def some improvements to Quakerbridge Road. Before the 1st renovation, Quaker Bridge was classic…lots of foliage, large lit fountains (if anyone has pics, do post) and a park-like atmosphere that was unique. After the first construction, QB was not that great, but it is coming back and will be one of the strongest malls in Central Jersey after the expansion…and there will be still room to grow, especially near Sears. Quaker Bridge could possibly be the Garden State Plaza of Central Jersey.

    I would also hope that LabelScar decides to profile the Menlo Park Mall…the first indoor mall in Central NJ…before the expansion and Nordstrom opening, it had an incredibly retro look, was one floor, had a Woolworth with a basement and a caged in fountain…the color of the flooring made it feel like Halloween in there year round. With the expansion and renovation, it has grown into being one of the most upscale Central Jersey Malls. I’d love to see it on here.

16. Sorry to talk too much about Quakerbridge, but no they have not started construction as of yet. The expansion leasing sheet does list an unnamed Anchor adjacent to the Sears and the Sears parking lot. Cheesecake Factory perhaps? or maybe an actual food court? Maybe an Ikea?

    Getting back to Cherry Hill. Does anyone know if a tenant has leased the former Tower Records building. Last I saw in March, the sign was still up.

17. I must disagree with Joshua regarding his sentiments towards Macy’s; I consider that store to be much worse than Strawbridge’s or Boscov’s. Indeed, Macy’s just has the (undeserved) cachet of being more upscale because it is based in New York City and because of its well-known name. Whenever I’m in a Macy’s store, I see nothing but sloppy housekeeping, poor customer service, and overpriced merchandise. Boscov’s, on the other hand, has good customer service, clean stores, and great prices (much like Strawbridge’s did); additionally, Boscov’s sells a whole variety of merchandise that Macy’s does not, including electronics, large appliances, candy, toys, and sporting goods.

    While the Cherry Hill mall is nice and big (it sort of reminds me of the Willowbrook Mall), this is most definately not my preference for malls in Southern New Jersey; that’s because this mall has relatively few anchor stores (and, the anchors that it does have can be found in any mall, aside from Nordstrom, which is so expensive). I much prefer the Depford and Moorestown Malls because they have a very unique anchor in Boscov’s, as well as a greater number of anchors than Cherry Hill Mall. (I believe that both of these other malls have a Sears.)

18. I’m surprised that Max feels this way about Macy’s v. Boscov’s as, ironically, I have always felt it just the other way around. As I’ve said, I don’t extend my Macy’s adulation to their newest acquisitions per se, but if you have a look at, for example, the Macy’s locations at the Quaker Bridge Malll, the Menlo Park Mall, the Mall at Short Hills, the Freehold Raceway Mall, and the Cherry Hill Mall, I feel that these stores do have a decidedly higher-class feel than a Boscov’s or a Strawbridge’s. To me, Boscov’s, with its kitschy faux chandeliers, its cursive neon signage, its “Auditorium” physically separated from the rest of the store containing a strange little stage and cluttered with heavily marked-down items (reminds me substantively of the Village Mall of Bergen Mall fame)–though I’m not sure the “Audtiorium” is still open anymore in Moorestown–and soiled mauve carpet (at least at the Moorestown Mall location) certainly does not promulgate a sense of luxury, much less even of the cleanliness that Max describes. As far as Strawbridge’s, while it seemed to me (and, after all, aren’t all of these opinions purely subjective anyhow?) somewhat higher-end (if for nothing else than its heightened cleanliness), it still suffered in many locations from self-imposed senescence. At Cherry Hill, Burlington, Echelon, The Gallery at Market East, and Plymouth Meeting, for example among others, these franchises did not modernize the old, 1960s-style blocky, Caldor-esque “Strawbridge & Clothier” signage to the newer, truncated name. Moorestown, whose Strawbridge’s was heavily renovated after long tenures as John Wanamaker and Hecht’s, presumably only received the 1990s-era signage because of those contemporaneous modifications. In many locations, Cherry Hill and Burlington included, the interiors were never significantly updated from their original state. Thus, Cherry Hill’s still felt like the 1960s and Burlington, with its brown and fuchsia color scheme and dim lighting, was a definite throwback to the late 1970s/early 1980s. At least the Macy’s stores generally tend to keep up with the times in this regard, renovating when they seem to be falling behind. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a huge Macy’s apologist. In fact, I very seldom shop there. I just happen to feel that, in comparison to Strawbridge’s, Boscov’s, Stern’s (were it still around), and their ilk, Macy’s seems to be somewhat between this tier of department stores and, say, Lord & Taylor. Yes, its famed Herald Square location doesn’t hurt, but need I remind that Century 21, for instance, is also based in New York City, and I don’t think people will attempt to lay a claim for that as having an undeservedly high reputation.

19. Believe or not, of the Converted Macy’s, one of the nicest I’ve seen was actually at the Burlington Center Mall. While always a decent Strawbridge location, the mall really made the effort to make the store feel very upscale and desirable even with being in a lower end mall. The store is very clean and organized, even with the renovations still taking place within the store.

    With the exception of the very fresh looking signage, I feel that the Neshaminy Mall Strawbridge has fared the worst of the conversions. While the store itself does very well, there is nothing that was done with the store to really distinguish itself from Strawbridge. The store looks almost completely identical to the old store and has never really captured an upscale Macy’s feel for me.

20. njyogibear, you’re right about Cherry Hill, and perhaps that’s why the mall didn’t seem quite as vital as it used to. For a long time, Cherry Hill was the “it” suburb in south Jersey, but its housing stock has aged, and affluent people want bigger, better, and more than what it has to offer. Perhaps that’s affected the mall. But the same arguments could be made about Wayne or Paramus, as their demographic makeup and proximity to blighted urban areas are nearly identical to Cherry Hill’s, and Willowbrook and GSP have not only become more upscale but retained a consistent customer base over the years. So who knows. Either way, it’s nice to see that the mall has retained some of its character; I live in MD now, and the malls here are sorely lacking in personality.

21. Hard to believe this mall is 46 years old(and is up there with Southdale Mall in Minnesota with being one of the oldest malls!). This is a great article on it, and hopefully if I’m ever in the Philly area(not to mention a city I’ve always wanted to visit, but never have), maybe I’ll be able to eventually make a side trip to see this mall.

    It’s also interesting too how this mall reminds me of some of the malls that exist in suburban Chicago, since it has an office tower built right by the mall(a la Evergreen Plaza Mall/The Plaza in Evergreen Park, IL, Golf Mill Mall in Niles, IL(which the mall’s office tower can actually be directly accessed from inside this mall, too), etc…).

22. It’s awesome,how they have worked around the mall without changing the interior that’s cool. The outside is a major turn off though,such beauty on the inside. Just goes to show you can’t judge a book by it’s cover=]

23. I won’t disagree with you about the exterior! You’re right-on about that(it strangely enough, if anything, reminds me of the exterior of Golf Mill Mall(in Niles, IL, outside of Chicago) somewhat, though the interior of Golf Mill isn’t so similar).

    The interior of this mall, for some reason, reminds me of Woodfield Mall(in Schaumburg, IL, and previously covered on this blog) somehow. I guess because of the really tall ceilings in parts of this mall(though of course, it doesn’t have the Taubman-ish aspects to it, such as a what the roof of Woodfield in the major court areas inside this mall looks like), particularly the high ceiling around the Cherry Court area of Cherry Hill Mall.

24. Actually, come to think of it, the interior seems more like a cross inbetween Randhurst Mall(another Victor Gruen-designed mall) and Woodfield Mall, rather than just being completely resembilent(sp?) of Woodfield. I definately stand by what I said about the exterior, though!

25. All this discussion about Macy’s being better than Strawbridge’s or Boscovs is ironic at best! The old John Wanamaker and Strawbridge & Clothier stores (before being destroyed by the May Co) were truly iconic retailers, equal or better than Macy’s! Philadelphia had truly unique department stores, like Chicago with its Marshall Field’s, and was a city I truly enjoyed shopping as a resident. Just talk to Chicagoans regarding the renaming of Marshall Field’s to Macy’s…Macy’s to them is a JUNK store! The days of great department stores are over…Macy’s of 2007 is half what it was 10 years ago…and that is not necessarily good. I lost interest in Macy’s years ago but only lost interest in Wanamaker’s and Strawbridge & Clothier after the May takover (but did get some great bargains unheard of today as they cleared the really great merchandise!). Chicago now is where Philadelphia was 10 years ago! In 10 years it will be curious to see which Macy’s are still standing. The old store names represented quality…Macy’s I will not vouch for, even with multiple gift cards (from Macy’s corporate) which I have no desire to spend as there is nothing in the merchandise which excites me to want to spend (even when it is free!)

    I wish Boscov’s success (even with the tacky chandeliers) as at least they have departments in a department store…far better than Macy’s which continues to kill off the departments…which in time will make it only a fashion store, which then can sink like Gap!

26. What’s the progress on the renovation/expansion in Cherry Hill Mall? I’m sure that when Nordstrom opens here, a lot of South Jerseyan Nordstrom shoppers will be happy they don’t have to drive to King of Prussa anymore.

27. Hopefully I will go see Cherry Hill Mall when I go to the city there. And once there, I will take photos and get a mall directory, plus alert on progress. But no guarantees, since I’m not the driver.

28. I’m back. I got photos, but I can’t post ’em for now. I will however tell you that while Strawbridge’s (Nordstrom) is still a pile of dirt, the Bistro Row is coming along nicely.

29. To a comment Jason made about P.F.Changs- I don’t see them opening up by the Cherry Hill Mall because they are very close in The Promenade in Marlton. Cheesecake Factory would have been a great choice, but they already opened further south on Haddonfield Rd to accompany Wegmans.

    I think PREIT is trying to get a P.F. Changs to open by the Plymouth Meeting Mall. It is going to include themed restaurants as well.

    As far as the residential areas, Camden and Pennsauken are not very afffluent which doesn’t help the Cherry Hill Mall very well.

    However, I think a lot of single people who want to be near Philly will like the mall area. There are a few luxury towers near the mall also.

    By the east side of Cherry Hill which has affluent families, one is also close to the Marlton stores (Promenade, Marlton Square, etc.), so its not like Cherry Hill Mall is necessarily the closest to them. (e.g. GAP in Marlton Square is closer, or about the same, to more people on the affluent east side than the GAP in Cherry Hill Mall).

    However, I think Cherry Hill Mall is still convenient to those in Voorhees and Haddonfield, two higher income areas. Echelon Mall isn’t a serious place to shop, esp. now that its really on Macy’s and Boscov’s holding the place together.

    Cherry Hill Mall is still the all in one mall for a lot of stores (where you’ll find a JCPenney, a Talbots, a Banana Republic, a Macy’s, etc.), for those in Voorhees, Cherry Hill east, Moorestown and Mt.Laurel – even though another mall maybe closer.

    And the Nordstrom, Crate & Barrell and Container Store will attract people from Philly and all over South Jersey.

30. Hmm…I still can’t get you pictures (maybe day after tomorrow). I can tell you that Discovery Store is going out of business, and is One Cherry Hill connected to the mall? Is it offices or hotel?

31. YES! Pictures were sent in a zip file, should be there soon.

32. Discovery Store is always coming/going out of Cherry Hill Mall. Coffee Beanery also left, leaving only Starbucks at Cherry Hill, while Coffee Beanery is at Moorestown, which doesn’t have a Starbucks.
    Echelon (Voorhees Town Ctr) has no cafe currently.

    I think Cherry Hill will be a mess for awhile. It’ll be interesting to see how successful it is, once its totally redeveloped as a two-level mall.

    Ideally, it would be better if Cherry Hill Mall was in Moorestown, and Moorestown Mall was in Cherry Hill. Basically, the large (semi-upscale) mall in Moorestown and a smaller/convenient (mid-range) mall in Cherry Hill.

    I’d say Nordstrom, Lord&Taylor, Macy’s and JCPenney (and maybe Boscov’s also) in the upscale place, and Macy’s, and Sears in the midscale place. Back in 1997, when it was announced there would be a Lord&Taylor in Moorestown, the owner had ideas to expand the mall even moreso. The owner was trying to get Nordstrom into South Jersey. However, the Rouse Co. bought the Moorestown Mall in the mean time (before Lord&Taylor was actually built) to protect the Cherry Hill Mall, and the mall’s expansion was limited to just Lord&Taylor and a replacement Strawbridge’s store.

    However Moorestown still seems like a better location to me. It would better fit the demographics. I also think Moorestown Mall has a better surrounding area as far as traffic and accompanying plazas. But, I don’t think PREIT can airlift and swap the two malls, and re-arrange the anchors 😉 They have to deal with what they have – and the Strawbridge divestiture gave them opportunity at Cherry Hill.

    I also think JCPenney should open another (perhaps freestanding) store in the Mt.Laurel-Marlton-Medford-Moorestown-Voorhees vicinity. I know they closed at Echelon when they weren’t doing so well, and Echelon was a subpar place. But, now they are losing a lot of customerbase, that might not want to trek out so far to the west side of Cherry Hill, or up to Burlington township (Burlington Ctr).

33. Well, it’s gone. Permanently. Like all Discovery Stores elsewhere. Where’s the new pix?

34. Thanks for posting them!

35. Thanks for the new pic posts. Not surprised to see that Cherry Court fountain off and empty…I only remember seeing it running a few times. It was a nice replacement to the old fountains in Cherry Court and I do not think it will survive the renovation.

    Any word on when the interior renovation will start? Have they started building Crate and Barrel and The Container Store?

    As I had said in an earlier post, I am excited to see what is going on with Cherry Hill Mall…too bad they are not going to extend the 2nd floor all the way to Macy’s…that will add a significant amount of store space.

36. There were signs that said The Container Store and Crate & Barrel would open that fall. I think I read somewhere else that the two would not open into the mall somewhere. As for the Interior Renovation, they had closed off one corridor (with some restrooms) and were moving the mall offices. Alas, it was whitewalled and I could not see it. The Strawbridge’s facade is still there. Outside, you could see a rather dilapidated half-demolished Strawbridge’s next to a pile of dirt. The parking lot was closed off. As for Bistro Row, it seems to be coming along nicely. Its starting to shape. Unfortunatly, I don’t know what stores are going to be there.

37. What was the layout and anchors when it opened?

38. Original layout: http://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2007/06/original-gruen-footprint-for-southern.html

    Bambergers – now Macy’s
    Woolworth – now H&M
    Strawbridge’s – to become Nordstrom
    Food Fair – torn down for Penney’s wing
    Kresge – now Abercrombie & Fitch, etc.
    Thrift Drug – now food court area

39. I…my aunt said it was kind of downscale in the 1980s. Is there any substance to this? What was it like between the cheery 60s and the “hip” 2000s?

40. I don’t remember Cherry Hill Mall being a “destination mall” in the 1980s and as a matter of fact, it was fairly mainstream. It didn’t start to pick up and shoot for the more upscale customer until the late 1990s. The one thing Cherry Hill Mall has is history and a lot of it…which is probably why Rouse wanted to focus on saving that mall (when they purchased Moorestown Mall). As a result of that choice, it has become the destination mall of South Jersey and as we will see, will be getting more upscale.

    JB a few posts up makes the point about thinking how Moorestown Mall would be in a better position to take an upscale turn. I agree with that assessment. MM is at a more centralized location, right off 295, closer to the Turnpike and easy access from Route 73. Cherry Hill Mall’s location is not close to the major highways, but it is on the Camden/Ben Franklin Bridge commute. One thing that must be done before the opening of the re-development is to fix up route 38. That highway is a mess and one thing I would do is convert the Cherry Hill Mall Drive light into an overpass. It would make traffic flow more smoothly on that highway.

    I still think that Moorestown Mall will survive and I look forward to hearing more about its changes.

41. I just heard that Cherry Hill Mall is getting a Maggiano’s Little Italy as part of the expansion.

    Apparently, things are getting interesting down there as the South Jersey retail market is heating up.

42. I live in Cherry Hill and there is no way the Moorestown Mall is considered to be in a better location.In reality, that mall is on the edge of Moorestown ,also surrounded by other large shopping centers and much congestion.The new mall expansion and redeployment in Cherry Hill is sorely needed as the original mall was certainly showing it’s age.Between the changes being made at the mall and the upscale development going on at the old Garden State Park, the west side of Cherry Hill is clearly being looked at as a source of added revenue and redevelopment activity.

43. Well first, as for Quaker Bridge Mall, I live right next to it, and they haven’t started anything at all yet.

    HOWEVER! We now have this nice thing to stare at:

    http://www.simon.com/mall/LeasingSheet/QuakerBridge849.pdf

    Note that the JC Penney Relocation is going to be built onto an exit that is used mainly as the Bus Stop and local hang out for mall workers, but there’s nothing along the exit corridor, so they might take some of Sears’ space and convert it to 3-4 small stores, and take the other side of the corridor, which is a Deb Shop right now, and make that 3-4 stores. The rest of the Expansion will likely be easy, as the current location is home to the storage and janitorial services (The two empty spaces seen here: http://www.quakerbridgemall.com/directory_lower.html)

    However, Old Navy will probably be reduced in space due to there being no connection on the second floor…

    Anyway, yeah, we should get a feature done for QBM, I can provide pictures I guess.

    As for Cherry Hill Mall, I went by there recently, and The Container Store buiding looks near completetion and almost ready for opening. It looked like such a different place when I went there, haha, So much construction. Also, I wonder if that part of the mall is going to be connected with the new pedestrian overpass they are doing over 38. (The one that a truck hit (5/6?) years ago) It’ll be interesting to see how it progresses. Also, the Garden State Park is going to be amazing when they finish. They already win in my book for having a Wegmans.

    I might take some pictures of QB today. I’ll let you guys know.

44. Bill,

    My reasoning that Moorestown Mall is a better location is due to its closer proximity to the Turnpike (via 73) and 295 (direct exit/entrance south, north via 73). I do agree that Cherry Hill Mall needs a facelift and its completion may lower the frequency of King of Prussia trips by South Jerseyans. I’m hearing renovations may be on the way for Moorestown Mall.

    AceJay,

    If you have old pictures of Quakerbridge, pre 1990s renovation, I’d be interested in the trip down memory lane. They had some cool fountains back in the day, especially the big center court fountain they took out in the 1980s and converted to garden space. I’m hearing that the expansion will begin in 2008…the current JCPenney is supposed to close around then. They’ll definitely get a 2-level wing to be built there and Old Navy will either shrink or be relocated to the new wing. I’m very excited about the upcoming expansion.

45. So am I, it’s gonna be great. The one thing I’m REALLY hoping for though is an arcade. Maybe Tilt or FunZone/GameWorld. That would be nice.

    Also, no, I don’t have any old pictures myself, but after doing a bit of research, I found this, on a 1978 map of Lawrence Township:

    http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/LawrenceMalls.png

    Obviously, there’s proof of a Hahnes, but what I was really intereste din is the Lawrence Shopping Center: “Eric Theatre” I’d always heard that the old RompAround (now readying for Retro Fitness Gym to move in) was a movie theater, and thanks to that picture, I have proof 😀

    Also, at the Mercer Mall part, I laughed when I saw Jo-Ann. It’s still there 😛

    The old style they had there was soooo gross. I;m so glad it’s now been redone. Looks so much nicer.

    Anyway, I should really take some current pictures.

    Oh, and Moorestown renovation? Sounds nice. They already added a new entrance over on the left wing, so they might be totally renovation soon.

46. Thanks for the link. In terms of arcades, I’d really like to see an “adult” arcade (e.g. Dave and Busters…no NJ location yet…I doubt we will because the Philly location isn’t too far off. But new wing facing route 1 is supposed to be restaurant/entertainment space, so maybe a Cheesecake Factory, Grand Lux Cafe, Champp’s (was supposed to be across the street in Mercer Mall, but they pulled out…Champp’s has the best karaoke around, but I digress) or a relocated Borders. Both Freehold Raceway Mall and Cherry Hill Mall should probably be thinking about the upcoming Quakerbridge expansion and I believe they are, especially since they are in the middle of their own expansion/renovation/redevelopment projects.

47. Wait, Champs isn’t going to be at Mercer? They just started to build that part though,

    And yeah, Jillians/D&B would be nice, but that would require an anchor…

48. I haven’t been down that way in a couple of months and the last time I was down there, the “coming soon” sign was taken down…maybe an error on my part. It would be nice for Champp’s to be in that area though.

    The new perpendicular wing between Nordstrom and route 1 is supposed to have “lifestyle components” to it…fingers crossed for D&B’s.

49. Hahaha, after trying to take some pictures today, I was promptly stopped by the Security Guards. When asking one of the management, I was told I should ask Marketing for a photography “liscense.”

    Go figure 😛

    I think I will though.

    Also, the building where Champs would be is REALLY big.

    Also also, The American Grill, which was an exterior/interior part of the mall, is DEAD (!) and coming soon is “Lawrence Grill – Sports Bar and Restaurant”

    So will Champs decide they can compete there?

50. Even with Nordstrom chm will not syphon many shoppers from King of Prussa. KOP is to much of a draw to be hert by chm.

51. How many times did this mall renovate?

52. I agree, Sean that it won’t lose PA shoppers, but it may lose some NJ shoppers, especially Nordstrom shoppers.

    There was the 2 level JCPenney expansion and the large renovation in the early 1990s that opened up the space of the Macy’s wing, added more skylights and plants, changed the center court fountain and got rid of the Macy’s fountain.

    Did they announce an opening date for Crate and Barrel/Container Store? Any mall renovation updates?

53. Can’t say. I only visited the mall once and only once. The Crate & Barrel and Container Store were to open this fall. I think they are now.

54. It was only the 1990s renovation that changed it from its original 60s look?

55. The most dramatic changes from that renovation are the Macy’s wing and the Cherry Court (center court) area. That whole area was really opened up. I’ll look forward to seeing how this area will change with the upcoming renovation.

56. I don’t know if anyone agrees with me, but Federated really missed the boat when they chose not to make the former Strawbridge’s into a Bloomingdale’s (and allowed Nordstrom to grab it instead). Actually, Federated is/was way too cautious when it comes to the expansion of the Bloomingdale’s chain, given that they also passed on former May locations in Christiana Mall, Danbury Fair Mall, and Ross Park Mall. Why is Bloomingdale’s so cautious, while Nordstrom is so agressive when it comes to expansion?

57. I agree that Federated underestimated the Cherry Hill area too quickly and just gave it up to competitor Nordstrom. They did take a few stores in other parts of the country to make them Bloomingdales (after the merger) however.

    Christiana is sales tax free which I suppose is attractive to people coming up from MD, but the Newark, DE area isn’t as strong as Cherry Hill or close to Philly. So, I could understand them passing there also considering Lord&Taylor there suffered poor sales and shut.

    Perhaps they figured the S&C in Cherry Hill was too large and they didn’t want to redevelop the site. Or they found the Pennsauken, west Cherry Hill side (like the downscale Pathmark plaza on Church Rd) unnattractive, even though in actuality, people from Philadelphia to Medford would shop at Cherry Hill Mall, not just that 1/2 mile west of the mall.

    I hope the A&P people convert that Pathmark to a Superfresh (which ironically was once near the mall, and that site is now a LA Fitness), and the surrounding plaza owners around the mall take advantage and redevelop their sites.

    But it also does seem that Federated was pushing for was Macy’s in every mall, even if the mall sucks.

    It just seems to me that 2 anchors at Cherry Hill would generate far more revenue than than just 1 anchor in Cherry Hill, and getting a presence in the downscale urban wear mom & pop oriented Burlington Center.

    Anyways, I think the Haddonfield Rd. corridor will benefit greatly from Wegmans on 70 to the redeveloped mall to be anchored by Nordstrom.

    Perhaps its not too late though. They could convert the Moorestown Macy’s to a Bloomingdale’s. Lord&Taylor is right there for the upscale traffic and Moorestown has desirable demos of its own. It’d give PREIT a reason to upgrade Moorestown as well and market both malls together.

    Although under approach, it would defeat the Macy’s in every mall approach by Federated, even though it would probably indirectly help sales at the Macy’s in Voorhees and Burlington, as the Macy’s stores wouldn’t be competing against themselves as the stores overlap each other.

58. Christiana Mall seems interesting, as it is adding an “Epicenter Collection”. Maybe it could be added too?

59. I totally agree that Federated’s strategy to have a Macy’s in every mall really does not make much business sense. While Bloomingdale’s is way to cautious when it comes to expansion, Macy’s is much too aggressive.

    Macy’s could very well close at least 100 stores (that are near other Macy’s locations) and hardly lose any substantial revenue in the process. (Of course, costs would go way down as a result of these closures.) In NJ alone, it is just absurd that there is a Macy’s in both Livingston Mall and the Mall in Short Hills, in both Woodbridge Center and the Menlo Park Mall, in both the Cherry Hill Mall and the Moorestown Mall, in both the Willowbrook Mall and Wayne’s Preakness Shopping Center, and in both the Garden State Plaza and the Paramus Park Mall.

60. I could agree that Bloomingdale’s should expand more, but that strategy allows the lure and repuatation of the store to grow. A Bloomingdale’s could sustain itself in the Monmouth Mall or in Menlo Park, but they decide to keep based in North/Northern-Central Jersey…they know people will go and the crowds will be present (as was proven today in Short Hills and Bridgewater)

    With Macy’s, they will never close those locations (except for Preakness, which could be on the chopping block if they do decide to close). As for the other mentioned locations:

    – The Paramus Park Macy’s gets most of the Northern Bergen County shoppers who refuse to deal with the Garden State Plaza Traffic…plus the Paramus Park Macy’s has a furniture dept while the GSP Macy’s has their furniture at the Mall at IV on Route 4.

    – The Macys in Short Hills and Livingston have different merchandise (as the Short Hills Macy’s appeals to a more upscale and wealthier shopper) and if the Livingston Macy’s ever closes, Livingston Mall will probably end up becoming a “Dead Mall,” as Lord and Taylor won’t stay too long…the current renovation of Livingston Mall won’t even save it.

    – The Menlo and Woodbridge Macy’s also appeal to a different socio-economic base and both are self-sustaining.

    – Similar to the Livingston situation, Moorestown Mall also needs that Macy’s to survive…unless PREIT decides to put some money into the mall and remerchandise it.

    Macy’s has grown as Federated name and as a NJ shopper to this day, I miss A&S.

61. What about the Monsmouth and Cherry Hill Macy’s?

62. Federated will not give up either Macy’s…both the Monmouth and Cherry Hill Macys are over 300,000 sf, both have a very long history as being a part of those malls and neither will give up their positions in being a part of a very successful (Cherry Hill) and a moderately successful (Monmouth) mall.

63. On a comment you made way up in the page – Max, I think you think like a guy when it comes to your dislike of Cherry Hill, and favor of Moorestown instead. Boscov’s and Sears are more guy friendly stores. Cherry Hill Mall is a far more girl/woman (teen girl, trendy girl esp.) friendly. Even though Macy’s runs a successful big 300,000 sq. ft. store there, there is a crowd that isn’t going to the mall for the anchor stores.

    Moorestown is more anchor driven and has about zero girl stores in it currently. It even lost Wet Seal, and Deb by the Boscov’. I suppose PREIT is fine it, as they know that customer will just go to Cherry Hill, so space in Moorestown instead leased to Lane Furniture. I wouldn’t be surprised if an assisted living or a nursing home is considered for mix-use there too..

    Seriously though, I think one problem with Moorestown Mall is that United Artists theater. It’s ridicously old (dates back when it was an Eric cinema) and isn’t the most attractive use for that space right by the food court, which faces the successful East Gate Sq.

    Movie theater chains can have a monopolistic clout, however. Take Deptford – AMC owns both theaters, two really old theaters in the mall area. Because they are AMC, they also have full rights to the new releases in the given area, meaning some other competing company can’t just open a megascreen on a land site and expect to get the new releases that will make it viable.

    AMC however doesn’t want to spend any money on upgrading either theater, or building a new one somewhere in Deptford. So, Deptford is essentially stuck with old AMC screens as the monopoly. If you remember the primary reason the Hoyts Pennsauken theater failed is because Loews Cherry Hill had the new movie release rights, as both theaters were close enough that exclusivity protection could kick in.

    Because there is that protection, the movie theater chains aren’t running as competitively compared to other brick and mortar retail outlets. The movie theater exclusivity would be like a Borders having the exclusive right to sell a book in 3 mile radius. It would seem that would be seriously objected.

    It seems UA is intent on operating with an old theater in Moorestown. Their nearest full screen theater is the Regal in Burlington – which I feel is a ghetto theater, just like Burlington Center Mall (no offense to Burlington residents that frequent the anchor stores).. It’s not like the theater is an eyesore or complete waste of space at Moorestown, but being a small limited and old theater gives PREIT less flexibility however to redo that entire food court side. PREIT wouldn’t want to necessarily want to lose UA either, so the leases are renewed. However, That side looks in need for real renovation, and being the center of the mall it would seem to be necessary to redo that side if they want to position Moorestown Mall as a better center.

64. A really nice movie theater definitely plays into a mall’s successes of failures. A little more north of Cherry Hill/Moorestown, Garden State Plaza just opened a huge AMC and it is doing booming business. I still find the compromise to get it built interesting. Since Bergen Co and Paramus have blue laws, most stores are closed on Sundays. Restaurants and movie theaters are open and as a result, GSP will get traffic on Sundays. The only way to access the mall is via routes 4 or 17. The side street entrances are closed off.

    Malls that have a combination of a movie theater, big bookstore and good restaurants will be successful. The theater does stink there, but it can be helped by a couple of factors: 1) relocate the East Gate Square Barnes and Noble to Moorestown Mall; 2) rescind the “dry town ordinance” so that more restautrants can open at Moorestown Mall. Malls such as Garden State Plaza, Tysons Corner, Menlo Park, Palisades and Freehold Raceway Mall (even though the Loews isn’t attached) have grasped this idea and are very successful as a result.

    With the upcoming renovation/expansion projects, interesting times lie ahead for the route 38 corridor.

65. Shame…my mall has no theater (the formerly 3 screen theater closed in 1996 and is currently a nightclub with no mall entrance), no bookstore (Waldenbooks closed a year ago), and a Mexican restaurant and a Chuck E Cheese. And yet, it is relatively successful (as the only mall within an 80 mile radius)

66. They need to put tenants in the food court since there are now 3 vacancies in it. I wish they would put an Arby’s or Burger King in the court.

67. THREE vacancies? Who left?

    Hopefully not Taco Bell because of the whole E-coli thing.

68. What’s left in the food court:
    Taco Bell (Sorry AceJay)
    Subway
    Yanagi Too (Japanese cuisine)
    Bain’s Deli
    S. Phila Cheese steaks
    Salad works
    Goten (Another Japanese place)
    Fruit Sensations
    That’s Italian
    Lotus Express

    Like I said, they could really use a burger king or some hamburger place there.

69. Oh lol, I meant which places vacated, not stayed. I love Taco Bell ahahaha.

    I was actually in the Philly Inquirer cause I ate there the day after the scare, and they interviewed me.

70. Don’t forget the DQ/Orange Julius, McDonald’s, Auntie Anne’s, Starbucks, and other snackage places.

    Can someone get renovation pictures/concepts?

71. I might go by there, if I do I’ll take some.

72. Back on Cherry Hill Mall, I wonder if PREIT could acquire the shopping plaza across the Macy’s-The Plaza at Cherry Hill. It’s that rather half dead shopping center, where the vacant Tower Records is. The awkward plaza site has a number of vacancies, and a rather weak list of tenants. There are enough off mall plazas in Cherry Hill, and ones that are better than this one anyways.

    The plaza had once Best stores, and Frank’s. I think Ashley Furniture, Joyce Leslie, LA Fitness, and Chucke E Cheese remain and a hodge podge of other stores.

    My idea would be for most of those stores to leave that High vacancy plaza, PREIT guts it down, then PREIT could extend the Cherry Hill Mall even further out. Of course the mall ends with the Macy’s anchor, but if something could be negotiated, perhaps a new Macy’s and Bloomingdales combination could work at the side, with a skywalk over the Cherry Hill Mall Rd.

    ex. The May Co. replaced the old Wanamakers building in Moorestown with a new Strawbridge’s and co-owned Lord&Taylor site was fit in also.

    Here a number a chains that could than fit in Cherry Hill here:

    Bloomingdale’s
    Lord & Taylor (relocate from Moorestown to Cherry Hill) – though doubtful

    a new JCPenney (one which faces Route 38), similar to Deptford’s newer built JCPenney

    Burlington Coat Factory (could then replace the old JCPenney site – like they did in the Gallery in Philly)

    Borders or B&N
    Steve & Barry’s
    Filene’s Basement
    Chucke Cheeses (ok, keep them somewhere around)

    So add 1-2 major stores, while mall space is expanded, and more space is added for restaurants or cafes. However such plan would have to somehow involve the Macy’s store, since the mall ends at Macy’s currently.

    I think Cherry Hill Mall has great potential, mainly because it can attract the Philly traffic and the SJ traffic.

    As for Moorestown, I also agree if some stores around the area could be shifted around, it could make the center stronger. The foodcourt could be a stronger place and a gateway for the entire mall. Right now it appears old and weak. Although this is drastic – could converting the mall into an open air center (w/ brick fancy sidewalk) be successful? Its a 1-level mall which might make it easy going in that direction.

    I think the stores like Men’s Wearhouse and Jos A. Bank (and several other A list tenants) which prefer off mall centers (though sometimes are in malls) would then consider Moorestown Mall rather than the plazas outside of it.

73. The plaza at cherry hill is a problem but what store(s) can you put there that is/are not already present in the area. You have Kohl’s and Target across the street, you have other big-box retailers down where the GS race track use to be on Route 70 and every other possible retailer is down near Moorestown. The only places I can think of that are not in the area are BJ’s and Sam’s Club both wholesale clubs. Borders Books would be nice addition as well. Expanding the CH mall any more is not a good idea. It’s already big enough and with the new wing addition and Nordstrom’s that’s enough.

74. It saddens me to see what Cherry Hill Mall has become. Practically all of Victor Gruen’s architecture has been destroyed. It is just another faceless shopping center. As far as the neighboring plaza, before Best there was Basco and before Basco there was S. Klein. Kiddie City was located next door. It was never a successful plaza and it just became a hodgepodge of storefronts. A little like the new Cherry Hill. As a kid who grew up there and now with Strawbridge’s gone (thank you Macy’s) it’s hard to drive by it, let alone go inside it.

75. The first Spencer Gifts mall store is still operating here at Cherry Hill.

76. Blah, I was there, and it was already dark so I couldn’t take any decent photos.

    Either way, TCS and C&B are now both open and quite modern-looking, though extremely out of place in the corner of the lot there.

    Strawbridges seems to still be a hole in the ground. Not much else happened.

    Oh, also, that shopping strip with the TJMAXX behind the mall is revamped. New stuff, but still ghetto Pathmark.

77. Just an update from PREIT:

    http://www.preit.com/download/leasing/detail/salespackage/24.pdf

    It seems they’re planning on moving the Food Court to the Penney’s wing, which would be a good move because that wing gets a bad amount of traffic.

    Also they’re having the Bistro Row embedded into the mall, next to Bahama Breeze, instead of outparcels next to 38. Interesting moves.

    This is going to be pretty cool, when they finish.

78. I don’t live anywhere near Cherry Hill Mall, but here are my thoughts on the new look:

    a) I thought Macy’s was three-story.
    b) The new food court seems to be a whole lot smaller than the original food court. That’s a shame, especially considering the unique shape and lots of neon.
    c) The Cherry Court’s look seems to be changed.
    d) Although the Strawbridge’s Seal of Confidence is gone, it’s a shame to see the “1961” will be gone too.

79. a) Me too, or maybe there were offices on the 3rd floor…I swear it was 3 floors though…
    b) True, but given the vacancies, it seems okay. It’ll look good, probably.
    c) Cherry Court is gone 🙁
    d) You can still see them over at Neshaminy Mall!

80. That Macy’s is 3 stories…like the Menlo and Monmouth Macys, you come in on the 2nd floor. Thanks for the link, AceJay…definitely looks interesting to see what Cherry Hill Mall will become.

81. Wait, they’re ELIMINATING Cherry Court? One of the single greatest of Victor Gruen’s mall-based architectural features, and one of the most impressive pieces of *any* mall architecture in the US? Wow… that’s incredibly sad.

    Cherry Court was truly a sight to see. I wish more malls had a place like it.

82. I know, I know. Cherry Hill Mall is a shell of what it used to be. Cherry Court was magnificent. It also contained a historical tribute to Cherry Hill which was carved on a large stone in Cherry Hill. (Remember, Cherry Hill was called Delaware Township before the mall was built. The town’s name was changed after the mall’s early success.) I’m sure than store was thrown in the trash just like the ‘Seal of Confidence’ was.

    There are many great old postcards of Cherry Hill Mall. Check them out (ebay, websites, etc.). That was the real Cherry Hill Mall. Being formerly from there, I don’t know of any people who live there that go there. It’s dark, dirty, located ‘near the bad part of town’. People with money in CH now go to all of the lifestyle stuff in Marlton.

    Also, Macy’s, formerly Bamberger’s, was 3 stories not 2. There was a basement level. The 2nd floor had the Carriage House Restaurant (like most Bamberger’s) that overlooked the mall. Now when you look at store, you’d never know that it was nice. Also, when the mall was built, Bamberger’s was hand selected by Strawbridge’s as a co-anchor since they didn’t want any Phila-based stores to compete with. Also, Bamberger’s had to be smaller than Strawbridge’s.

    Ah, Cherry Hill Mall. RIP.

83. I mean, looking at this
    http://www.labelscar.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/cherry-hill-mall-submission-07.jpg

    They’re going to likely remove the pillars and redo the entire court…

    It’s really sad to see that grand entrance to Strawbridge’s torn down =/

    Hopefully it doesn’t turn out TOO generic for the mini-wing…

84. “That was the real Cherry Hill Mall. Being formerly from there, I don’t know of any people who live there that go there. It’s dark, dirty, located ‘near the bad part of town’.”

    Is that referring to the mall between the 1970s and 1990s, like my aunt said about it?

85. Cherry Hill Mall was fine up until they built the JCPenney wing about 1977. At that point, many of the old-line high-end stores left. (Before 1977, nobody even ventured down to the wing where Market Court was. Except to go to Thrift Drug.) All of the activity was between Strawbridge’s and Bamberger’s. The JCPenney wing was awful. Much like Echelon’s JCPenney wing, now gone, and also reminiscent of Atlantic City’s former Ocean One Mall.

    I was at CHM around 2002 and the parking lot was barely lit. The mall had always a reputation for theft and carjackings over the years. If you lived in the “well-to-do” (ugh) Eastside like I did, you didn’t even think of going to Cherry Hill Mall. You went to Echelon. Period. Deptford was a dump. Moorestown always seemed to be on fire and was nothing but shoe stores. Echelon was where the Cherry Hill and other local kids went. And it was fairly orderly.

    It wasn’t until the end of the 90s where Cherry Hill architecturally went down him. Strawbridge’s closed the restaurant when May bought it in 1996 and in came a hideous escalator bank into Strawbridge’s second floor. The fountains gradually went away and the wonderful flooring disappeared. When Woolworth left in 1997, so went the Cherry Hill Grill.

    I was in Cherry Hill just last November. I asked about Cherry Hill Mall, Macy’s, the loss of Strawbridge’s. All the still Eastsiders say the same. Ugh. They all go to Marlton. I don’t blame them.

86. Woah, woah, woah.

    Are you dissing the escalators?

    That’s not right.

87. Totally.

88. HAY Michael;
    just remember, fealings, escalators got fealings,….LOL
    Don’t diss the escalators!

89. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I love a good escalator.I wish I had a couple here in the house. It’s just that the Strawbridge’s at Cherry Hill used to have this great futuristic stairway up to the “Cherry Court Terrace” restaurant and that was discarded for the escalator bank. It just killed some of Victor Gruen’s beauty of this great open tropical gathering place but heck, I’ll give anything to have those escaltors back leading me right into Strawbridge’s!

    And to add, yes, Nordstrom will help Cherry Hill Mall. But it’s a whole different place now. I can’t stop hearing an old crazy neighbor of ours saying “can’t stop progress!!”

90. Got any pictures of said stairway?

91. No! I’ll keep looking. It was a stairway very few people even took. I must have a picture with it in there somewhere. The escalator bank replaced it.

92. does anybody know what other “high end” shops will be placed in cherry hill mall? what i mean is, are we looking at something like louis vuitton, burberry, etc, like the pier shops at caesar’s in atlantic city or not quite that high end?

    regardless it is exciting to see the growth in that mall. recently an armani exchange was added and the apple store is soon to follow right next door. i also noticed that the large space that used to be a gigantic footlocker has now been broken up into smaller locations throughout the mall. rumor also has it that in addition to the recent opening of the largest hollister co. in the country there, abercrombie and fitch is hoping to have all five of their brands (abercrombie kids, ruehl, and gilly hicks) in the cherry hill mall by the end of 2008

93. Brooks Brothers is also in Cherry Hill Mall and it will be very interesting to see what eventually opens in the new wing. I would not be surprised to see Lacoste take a chance there. I would guess that we’re going to be looking at “Menlo Park high end” rather than “Mall at Short Hills high end” in Cherry Hill Mall.

    On the restaurant front, Maggiano’s is supposed to open in the new Bistro Row. Is Houlihan’s still there or did they move to the Garden State Park shops on Route 70?

94. No, Houlihan’s is still there.

95. houlihan’s is still there but they are moving to garden state park

96. Really? Damn.

97. I hear that California Pizza Kitchen will be one of the new restaurants added to Bistro Row. Any news?

98. California Pizza Kitchen wouldn’t make sense to me as they have the very simular and, as far as I’m concerned, superior Bertucci’s located directly outside the mall.

99. With that area of the mall (Houlihan’s/Food Court) becoming new retail after the renovation, it’s not much of a surprise that Houlihans will be leaving for newer digs. Too bad because it’s a great restaurant, but CHM will compensate with Maggiano’s coming in.

    Speaking of CHM restaurants, Bahama Breeze will be making a showing in Northern NJ with upcoming locations opening at Woodbridge and Willowbrook/Wayne Towne Center

100. According to Mall Hall of Fame, the food court will become Gilly Hicks, A&F’s new lingerie clothing line.

     My neon-drenched food court…all gone!!

101. Be ready to start seeing more food courts going the way of the dodo. As malls upgrade and in turn, go more ‘upscale’, there’ll be fewer food courts.

     It’s kind of a return to how things used to be done in the 1960s and 1970s….where malls had food counters and restaurants scattered throughout the place, rather than having all the counter spaces collected into a court with a sea of tables and chairs.

102. Matt: They’re moving it to the Penney’s wing, it’s not going to be gotten rid of altogether.

103. I wouldn’t be too sure that food courts will go away. they generate crucial lunch and dinner time traffic in many locations. What some malls have done is give the food courts their own entrance in order to facilitate this. Where food courts just attract teen agers who don’t spend money, there may be some changes, though.

     The return of sit down restaurants is a throw back to the early days of malls. It was typical to have one or two mid-priced restaurants in malls, along with department store “tea rooms”. With the advent of destination-type chain restaurants such as Cheesecake Factory or PF Chang’s and the need to fill space and draw traffic in creative ways, the stage seems to be set for restaurants to matter again for malls.

104. Hell, the food court (Plus the movie theatre and Barnes and Noble, but no so much) are the only things keeping MarketFair alive.

     PREIT’s reasoning for moving the court is great, as it will bring much more traffic to that wing of the mall.

105. Rich has it right. The food court isn’t going away anytime soon, infact like malls in general they are being reinvented. Westfield is changing the food court @ Century City with table service & real silver ware not that plastic stuff you normaly see. Because it was successful it will spread to other properties they own.

     Malls are becoming more dependent on restaurant revenues as department stores & clothing chain revenues continue to soften, wich will continue for a wile. The more food options a mall has the better it’s chances of long term survival.

106. Malls are also going more ‘upscale’, because the entire lower and middle-teir consumer base is drifting more and more away to ‘big box’ centers…most containing everything they need already. That is to say, your Wal-Marts, Targets, Kohls, Penneys (which is going to start opening more off-mall locations in the coming years…in some cases displacing a nearby anchor pad to an enclosed mall), Home Depots, Lowes, Staples, Best Buys and Frys of the world.

     Food courts are a product of the 1980s, and have somewhat become passe….they’re just ‘there’. They’re not the draw they once were back when malls catered to a wider audience. (not just teens and those with deeper pockets). Not to forget, all the bias out there against ‘fast food’. Many malls will probably reinvent them, such as in the example Sean gave, or just simply eliminate them for more inline space, and scatter the food counters throughout the mall with full service restaurants flanking the entranceways to the mall…..the way things were done before food courts became big.

107. I totally agree that Food Courts aren’t going anywhere! I’ve seen some of these places during the lunch hour and if there’s an office complex nearby, you’re not getting a seat. Sean has a good point about reinvention. Around NJ, Garden State Plaza’s food court has large video monitors in the main court area (their food court is on the lower level). Some food courts, specifically the newer one at Tysons Corner Center is offering free WiFi…this is being done at other Macerich malls, but not Freehold (yet at least).

108. If you go to http://www.icsc.org click bookstore then general you should find 2 books on food courts. there is a book on food court design around the world, another on how to run one, or something like that.

     Happy reading!

109. The only book i could find was
     “SHOPPING CENTER FOOD COURT PROFILES”
     Item #148 member price $79.95, non member price $99.95. 56 profiles

110. A few months ago Westchester County Business Journal ran a story about the changing retail landscape in White Plains. AS part of the story they interviewed both Kim Wheatly manager of the Westchester & paula Kellaher director of marketing for the Galleria.

     Paula pointed out that the food court acted as an anchor to draw foot traffic. This illastrates mallguy’s point.

     http://www.westchestercountybusinessjournal.com

111. http://www.westchestercountybusiness.com

     thats it.

112. I live like 30 minutes from the mall, and was there probably about 2 weeks ago. The interior of the mall is already being prepped for renovation as their are large barriers blocking the cherry court from the Macy’s and JCpenny Hallways. It looks like they are going to start very soon on the interior.

     The exterior is a different story, as the former strawbridge’s store is still like 1/4 still there. But, hopefully this will be a different story next time i’m there.

     oh, by the way, does anyone know what the store next to Armani Exhange is going to be? (not Apple, on the other side)

113. as for the open space next to a/x, people aren’t sure if foot locker is simply renovating or if it will be a whole new store. the signs on it say that footlocker has “temporarily moved.” walking through the mall, there is that space and what was formerly jasmine sola which and a lot of people believe abercrombie kids to be moving into one of those spaces. also, a lot of stores in the lower level near j.c. penney’s are rumored to be on their way out. mcdonald’s is already gone, d.e.m.o. is closing, and i can only assume that the other, less fashionable stores down that end are soon to follow.

     as for gilly hicks coming to cherry hill, i have a friend who works at the hollister there (both stores are owned by abercrombie and fitch) who says that she was told that ruehl and an a&f kids are coming in the summer and gilly hicks will follow soon after…

114. as for the open space next to a/x, people aren’t sure if foot locker is simply renovating or if it will be a whole new store. the signs on it say that footlocker has “temporarily moved.” walking through the mall, there is that space and what was formerly jasmine sola which and a lot of people believe abercrombie kids to be moving into one of those spaces. also, a lot of stores in the lower level near j.c. penney’s are rumored to be on their way out. mcdonald’s is already gone, d.e.m.o. is closing, and i can only assume that the other, less fashionable stores down that end are soon to follow.

     as for gilly hicks coming to cherry hill, i have a friend who works at the hollister there (both stores are owned by abercrombie and fitch) who says that she was told that ruehl and an a&f kids are coming in the summer and gilly hicks will follow soon after…

115. d.e.m.o. and JasmineSola were both shut down by their corporate parents. McDonald’s is gone…that’s really too bad. I really liked the look. What about Old Navy and Borders Express?

116. Old Navy is pretty new, so i dont really think that is going anywhere IMHO.

     As for the Abercrombie Kids analysis, that makes total sense. About Gilly Hicks, hopefully this rumor is true, it looks like a really cool store (saw pix of the one at Natick Collection), but hopefully it wont just be all underwear…haha

117. Went there tonight..

     The barriers around the Cherry Court were more complex and big, looks like contruction on the inside of the court will start really soon. In the JCpenny wing, there is a whole section of the lower level that has been walled off, the new location for the food court which looks to be a pretty big area. Lots of stores on that wing look like there on their way out, probably to be replaced by higher-end stores.

     Outside, they are moving dirt around in preperation for the new parking garage.

     Looks pretty good, hopefully more reatailers will be announced soon.

     What do you guys think will move into the mall during this expansion and renovation?

118. Hmm…sounds like they are finally getting things started down there. I assume they are getting rid of the remaining fountains (to the side of the former Strawbridges and in front of JCPenney) during the upcoming renovation? I like that CHM is getting Maggianos.

     Up here in North Jersey, Livingston Mall is going “under the knife” as they have begun to dismantle the center court spiral staircase and fountain in favor of a glass elevator and a center court to closely resemble The Mall at Chestnut Hill.

119. Regarding foodcourts, I think Moorestown’s is well positioned. There are a number of office park employees in Mt.Laurel to draw from, while the adjacent East Gate Sq. and parks have employees and customers as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if it pulls more out of mall customers, who don’t need to buy anything and just visit for lunch or dinner. However, I feel PREIT will just do a band-aid job with redevelopment at Moorestown, when they could be re-doing it more. I think the anchor situation however doesn’t give them room to redo much though.

     Cherry Hill Mall’s foodcourt is different. It functions more for the mall, bringing in traffic for the stores, and store shoppers frequent the foodcourt. There’s a lot of customer base just there.

120. Is it possible for a full Borders at the mall? I know Borders looks at 1) income, 2) college educated households in site location. A Borders would be a good complement to the center. A Barnes & Noble is opening on Haddonfield Rd in the Towne Place, a new mixed lifestyle center. Smaller than Marlton’s Promenade though.

     The current Borders – one in Marlton is past the congested Marlton circle mess. The Mt.Laurel Borders is the other one in the area, but its also far enough.

121. East Gate Sq. B&N brings a LOT of traffic there.

     Also, how is the whole Garden State Park plan coming along? did they finish up the shops between Wegmans and Cheesecake Factory? Hotel?

122. Hahaha, I spoke too soon:

     http://www.gardenstatepark.net/gif/comm_tpgsp_leasing_big.jpg

     OH LOOK, a B&N! Haha.

123. Who is CH’s main compitition. I have never been to this mall but i can see that they are trying to atract customers from both south Jersey & those who otherwise would travel to either Willow Grove or King of Prussia.

     This is going to be a whole lot tougher to pull off right now than it looks.

124. What mall? Moorestown?

125. That is what i’m asking you.

126. Oh, they don’t really compete with malls but I guess if someone actually was stupid enough to shop at a distance between CH and KoP, it would be that.

     Moorestown and CH are both PREIT’s, so they aren’t really competing.

127. What I find interesting about those two is that Rouse, the previous owner of CH purchased Moorestown Mall to protect Cherry Hill Mall. Both malls can be successful despite the fact that they are so close to each other, as had been seen in other areas of NJ; when MM is renovated, they need to make sure that it is given more equal attention…it probably won’t reach the heights of Cherry Hill, but as long as it isn’t overlooked like Monmouth Mall, it will be fine.

     The new Cherry Hill Mall may not attact the Pennsylvania shoppers, but it will save a lot of South Jerseyans from making the King of Prussia Trip and having to deal with the Skukyill Expressway.

128. Actually, I do think that Cherry Hill will get some PA shoppers, Including alot of philadelphians. Cherry Hill may be the same geographical distance from Center City Philly as KOP, but it doesnt take nearly as long to get to Cherry Hill as it does to King of Prussia.

129. True Alex, but King of Prussia has more selection of stores & restaurants. Besides, i find that KOP is a hole lot more fun to shop at than any other mall in that region.

130. The site plan which AceJay posted shows stores like Eddie Bauer (which used to be in CH Mall), Talbots (currently there) and Kitchen Kapers (currently there), and Coldwater Creek. So CH Mall loses a few potential stores. And on the low end – DSW is listed for Towne Place.

     However it doesn’t show the stores like Anthropologie, Bandolino, BCBG, Hugo Boss, Kenneth Cole, Lucy which were once proposed. I wonder if they are opting to be in CH Mall.

     One regional store Joyce Leslie is in the Chucke E. Cheese plaza. I’m surprised they don’t go to the JCPenney end of the mall (as JL is in a lot of malls), which would be higher rent than the plaza they are in, but not that high. I can’t imagine Modell’s Sporting Goods paying such a high rent.

131. If you check where most modell’s stores are located, you will find mostly Kmart, Target & other discounters. So true Josh,so true.

132. Yeah, Modells has been in that part of the mall like since forever, without a remodel. They are a stable tenant and I think Cherry Hill needs a mix of high end and low end stuff (as long as the low end is by a major chain), but I think the value of that side of the mall could be improved much more PREIT got a double story Borders, with it facing Haddonfield Rd. So, that Borders is like a junior anchor next to JCPenney.

     Of course, Old Navy is on the upper level, and Modell’s is on the lower and both would be displaced. Old Navy would find another spot, if the mall paid for the expenses,, but Modells would likely leave. They must be on some grandfathered rent rate.

     They could move to Moorestown. But regarding athletic wear and stuff, I’m surprised Finish Line avoids Moorestown Mall. Perhaps there is too much big box competition near the mall with Dick’s?

133. Well, in Cherry Hill, Borders Express (former Waldenbooks?) is there, so they could expand.

134. Yeah, it’d be an expansion/conversion of Borders Express to a full Borders – thats what I’m thinking. I just think PREIT needs to do more than just move the foodcourt to JCPenney to really improve that side of the mall. Old Navy was a good start – it replaced a lot of junk, including a puppy mill store and a dollar store. However, the Old Navy deal was in place before Strawbridge’s closed and Nordstrom announced (so grand plans to really upgrade the place wasn’t pushed), and Old Navy is still low end. Now, PREIT is probably locked in a multi-year deal with the relatively new Old Navy there, which isn’t the end of the world, but a Borders or something else there could have been better.

     I don’t think there is any expansion space left on the mall – Route 38 side, as parking is already tight by Macys and everywhere between that and Nordstrom will be developed out, so thats the only space that could have been used and has somewhat decent road access.

135. I find it weird that Modells is in Cherry Hill Mall at all, same for Livingston as well. I find the staff there to be anoying & incompitent.

136. They are in Deptford Mall also.

     They’ve been in CH Mall longer than Finish Line or Champs, and really over majority of the stores. Now that PREIT has Finish Line which is an alternative to Foot Locker (Champs is co-owned), they really don’t need Modell’s, esp with the revitalization of that corridor. The JCPenney needs a facelift also. Old Navy is ok, but you’ll see Old Navy in some less stellar malls like The Gallery and Security Square Mall in Baltimore, so that area is somewhat C rate. But Old Navy is likely to stay since they are so new in Cherry Hill and they are national and GAP and Banana Republic are already there.

     Modell’s should have moved to Ellisburg Circle or somewhere out of mall. In Berlin they are in the Berlin Circle shopping center, not the not too far Echelon/Voorhees mall. Mostly it predates back to before other chains were around.

     While they are probably still a high credit chain and they are still decent,, I don’t think Modell’s is considered an A list chain for a mall owner. They haven’t added stores I think in years (think Sears/Kmart) and are limited to a few states – while Dick’s multiplied and is a leader in the athletic apparel, with Foot Locker being the king for smaller sized store format.

137. I found out that in most of these retail leases there is a relocation right. So, technically PREIT could relocate Old Navy. Of course, PREIT would have to pay for everything. If I were them, I’d consider relocating Old Navy all the way to the Macy’s end. Get rid of FYE (which is leaving malls as their CD sales is limited anyways – Best Buy does the job in that category, Talbots and Kitchen Kapers are anyways moving to the Garden State Park center – its already too late to save them), and put Old Navy there. It would be an upgrade for Old Navy and they’d be happy.

     Get rid of Modells from the mall altogether. This all in place so that the mall could put a Borders at the JCPenney wing – as that wing has ample outside area, parking and space for a junior anchor, and Borders would upscale that side of the mall to an extent. If not Borders, something else but of decent caliber.

     This would somewhat balance the mall, so not all high end is limited to a stopping point somewhere halfway, and then it turns downscale.

138. I just now thought of the parking garage. Because in summer I thought the whole mall would be double-decked, but now it seems like in order to get from the parking garage to the mall, you’d have to go into Nordstrom, then down the escalators into the mall. Yuck.

139. That doesn’t make any sence to me at all, well at least you could always stop at the e-bar & get some coffee. LOL

140. Actually, no. There are 3 other entrances from the deck, one at least goes directly into the new Cherry court:

     http://i31.tinypic.com/a5b0rc.png

     The other two go into the new Food court hallway and into whatever that other store is.

141. I had family in Cherry Hill when I was a little kid back in the late 70s-early 80s. My uncle used to take me to a really old McDonald’s built in the 50s in Cherry Hill.

     I’ve looked all over the aerial maps and can’t find it. Did they tear it down? I thought it was a historic landmark or something. Where is/was it?

142. I was reading some of the earlier posts. it could be possible to put a bloomingdale’s but as a upscale chain they are very selective with locations. of course they are going to put one in bridgewater and short hills which are both upscale area’s Im suprised they put one in Willowbrook mall after stern’s closed up shop back in 01.if Im not mistaken isn’t wayne right by paterson and of course they wouldn’t put one in Woodbridge Center after stern’s closed it coulda been possible if macy’s went in A&S’s spot when they closed in 95

143. The Macys at Cherry Hill will not be abandoned as it is the most profitable and largest (over 300,000 square feet) in South Jersey. The only way Bloomingdales goes to Cherry Hill is if it is built from the ground up.

     The surrounding towns of Willowbrook (Wayne, Fairfield, North Caldwell, Fairfield, Montville) are quite affluent…plus it’s the closest Bloomingdales to Bergen County that is open on Sunday…very smart decision for Bloomies to open in Willowbrook.

     If anyplace, it should have been opened in Menlo Park and not Woodbridge and Macy’s had orginally planned to go in A&S’s spot, but Sears made an big offer for the space that pushed Macy’s out.

     I still think that Bloomingdale’s should go to Monmouth Mall.

144. What about Quakerbridge? With Quakerbridge you get the Mercer and So. Jersey region all together. Just a drive up I295. I think Federated lost its chance for a Bloomingdales in the So. Jersey market atleast for Cherry Hill. The last possibility is Macy’s conversion at Moorestown Mall which would create an upscale corner at the Moorestown Mall with a Lord & Taylor and GUESS.

     But that would mean redirecting Macy’s customers to Cherry Hill, Burlington or Voorhees (which might not be such a bad thing as it would help those Macys stores)

     Has anybody here ever been to Burlington Center Mall? Its the mall in between Quakerbridge and Cherry Hill/Moorestown areas but its so vastly different in operation. I wonder if the demos are really so bad, or if its disinvestment by Jager Management that leaves it among the weakest malls I’ve seen in Jersey, even though it has Philly/NYC corridor line proximity.

145. Josh:

     Good point to bring up Quakerbridge. They are supposed to begin a redvelopment that will expand the mall by 100+ stores and bring in Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. I guess it’s just me but I’ve always considered Quakerbridge to be Central Jersey, although it is easily accessible to South Jersey.

     Of any of the South Jersey locations, I could totally see it in Moorestown, however a lot of changes need to be made…MM needs to be redeveloped and the town needs to seriously consider its dry town status to attract restaurants that serve liquor. Burlington Center is actually at a pretty good location on Mt Holly Road between Exit 5 of the NJT and 295. The last bit of change to come to the mall was the JCPenney addition in the late 90s and the Macys conversion. The mall has been plagued by a lack of attention from its owners as well as a bad reputation from crimes in the area. Too bad because it has potential and I still wouldn’t call it the weakest in NJ.

146. Burlington is pretty lame.

     Also lol, bloomingdales at QBM along with 6 other anchors is just begging for a closure of something.

     Not to say that it wouldn’t be awesome to have one here.

147. I’m going to take another angle on this, you are not going to get many shoppers from outside the local area going to Cherry Hill. On the other hand, QBM is in the unenvyable posission to draw from not just central NJ, but towns along I-195 from the sure to Langhorn PA. Infact you could draw from communities along the NJ TPK & route 1 as well. This allows us to see how the markets for all these malls overlap one another.

148. Hey hey, Apple store’s Grand opening is this Saturday, at 10am!

     I might actually go there and get some pictures for you guys.

149. Quakerbridge Mall is in a more strategic location. Its not that bad of a drive from Mt. Laurel and Cherry Hill in Jersey as well. I think its maybe 10 mins more than going to KoP but a lot easier/ direct drive just up I295. Also there are daily commuters from So. Jersey into the Mercer Co./Princeton area. Its why that area has so many offices because its an hour from everything (Central Jersey, PA, South Jersey and Monmouth/Ocean counties)

     CH Mall is somewhat a settle kind of location. That is its not the best location, but what PREIT and retailers are settling for. There are more higher income homes in Moorestown and east, but that mall didn’t have the redevelopment opportunity. And, while CH mall its very close to Philly and wants to attract Philadelphians in, these stores (Nordstrom, Crate & Barrell, Container Store, Apple Store) would probably make more sense in Center City Philadelphia. They would definitely boost Philadelphia’s image and you have access to real dining there. The retail would enhance the city’s image nationally. In Cherry Hill its just gluts the CH scene and doesn’t do anything for the town’s image. And, you have the Garden State Racetrack retail centers which compete and aren’t walkable from the mall, so not a synergistic effect.

     I agree about Moorestown. The dry town status hurts the mall, but I think the people living in Moorestown don’t care so much about their mall. That mall also needs a serious makeover but I doubt it will get it.

150. When Vans Skatepark was there, Moorestown was the shit.

     Also, they’re actually doing some renovations. Ashley Furniture Gallery/new mini-wing, some upscale restaurant outparcel, and Black Diamond and whatever else they put around the Sears entrances and 38 side.

     It’s a pretty neat mall, and the architecture is nice, especially the Ceter court with the fountain.

151. I was a Cherry Hill last night. The apple store is unmasked and looks to be about double the width of a usual Apple store. Also, next to Apple is the Armani Exchange, which appears to be expanding into that former FootLocker space. I thaught that it was very interesting that the store was expanding, especially after being open for only a few months.

     There is alot of contruction going on inside the mall. Looks like they’re reframing the ceiling of the macy’s wing, and the whole cherry court is now being torn down.

     From the outside, you can see the former cherry court (rt 38) entryway is gone, and the rest of the Cherry Court being torn down. Also, on the western side of where the new wing/ Nordstrom will be, you can see new footings being constructed.

     In front of Macy’s/Bertucci’s, there is also contruction going on, presumably for the Maggianno’s and other Restaurant Row dining options.

     Finally this is starting to pick up some speed!

152. Last saturday went to Roosevelt Field, The Apple store is being remoddled., a sign says that the store will be better than ever. I’m trying to figure out what that could mean, Less noise? Fewer people blocking the isles? Only a 15 minute wait at check out? LOL

     I’m sure you understand that, it’s that way in every Apple store, & now it is Cherry Hill’s turn.

     Good to here from you Alex.

153. Thank you Sean.

     Very true about the Apple commentary.

     I dont really know what other restaurants are supposed to be at cherry hill (except for maggiannos and mortons), does anyone else know what might go there?

154. On Apple, they are renovating many of the older Apple stores…Short Hills and Tysons Corner (Tysons was actually the 1st Apple Store) just got renovated and are much larger and brighter. I wouldn’t be too surprised if a Menlo Park renovation is not too far down the road.

     I didn’t hear about Morton’s in Cherry Hill, but that’s good. It will be interestign to see what else goes there and it’s good to see they are moving on with the construction (unlike in Quakerbridge).

155. Mallguy,

     When did the Tysons apple store origionally open?

156. 2001. That’s when Apple launched the idea. Please don’t get off-topic! This is one of my favorite malls.

157. Just visited this mall yesterday, to view the Apple Store opening. Quite an interesting space! The Strawbridge’s demolishing is ongoing, with the section closed off. There are “portholes” where mallgoers can view the demolition and construction as it goes on. The escalator entrance is pretty much in ruins at this point, but still standing (barely).

     If Jason/Ross are interested, I have photos of the demolition at the old Strawbridge/soon-to-be Nordstrom site as it stands today.

158. Of course we’re interested, post ’em.

     Got any shots of the new food court?

159. There was an artical on PVL about the health of the restaurant business. how that effects Cherry Hill Mall remains to be sene. Landing Morton’s is a good sign for ch’s health & ability to atract better stores & eateries. The construction of Nordstrom was the first step, will see what happens. With the state of the econemy & the credit markets right now, things are getting dicier by the day.

160. aside from morton’s and maggiano’s, the other name i keep hearing is legal sea foods…

161. Being on the other side of Philadelphia from King of Prussia, i can sea that happening. A nice bookend

162. I think Foot Locker may own that space or have a say on how its leased and maybe be subletting it to Armani, Apple and Bertuccis. That may explain the Armani Exchange store expanding and FootLocker shrinking in such an unusual way. Originally it was the Woolworth anchor location, and Foot Locker is the remnant of Woolworth. Anchors sometimes own the space or pay a lower rent.

     It explains why 1) all the Footlockers went there after Woolworth closed, and 2) Bertuccis wasn’t leased until a year or two later, even though the space as a whole was prime space in between Macy’s and Strawbridge’s and facing Route 38.

     The re-use of the Woolworths seemed to be negative for a long time since Foot Locker isn’t considered really a high end chain but it was in the middle of the successful wing. They could have gotten Barnes & Noble or even another anchor store there, the way Woolworth’s had an outside entrance.

     But, I guess now with Armani and Apple higher use is coming out of the space.

163. Hi. Can anyone answer my March 15 post about the McDonald’s?

164. The McDonalds is long gone…

     As for Construction around the mall, I think its moving at a good pace. Two weekends ago I wasnt in the mall, but went to a restaurant adjacent to the mall (Bahama Breeze), and saw that they have lots of pilings for the new Norstrom Wing, and also the new parking garage is 1/2 finished. Interior renovation in supposed to be complete in November..

165. Okay so after losing the first post due to stupid spam filters, I’m reposting this set:

     Moorestown:

     Getting rid of that Green finally?! 😀

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/MMChipotle.jpg
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/MMLane.jpg
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/MMRestOutparcel.jpg

     Garden State Park Shops:

     Place is coming along, looks good.

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/GSPBarnesNoble.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/GSPBLVD.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/GSPBrio.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/GSPjosjill.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/GSPMcCormick.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/GSPPhillySkyline.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/GSPRestOutparcel.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/GSPSquare.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/GSPWegmansBLVD.jpg

     Cherry Hill:

     Garage:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMGarage.jpg

     The fancy replacement of the Ped Bridge over 38:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMPedBridge.jpg

     Container and C&B:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMContStore.jpg
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMCrateandBarrel.jpg

     The exterior entrance for the new food court:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMNewFoodCourtExt.jpg

     Interior stating finish date:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMNewFoodInt.jpg

     Bertucci’s:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMBertuccis.jpg

     Former Fountain:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMNoFountain.jpg

     McD’s closed for some weird reason:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMMcD.jpg

     They were doing well last time I was there, what happened?

     Apple Store:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMAppleStore.jpg

     Empty Macy’s wing:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMMacysWing.jpg

     And the killer, all that’s left of Cherry Court:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMCenterCourt.jpg

     This hit me hard when I saw it:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMStrawbridgeStairs.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CHMCherryCourt.jpg

     And this amazing find:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/FoodFairVintage.jpg

     This seems to be an old sign for either the mall or Pantry Pride/Food Fair. Very cool.

     Go to the Echelon Mall post to see the rest of this set!:

     http://www.labelscar.com/new-jersey/echelon-mall

166. Great Photos, Thanks!

     I find it so interesting how fast they got that parking garage ( or at least some of it.) I think that the mall will look great when its done.

167. Apart from the other malls, this is a great comment. Someone said the fountains, which were turned off at my visit, would likely not last the remodel. The stripped ceiling was originally this:

     http://www.labelscar.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/cherry-hill-mall-submission-01.jpg

     The demolition of Cherry Court really is horrifying, and the “skeletal remains” of the Strawbridge’s staircase is disturbing. Also note the Strawbridge Co. Seal of Confidence: I wonder what they did to THAT (likely some readers of this site would like to have it…not me, though, I’m a Foley’s fan).

     http://www.labelscar.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/cherry-hill-mall-submission-08.jpg

     McDonald’s probably closed for some mall reasons. Maybe it will reopen in the food court.

168. I haven’t been up to Cherry Hill in about 2 months and I have a question: Are they closing the Bertucci’s location at the mall? Because the entrance seems to be blocked off in Jay’s set of photos and they also seem to absent in the redevelopment leasing plan.

     That Cherry Court thing is pretty upsetting. While it will be nice to have a new wing, the classic architecture that is very much absent in the two other parts of the mall will be missed. I would hope that the seal of confidence is utilized in some way.

169. I think bertucci’s is a goner. Im pretty sure Maggianos is taking up that space along with new spaces for more restaurants. Anyway, theres another Bertucci’s 4 miles down 38 near Moorestown Mall.

170. Wait, what?

     I thought that Bertucci’s was just built.

171. Nah, that Bertucci’s has been there for a good while now I think.

172. I’ve slowly accepted that the awesome food court would soon be replaced with a smaller, less-private one. Now, what else is on the chopping block?
     The 2nd story windows from Macy’s looking into the mall?

     http://www.labelscar.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/cherry-hill-mall-34.jpg

     (it’s the former Bamberger’s cafe)

     The Bistro at Cherry Hill?

     http://www.labelscar.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/cherry-hill-mall-30.jpg

     What about those?

     Also, I don’t think the Entrance sign is from Food Fair. According to Mall Hall of Fame (http://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html), if you scroll down, and the comments: Food Fair was closed long before the JCPenney wing/food court opened. It was torn down.

     And where is the redevelopment lease plan?

173. Oh no! The “1961” sign is likely gone too. Hopefully they’ll put it elsewhere.

174. Wait what? Where are those windows from?

     I remember going up to the 3rd floor once and being in some offices, is that where they lead?

     I always thought those were External windows D:

175. No, no, the windows to the right of the Macy’s front. There are windows above but the windows to the upper right:
     http://www.labelscar.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/cherry-hill-mall-34.jpg

     …was, in fact, a small restaurant that Bamberger’s once had. Obviously, it’s gone now and is currently dark.

     http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com/2006/01/cherry-hill-mall.html

176. OK, so here’s the casualties:

     Macy’s Second Floor Windows: Probably will be covered up.
     Bistro at Cherry Hill: Unknown. I want to say they’ll remove it, but another part says they’ll keep it.
     The Awesome Ceiling: Gone.
     Strawbridge’s Escalators: Gone.
     The Fountains: Gone.
     Cherry Court: Lobotomized. There’s a good possibility that some of the old Cherry Court will remain, but don’t bet on it. By the way, what are those small dots on the Cherry Court roof? Are those skylights or HVAC systems?
     http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Cherry+Hill+Mall&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=43.25835,70.224609&ie=UTF8&ll=39.941067,-75.025447&spn=0.002566,0.004286&t=k&z=18
     Old Food Court: Gone. That stinks, because it was awesome, dark and moody, lots of neon, large, secluded, etc.
     McDonald’s: Gone.

     Well, shoot.

177. Ooh, I found an old Archived copy of the Cherry Hill website! My verdict? Pretty plain and disappointing.
     http://web.archive.org/web/20010421154059/cherryhillmall.com/application/malldiralpha.cfm?MallID=106&FL=All

178. Just passing through. Thank you for your cherry hill mall page and external links. My family and I were weekly regulars at the mall in the 1960’s. “Meet us at the fountain” or “Meet us at the birdcage” is so burned into my memory. I loved to walk across the wooden bridges. Dinner would be at Harvest House (a cafeteria attached to Woolworths), or lunch at the grill. I always wanted the “space age” Pulsar LED watch that would be in the window of Bailey, Banks and Biddle. Strawbridges was a beautiful store. People would always look nicely dressed, behave politely, and smile. It all sounds very much like a dream world, I know — but to be honest, I honestly cannot remember it being any other way. For today’s generation, long live the Cherry Hill Mall . . . from a member of its first generation.

179. Wow. To me, the old pictures of Cherry Hill…with smiling people, bright colors, bird cages, wooden bridges, and foliage…all that really existed! Incredible.

180. i work in the mall and some of the rumors i’ve heard as far as what new stores will be include sony style, lucky brand, abercrombie kids, some underwear spinoff of abercrombie that it supposed to compete with victoria’s secret and aerie, urban outfitters (with an outside entrance adjacent to nordstrom, you can see it on some of the drawings of what it will look like), puma, and lacoste…

     with the food court, most people aren’t sure what will happen to that current space once most of the “fast food” places relocate to the new food court. it will either be more retail space or it will be a “high end” food court like king of prussia has. one of the ideas behind moving it in the first place was to basically get all the cheap stuff in the mall as far away from nordstrom as possible…

     maggiano’s is the only restaurant known for sure, and it can be assumed morton’s is going to open there as well since mccormick and schmick’s opened their own steakhouse right up the road with an eye to compete with morton’s. legal sea foods and california pizza kitchen are rumored as well. triumph, rock bottom, or gordon birsch or some other brewpub type restaurant have also been thrown around. the most far fatched i’ve heard, however, is that chickie’s and pete’s will open there along with taking over old lonestar’s in marlton and washington twp, but i highly doubt that.

     again, all of this is just rumors, so i wouldn’t say any of this holds much weight, but just a little speculation…

181. The “underwear spinoff” is Gilly Hicks and is to be in the current food court. This is derived from a floor plan from Mall Hall of Fame (which is from an official one, but I can’t seem to find one). The floor plan I did see listed the food court as to be recycled as store space.

182. While I still haven’t been back to Cherry Hill Mall recentely due to certain circumstances (I do plan to go Friday if the weather permits), it does appear that the Bertucci’s is no more as the official Bertucci’s website no longer list the Cherry Hill Mall Bertucci’s (but lists the nearby Marlton and Mt. Laurel locations). However, it is still listed on the Cherry Hill Mall website.

     In addition, the mall-based Houlihans was also not listed in the location guide I received at the newly opened Princeton-area location. Once again…it is still listed on the mall website.

     If anyone has confirmations of either closure, I’d be curious to hear.

     On another note, it’s sad to see Hall of Heroes go…but it wasn’t quite the same store that it was back in the old Echelon Mall days with all of the in-store appearances by various professional wrestlers and pro athletes. Shame that it didn’t work out for Sal.

183. Houlihans is moving over to the Garden State Park next to Pei Wei. It actually looks like its going to be complete very soon. Not sure whats going in the Houlihans space though.

184. I knew they were moving, but from not living in the area…I was not sure as of when. I’d like to see something fairly similar to Houlihans in that space…but I’m afraid it’s just gonna be more retail.

     Personally I believe that would be the best spot for Chickie and Pete’s if they were to move in. I don’t believe Chickie and Pete’s as far-fetched as Steve would you believe. They did open a suburban location not far from my neck of the woods on Route 130 in Bordentown. I think it would make a whole lot of sense, even in the current economic climate, for them to open up in a highly successful (and growing mall). I can even see Moorestown making a play for them if they ever rid themselves of “dry town status”. Chain restaurants are usually recession free.

185. I actually just drove past Cherry Hill earlier today and Bertucci’s is shut down now.

     Also, the framing for the new wing is starting to be set up. Its Exciting!

186. ^Pics or it didn’t happen 😀

187. Ok?

188. The Courier Post had an article recently about the renovation….with pics. Looks interesting.

189. ^Oh cool, that one photo has nothing but Strawbridges and the small wing built.

     Also wow Grand Court looks REALLY cool.

     Though I;m going to miss Cherry Court a lot.

190. I just read the article on CHM, they are completely delusional over there. There’s no way they’ll make a dent in King of Prussia’s dominance. King of Prussia has not only size on it’s side but they draw the people with the highest incomes in the Philadelphia area. Cherry Hill will grab it’s share of those customers, but it wont be as much as they think.

191. It will make a dent, but not too too much. It will take alot of Philly Cutomers, and most of NJ. If they do it right, it could really be a competetion.

192. What I got from the article is not that Cherry Hill Mall will eat King of Prussia’s lunch, but instead pulling some customers between Cherry Hill and KoP to go to KoP instead of King of Prussia.

     While I’m upset the Cherry Hill we all knew and loved is pretty much gone, from the stores to the architecture, at least Moorestown handles the middle-market stuff. Caldor has pictures so there might be a Moorestown article soon.

193. I’m going to play devils advocate here just for fun. I’m basing this on right now vs perhaps 6 months from now.

     If you are half way between Cherry Hill & King of Prussia, where would you go most often?

     Don’t type your answer until giving it some thaught.

194. I would choose King of Prussia? Why? Because King of Prussia has stores that I would actually want to go to. It has food court stands I would eat it, downscale stores I would go to (Rite-Aid FTW) and it’s probably a lot cooler than Cherry Hill.

     However, if it was even 1 year ago today, I would choose Cherry Hill Mall, because it’s quieter, a nicer food court, and a cooler store mix. Not so now…

195. At this minute I would choose KOP, becuase it does have a larger amount of stores. However, I also do beleive in a year that I would choose Cherry Hill becuase from the renderings, I think it will actually be more “upscale”. Now we just have to see the complete retailer listing for the new wing and other new stores coming in…

196. Does anyone have any links to renderings of the new mall? I see some newer ones on the Cherry Hill website, including the food court, but they are all small. Strangely, PREIT doesnt have them on their site.

197. If I lived midway between the two, I would also choose KOP. I agree with Alex and Jonah on the reasoning….there are more stores and restaurants. KOP is truly one stop shopping.

     An additional problem with Cherry Hill Mall is Route 38. That highway is very congested and something will have to be done when CHM is finished…maybe replacing the Cherry Hill Mall Dr/Route 38 light with an overpass. It will also help the Power Center across the street as they will have access to it.

198. I don’t see any renderings on the website, but there are renderings on the news article. On the Cherry Hill website, it gives this piece of information:

     “Our objective is to complete all changes to the common area by November 1, 2008. The result will be a magnificent new shopping center with amenities that will rival any center in the country. We appreciate your patience while we create a great new shopping center”

     Amenities that will rival any center in the country? That’s ridiculous! There isn’t anything at Cherry Hill that will rival anything. I’ve seen nicer “Grand Courts” at the Mall at Milennia (et. al.), no ice rink, no movie theater, no double-decker carousel, no innovative trappings, nothing.

199. By the way, that’s good to hear that Caldor has Moorestown Mall info to post…looking forward to it….apparently, they may have a renovation project coming up. I think MM has great potential, especially since it has much easier access to the Turnpike and 295 than Cherry Hill…and if coming from either road, you don’t even have to deal with 38.

200. The page I was referring to on the Cherry Hill, NJ site was this http://www.cherryhill-nj.com/economic/NewMall.asp

     Includes some pictures and information.

201. I said this before, the people over at Cherry Hill are delusional if they think they can rival King of Prussia or any top tear mall around here. It’s like 7up vs Coke & Pepsi. 7up has it’s share of the market like Cherry Hill does, but it will never be on par with King of Prussia with sales volume.

202. I think their main objective is not necessarily to get people from PA over to CHM, but get all of South Jersey to CHM. (As opposed to other area malls and shopping places). I have seen a couple of statements on line saying that they would see alot of NJ license plates at KOPM, and they want to change that. The CH site says “South Jersey’s Fashion Destination”.

     But honestly now. Have you ever been to the CHM lately on a Friday night for example? Not to mention the crime in the parking lots. I have to think to myself how they plan on keeping the new parking garage safe, while they can’t keep their parking lots safe? Another reason I avoid CHM.

203. Cherry Hill Mall already has the reputation of being the most comprehensive “traditional mall” in South Jersey (as opposed to non-traditional such as the Pier at Caesars or the Promenade at Sagemore) as many from Atlantic and Cape May Counties bypass Hamilton Mall and Deptford Mall for Cherry Hill Mall. They are cementing their position with this expansion

204. I seriously doubt that Cherry Hill Mall would be undergoing such a drastic renovation if a store other than Nordstrom (or another luxury department store) chose to fill the Strawbridge’s vacancy. Obvioulsy, mall management is trying to milk the addition of Nordstrom for all that it could be worth.

     Although I shouldn’t argue with success, why is it that Nordstrom always feels the need to demolish an existing building–and replace it with a new one–everytime it chooses to fill a vacancy caused by a closed department store? Wouldn’t it be far less expensive just to occupy the old building after making extensive interior renovations before opening, as Bloomingdale’s did after it assumed locations that were once Stern’s or Robinsons-May stores?

205. I think it’s also exterior renovations. Besides, Nordstrom isn’t going on EXACTLY the spot of Strawbridge’s: some of the old space is retail.

206. On CH Mall, if they weren’t going through this drastic renovation, I think they’d suffer. This because the new competing centers at the race track are still to take market share from them. So, they have to swim, otherwise, its sink.

     Now, It would make sense for PREIT to buy the Plaza at Cherry Hill, which is right next to the mall, perhaps once the mall itself stabilizes with Nordstrom. That plaza has a mish mesh of stores including LA Fitness, Ashley Furniture, and Raymour & Flanigan. I think that plaza should be torn down and redesigned into something else. The furniture stores could move or be replaced in a redeveloped plaza.

     Chucke E. Cheese’s could move into Moorestown Mall, perhaps the space next to Sears. Eastern Mountain Sports now takes the left side of the wing with an outdoor entrance facing Route 38. EMS used to be in the Promenade. Something else needs to take the other side – the Sears wing is otherwise dead.

     Regarding the Promenade, I think part of it may need to go mid-range. Perhaps Old Navy could relocate into Promenade into Organized Living’s former space. American Eagle moved in there not too long ago. With Panera and Coldstone, quite mid-range, a part of it may attract stores that once were at Echelon Mall.

207. Max,

     I think that Nordstrom wants to have stores designed the way they want & not have to deal with reconfiguring spaces that might not work for them. Ifyou go into any Nordstrom you may notice that many departments are not boxy, rather they have angled walls with aditional departments in what otherwise would be dead or under utilized spaces.

208. Nordstrom did take over a Lord&Taylor building in Denver (Cherry Creek Mall) and according to wikipedia, Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, without a demolition and rebuild involved. A Nordstrom store however is about the same size as a Lord&Taylor store, which are both smaller (and newer) than say a Strawbridge’s or Macy’s store built in the 60’s/70’s.

209. Cherry Hill Mall will be fine with Nordstrom, and I think there is an ample number of retailers to satisfy the mall and the competing race track retail.

     Moorestown Mall doesn’t have its own thread, but here’s what I’d do to make it more competitive:
     http://www.moorestown-mall.com/directory/main_level

     The Sears wing, part of it IS now home to Eastern Mountain Sports, a store with its own outdoor entrance. Good idea.
     The opposite side of the same wing has a number of vacancies, a chronic vacancy issue, thanks to Sears. I think PREIT may be saving the vacant space for something else with the same idea.

     Remove the mall entrance, but have a store replace it and the surrounding vacancies, and its one big thing. I’d get something either like Cosi (which has seating and WiFi) or Chucke E Cheese’s something with food and entertainment. Or, perhaps Black Diamond Sports, the indoor skatepark, could move to that side of the mall, with it occupying all the dead space there with its own entrance/exit to the parking lot. PREIT maybe the one having to foot the bill for the relocation, but it’d be worth it.

     To replace that direct mall entrance now lost, a new one could be opened by where that mom&pop chain Isabella’s is, so one can get into the mall without having to go through a store, between Sears and Boscovs.

     The LensCrafters, Nail Trix and County store would have to move within the mall.

     Regarding the foodcourt, United Artists, Black Diamond Sports, the chronic vacant cafe. All of them have to go, and tear down that part of the mall. Black Diamond would be moving to Sears. In that entire space, a new retail corridor, maybe outdoor and walkable, with some mix of new chains, like Steve & Barry’s, Filene’s Basement, and others, this facing the very popular East Gate Square. Of course, the thing that sucks is Moorestown is a dry town, so getting restaurants maybe out. Perhaps only “family” restaurants, here, but the list shrinks for that.

     Regarding the food court, get a new one, and have it slightly closer to Boscovs. And movies, I’d suggest the UA screen move outside in the Moorestown lot or it maybe unnecessary. Theaters are nice, but if a new one built is too big, it may make the mall too teen oriented. Neshaminy Mall in PA is an example of that, with a huge AMC screen, but infested with middle/high schoolers, who don’t shop but just loiter.

     The Shoe Dept. and the A-list displaced stores by Boscov’s could move to one of the vacanct areas by Macy’s/Lord&Taylor. There are a lot to go around. PREIT would have to foot the bill again for these moves, or they could just let the leases expire, and assume new stores will come. Get new flooring too, and have it consistent. Not like Echelon where only the Sears got the new flooring. Outdoor cosmetic work is being done to improve the aesthetics at Moorestown apparently, but the interior needs some overhaul and redesign. But, I think work here will pay off. Echelon on the other hand, I’m wondering if they’ll get a return for the much higher investment.

210. What the hell? Hollister took the shop part of the skatepark?

     That place is useless without the arcade games IMO >:[

211. Hey,

     This is a great topic and I didnt know it exsisted. You guys are doing a great job keeping the world updated on the status of the blog. I had been doing my own little update thread on Phillyblog.com and the information everyone is posting here will be really helpful.

     Thanks

212. Cherry Hill should add yet ANOTHER new wing, starting at Stride Ride withy the biggest names in Fashion with as new anchor, Saks Fifth Avenue. Saks will have a quite large store, on 3 floors, at 120,000 sf. Also added, 3 new restaurants! The Cheesecake Factory, Mitchell’s Fish Market, and Todai Restaurants. Add a new parking garage.

213. Todai is actually coming to Menlo Park, so we’ll get one in NJ!

214. I know, but another won’t hurt!

215. Substitute the Cheesecake Factory for Grand Lux Cafe as there is a Cheesecake Factory half a mile down Haddonfield road.

216. A little off topic here, but does anyone know what is going on across from the mall at Target? I saw construction work today.

217. IIRC Target is converting Greatlands into SuperTARGETs. It could be that.

218. I heard Elizabeth is getting SuperTarget. Where the old RexPlex was, in the Ikea.Toys R Us plaza.

219. Does anyone happen to know if any of the current palm trees located throughout the C-H mall are still the original trees? I just compared an old picture of Bambergers to a newer picture of Macy’s — and the trees very well could be the original palms (replanted, of course). Considering the slow growth of palms, a few of the trees that were at Bamberger’s in the 1960’s, could very well have grown into the ones seen there now. They would be about that height after 40 years. Just curious. They would certainly have some history to them if they are — and perhaps be the only remaining history of the original C-H mall going into the future.

220. Judging by this I’m going to have to say no, unless they put them in Bahama Breeze or something, haha.

     http://www.cherryhillmall.com/converted_files/00007/7874.pdf

221. Does anyone know if there are plans to get rid of the office building – One Cherry Hill – that sits adjacent to the mall in the parking lot between JC Penney and Macy’s? Or what is happening in the area they are digging up back behind JC Penney?

222. That’s just the new food court construction.

     I highly doubt that office building will be removed for at least another 30 or so years.

223. I am not talking about the area being dug that is part of the mall – I am talking about the area across the parking lot and road from Penney’s in the back – parallel to Church Road – it is all fenced and dug up? It is apart from the Mall. Also, rumor has it they plan on imploding the One Cherry Hill Building and putting a Bloomingdale’s there – just wondering if anyone else has heard anything.

224. Are you sure that Bloomingdale’s would do well there? I think the jury is still out on that one.

225. I don’t know that they would do well. I’m just saying that I have heard from a few friends that work within different stores in the mall about the possible implosion of the One Cherry Hill building and Bloomingdale’s moving in. It wouldn’t surprise me if they are trying to build it up like KOP. The One Cherry Hill building is old and may not fit in with this new look they are trying to achieve.

226. I finally went back to the Cherry Hill Mall today 3 months after the last time I went there and I’m back with a few observations:

     -The actual physical structures for both floors of the new wing and Nordstrom department store are up…however they are not fully enclosed as the entrances to both are exposed to sunlight.

     -No construction has been started on the actual new Cherry Court concourse yet…which surprises me as I had felt they would start on that first with the structures following soon after. However, the stairs are no more.

     -The Parking decks near the food court appear to close to complete with the main physical structure up and stairways built on the deck.

     -New floor tiling is being placed down in the Macy’s Wing of the mall particularly in the area around the various Footlockers and Hollister. There is also much new tiling work being down in the JCPenney Court surrounding Moddells and the entrance to the new food court..

     -Houlihans and Bertucci’s both appear to be 100% closed. Bahama Breeze is still open for business.

     -The Food Court will be a “mix” of long-time old tenants and a good number of new tenants….however there were not any new names confirmed yet..or at least not confirmed to the common mall employees. The exterior entrance seems to be It is still closed to the mall as of now, but It is slated to open sometime later this month.

     -Lids has been relocated to a temporary location in the food court.

     -This exposed ceiling/wall tiling detailed by Jay in his photo gallery from early May (including the infamous entrance sign which led to debate of its origin) are even more evident through certain parts of the mall.

     There were some doubts expressed that the construction to the common area would be finished by the target November date, but it has been seen that once a physical structure is erected…much interior/exterior work can be done very quickly.

     I was able to take some pictures on my cell phone of the construction…and while they are excellent and very clear for cell phone camera , they still aren’t quit digital quality that many might prefer so I don’t know if whether I should upload them.

227. Upload ’em!

     Havent been for a few weeks. How does the new tile look? Also, did you see the new store “Spring” by Abercrombie? It just opened last weekend. What is “Spring”?

228. The tiling has not been revealed yet…the floor in some part seem to be covered by wood paneling which can be easily removed for early morning/night-time tiling work. Work seemed to be progressing at a much quicker rate in the JCPenney court for obvious reasons (with people actually working on it during mall hours) while the ones in Macy’s court seems to have started to be done. I didn’t take a look at “Spring” however so I am not sure sure entirely what to say about it.

     I might upload them a little later.

229. Hahaha Lids in the Food Court? I gotta see that lol. Do you have a pic of it?

     Oh wait, or do you just mean the huge Kiosk full of hats? I saw that, I thought they had been there for a while.

     Also, a Bloomingdales? That’d be awesomely cool but very unlikely. Still, let’s hope it’s not JUST a rumor!

     I’ll be heading back down there later this month. I’ll take more pics.

230. No…It’s a Lids store. Unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of it due to some mall employees.

231. There are at least two Michigan malls with Lids in food court slots: Grand Traverse Mall in Traverse City and The Lakes Mall in Muskegon. The latter is between a Mrs. Fields and a Sbarro’s, I think.

232. The Lids store is just a large kiosk with a bunch of hats…I would just be worried that they would get a food smell on them from being right near the food court.

     Spring is a footwear store.

233. Well, I guess Lids in food courts is more common than I thought. There happens to be one in my local mall’s food court too! (except it used to be called “Hat World”)

234. A BCBG is opening up next to Hollister

235. Oh wow I just noticed this but:

     http://www.labelscar.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/cherry-hill-mall-01.jpg

     That’s my Blue NB in that photo, lol.

     Also does anyone have any requests for pictures when I go there next week?

236. Where’d you hear about BCBG?

237. haha Never Mind its on the interactive mall directory. sorry

238. I didnt even realize it was posted on the website. I saw their posters on the store they are going to be housed in

239. They’re supposed to put Anthropoligie, Garage and other stuff………….

     http://bp2.blogger.com/_AcUdTl7Aq-s/SD7Gx4RzT1I/AAAAAAAAFZM/hFyS87eCFD0/s1600-h/03_Cherry+Hill+plan_2009.jpg

240. Awesome find! I love it

241. Well it has that Garage store where the current Armani Exchange is at, so maybe this is old news. But I love the stores and restaurants listed,.

242. That is old actually, probably done last year.

     Also that would be weird if The GAP took the old Houlihan’s.

243. I was at Cherry Hill today, and let me tell you, it looks like the inside of a Parking Garage right now. Saw where BCBG is going, its going to be a nice addition to the mall.

     All tile was gone off the floor giving it the Parking Garage appearance. It looks as if the interior renovation is about to kick into high gear.

244. Yeah the mall appearance does resemble a parking garage, but I’d assume that in the next 2 months things will be getting done quickly. Just because of Back to School and then before you know it, holiday shopping is here!

     The new food court seems to be coming along nicely too.

245. Parking garage is right, I headed over there today to take pics:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/CHMMacysWing.png

     The whole mall was eeirly dark and depressing.

     As for the Food Court:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/CHMFC.png

     Also Outside:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/OutsideNewFoodCourt.png

     And here’s that transitional court:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/CHMTransitionCourt.png

     And a view through the Construction barrier window:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/CHMWindow.png

     Escalators a JCP Court:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/CHMJCPEscalators.png

     Also went to GSP, that new building is actually for Pei Wei, Potbelly Sandwiches, Sleepy’s (rofl) and Houlihan’s:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/PeiWeiGSP.png

     And over at Moorestown, I can’t believe this is not online anywhere:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/MM1.png

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/MM2.png

     And the current progress:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/MMEnt.png

     And that outparcel is actually going to be another Pei Wei and (surprise) another Potbelly Sandwich Works.

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20June%2013%202008/PeiWeiMM.png

     Also CVS is gone, which sucks.

246. No updates here for a while I see.

     Im off this week and might stop by so Ill see if I can keep everything updated

247. 10 days is a while? =/

     I doubt anything’s much different.

248. For a while in late May early June there were lots of updates.

     Yeah your right, Im sure nothing is much different. Prob in a month and a half or so, towards the end of summer we’ll see a huge difference.

249. AceJay: The transitional court is depressing, but I wish you gotten a bit further back so you could see clearly where the McD’s used to be and all that.

250. Spring looks like it is about to open. All of their shoes were out and the signs were up. But, they were closed last night. They should be open soon.

     The chinese food place in the food court is closed so slowly but surely places are either leaving or getting ready for the move down to the other wing.

     I was there for all of about 5 minutes so I didnt have time to see much more.

251. The two level area is really interesting. There is lots sheetrock and new walls being created.

     Two escalators were also installed near the new food court that lead to the JC Penny’s.

252. Jonah: Mc D’s was just empty, still on the same footprint, with the side-windows covered over by cardboard.

     The first floor looked the same as the 2nd, with that same weird wall of sheetrock.

253. AceJay:

     Thanks for the pics! It will be very interesting to see this place completed.

     Just came across an article on the CHM renovation for anyone’s reading pleasure.

254. Thanks Mallguy for that article, haven’t herd from you in quite some time.

255. The new tile flooring is down in front of Solstice.

     To get to the second level area, you have to take the new ways up and down (if you are there you will understand this). To get downstairs you actually walk through the old Mcdonalds. It looks like they are going to do some major work on the escalators and stairs in that area.

256. Oh man it’s pictures like this that really make me miss the Staircase at Cherry court:

     http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=BZ&Date=20080502&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=805020802&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=14

     Wow 🙁

     Also that sounds weird going through McD’s. I MIGHT just have to head down there again. I’ll update you all with pics when I do.

257. Cool, I just found out that the 1999 Pokémon mall tour was held here at what is now Cherry Hill’s GameStop.

     http://www.gamespot.com/news/2452389.html

     I would’ve liked that. It also says it went to Freehold Raceway Mall too, but that’s thread so spammed up, another comment will just get lost in the crap.

258. Oh man, those were the days. I went to both, Freehold’s was probably the better one.

     I should find those pictures…

259. AceJay-

     The picture of the Cherry Court staircase that ran in the Courier Post was not of the original staircase. That is a picture of an escalator bank that was installed in 1990 that led into Strawbridge’s 2nd floor. The original staircase was of a simple design that led into Strawbridge’s Cherry Court Terrace restaurant. Very few shoppers used that staircase. I guess the older we all got, the lazier we all became. Unfortunately, that escalator destroyed the original Victor Gruen design that made Cherry Hill Mall unique. However, I’d do anything to get back the Cherry Hill Mall design of 1990. But to see Cherry Hill now just sickens me. That’s coming from not only a retail enthusiast, but a native of Cherry Hill. I guess I should stop keep seeing it as the ‘Cherry Hill Shopping Center’ (its original name) and just accept what’s happened to it, and ignore it.

260. Sorry, that’s what I meant.

     http://www.labelscar.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/cherry-hill-mall-submission-08.jpg

     I’ve never seen the original staircase. If anyone has pictures, please post them!

261. Gilly Hicks is proposed or currently under construction at the Deptford Mall. I know for a fact that the Abercrombie is under construction.

     I wonder if things fell through with Cherry Hill or they are going to build 2 in close proximity.

     It would be the second largest store in Square Feet behind Victorias Secret.

262. I heard that Gilly Hicks is also coming to….

     Cherry Hill Mall
     Garden State Plaza
     Short Hills Mall
     and Freehold Raceway Mall

263. Well, Cherry Hill Mall is getting a Gilly Hicks in what is now….the food court! Haven’t we beaten this dead horse already?

     “It would be the second largest store in Square Feet behind Victorias Secret.”

     Why do lingerie stores have to be so large, anyway?

264. Huh, as reported by the Google Maps API for closing Starbucks’:

     “The Cherry Hill Mall Kiosk will be closing.”

     No idea if this means it’s out of the mall forever or if they’ll move to a better location like a half-outdoors location next to the new main entrance.

265. Scrath that, the official list does not include it, so it should be moving.

     http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/USStoreClosureInfo.pdf

266. I was at the mall the other day. Interior construction looks basically the same. It’s a shame becuase it really looks terrible inside, it makes me not want to be there at all. It’s alright though, because when the renovation is done, I’m sure I;ll want to spend all my time there haha.

     The Exterior is where the action is. Nordstroms Facade is almost 100% complete, which went up in less than 1 week. Maggianos Facade is going up really fast. Another Facade to a restuarants near Bahama Breeze is also being constructed. Wonder what it is for.

     Hopefully the interior will start to pick up some speed.

267. I agree with Alex about the interior construction being a bit terrible haha. Also like Alex, I agree that itll be awesome when its finished,

     The current food court is so dark and sad looking right now. Only a handful of places to eat remain open. The Orange Julius stand is completely gone and is actually the only thing in the newer food court that looks like its on track for a completion in the upcoming week.

     JC Penny is already advertising “Back to School”…ugh.

268. I work in the Cherry Hill mall, and yes the Starbucks that was previously in the food court will be closing for good, because they could not agree on a place with preit. but the one in macys will continue o be open.

269. Thanks KL, that’s pretty sad that they couldn’t have put it either in the new Food Court or in the new Center Court, or across from Cold Stone, with both and exterior and interior entrance.

270. Wow, check this out:
     http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E1DF1438F935A25752C1A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

     This really paints an image of Cherry Hill Mall circa 1997. The McDonald’s is gross, the JCPenney wing is full of gangsters, the mall had two liquor stores at one time (not just one, and at least one them stayed open past ’84), kiosks sold craft fair type merchandise, and a time when the Cherry Hill Grill closed but the Bistro is not yet open.

     Depressing.

271. 40 Kiosks, wow.

     Also that’s pretty hillarious, the match-burned graffitti in McD’s restrooms.

272. are you sure victoria’s secret has the most square feet in that mall?

     hollister is pretty huge there, even with two closed rooms.

273. The only remaining food court businesses are the Fruit Smoothie place, the Japanese place, Subway, the Chinese Food place, and the Auntie Annes. The food court is gutted up pretty well right now so it appears to be progressing as well as it can while still needing to serve people.

     The new food court looks to be 2 weeks away from completion. The only stand that could open up soon would be the Orange Julis/DQ stand. Saladworks has a sign up, but that is it.

     BCBG has not removed the construction walls in front of it, so I’m not sure when this is going to open.

     The floor is down in a small section between Solstice and Armani (if I’m remembering it well), and the ceiling seems to be going along fine.

     By mid Fall, it may be quite the good looking place.

274. What stores have closed since remodeling? From PhillyBlog:
     Lids (relocated to a kiosk at the food court)
     The Picture People (moved to the now closed Hall of Heroes store)
     Hall of Heroes
     The sneaker store that was next to Spencer’s
     The sneaker/clothing store that was next to McDonald’s
     Motherhood Maternity had a sign that said it was moving to the former Racetrack.

     Goten in the food court is now gone. The soup place and Quizno’s have been gone for a couple of months now as well.

     From here:
     McDonald’s, d.e.m.o., and JasmineSola

     Can anyone clarify on the store closures from PhillyBlog/anymore closures at CHM I’m not aware of?

275. I probably posted that on PhillyBlog.

     All of those stores listed are still closed,

     The large store next to Kitchen Kapers, which I forgot the former name of and is a nice sized store, has been closed for a long time now. It doesn’t even look like there is any sign of new construction occuring there.

     The former Discovery Store has been closed since the start of the year I believe and it also doesnt seem like any construction is going on there as well. Maybe that spot will also be involved in the old food court deconstruction project (Gilly Hicks?).

     Nine West is undergoing remodeling.

     Thats about it for now. Sorry if I didnt answer you question above correctly, but I hope that I helped somewhat.

276. Well, of course I mean closed permanently as a result of remodeling. The Discovery Channel store did close last summer as a result of bankruptcy. Houlihan’s is also closed, I heard. I have a map from last summer, but it doesn’t list exact store locations.

     I mainly wanted to know what were the names of the stores. For example, which would you rather hear as closing? “That toasted sandwich place in the food court” or “Quizno’s”?

277. I see what you mean. Well I’ll be more specific in future updates

278. Apparently BCBG is opening on Friday. MY BIRTHDAY! YAY!

     Anyway, any new retailers announced?

279. Alex,Happy Birthday!

280. The sneaker/clothing store next to McDonald’s has to be Underground Station, but it’s still there, apparently. The mystery store has yet to be solved. The store next to Kitchen Kapers was Talbots. Easy Pickins probably was the sneaker store near Spencers.

281. Only Lotus Express, Yanagi Too, Fruit Sensations and Subway remain in the food court. Last summer, it included lots of stores. All of those, plus Bain’s Deli, Cinnabon (which was new for summer 2007), Go Ten, Kelly’s Cajun & Grill, Quiznos Subs, Saladworks, South Philly Cheesesteak, That’s Italian, Yeung’s Lotus Express, plus the Dairy Queen/Orange Julius and Starbucks stands. Wow.

282. anybody know what stores are going into the new wing leading to nordstrom?

283. Coach, Urban Outfitters, Seasons, and Puma…not sure on the rest.

284. Anthropoligie, and Free People too i heard

285. I also heard of a Lacoste store opening up.

     On a side note, is McDonalds out of the mall for good?

286. They updated they’re leasing plan on the mall website. It doesnt list any stores, but al least you can see the design.

     http://www.cherryhillmall.com/directory/main_level

287. Stopped by the mall tonight.

     It was so weird to see the old food court boxed off and closed.

     The tile flooring that was on a month or 2 ago near Solstice is now gone, so maybe they were just trying something out. There does appear to be a lot of construction (such as digging and some metal work) going on on the floor.

     The new food court has Fruit Sensations and DQ that are currently open. Auntie Anne’s located by the old food court, 2nd floor, and small kiosk near the Bistro are the only other eating options.

     BCBG is now open as well. Looks pretty fancy. My girlfriend wants everything in there ha.

     Exterior construction on the Nordstrom and Magiannos areas seem to be progressing nicely, but nothing else worth pointing out.

288. garage is definately coming to cherry hill…they’re looking for managers on craig’s list

289. I hope for the mall’s sake they fix it up, maybe add a better food court, add more fancy stores and burn and salt the old Discovery Channel Store space, that store is for geeks! Good ridence! They should open RUEHL or something!

290. I hope for the mall’s sake they fix it up, maybe add a better food court, add more fancy stores and burn and salt the old Discovery Channel Store space, that store is for geeks! Good ridence! They should open RUEHL or something!

291. YEAH!
     agreed100% they need to put a ruehl because the closest one is 55 minutes away and its a pain to drive all the way there when you don’t even know what they’re going to have in stock or not

292. Well, “Ed Ruskin”, if you noticed all the pictures are now out of date, as the mall has been now virtually gutted. Most of the stores you see, even the great Cherry Court, is all gone.

     Has the new food court opened up yet? Anyone take pictures?

293. Yes, the new foodcourt is open. Well, It’s open, but only 2 of the places in it. I think its Fruit sensations and Orange Julius of something I cant remember though. I’m sure the rest will open shortly. No pics, sorry.

294. So I went down there on the 15th, and took some pics. First off, Moorestown’s new entrance is almost done, they just need the big M logo on it:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20August%2015%202008/MoorestownMallNewMainEnt.jpg

     They’re also either demolishing or renovating the entrance between Sears and Theatre Xtreme, not sure.

     And over at Cherry Hill Mall:

     Nordstrom’s progressing nicely:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20August%2015%202008/CHMNordstrom.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20August%2015%202008/CHMNewwing.jpg

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20August%2015%202008/CHMEnt.jpg

     They’re also filling in the underground service tunnel:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20August%2015%202008/CHMFilledTunnel.jpg

     Anyone know what’s currently down there, under the mall?

     Also:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20August%2015%202008/CHMBertuccis.jpg

     And here’s the stupid thing:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20August%2015%202008/CHMNewFoodCourt.jpg

     That’s right! NO DOORS INTO THE FOOD COURT!

     Stupid as hell.
     I didn’t get any interior shots, there were too many people and cops. It doesn’t look appealing anyway, we’ll get better shots later.

     Also I saw the Escalators for the Center court sitting outside, covered in a tarp.

     And here’s the view from one of the barrier windows into center court:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20August%2015%202008/CHMCenterCt.jpg

     Also, check out the old food court; completely gone:

     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/South%20NJ%20Malls%20August%2015%202008/CHMOldFoodcourt.jpg

295. Unreal. 🙁

     I can’t even imagine what perspective they were taken from. Do you have any “comparison pictures”, judging from what we’ve already got?

296. Jonah;

     If you look at the architectural drawings, specifically with the new center court, I think you are looking facing where the escalators will be and further ahead will be the new wing leading to Nordstrom.

     AceJay:

     Where is the underground service tunnel in the mall? Surprising they didn’t convert that truck tunnel into a lower level, as was done at Tysons Corner Center and Garden State Plaza. If the truck tunnel is on the Macy’s wing, that could’ve worked knowing that it would meet the Macy’s lower level. That is very stange there is no mall entrance to the food court.

297. Where is the nearest entry in the food court area.

     To my Knowledge , the only malls that don’t offer direct outside access to the food court either have them located underground AKA Manhattan Mall or on the third level or higher AKA Stamford Town Center, Newport, Tysons Corner or Fashon Show. The set up here is strange at best.

298. Here’s the Tunnell and the Nearest food court entrance.

     I’m not sure how far the tunnel went, but it seems they’re merely filling it in with dirt.

     http://i33.tinypic.com/2u7oznp.png

299. re: RUEHL.

     cherry hill, a year ago, was rumored to have all five abercrombie brands in the near future, including not only hollister, but also abercrombie kids, ruehl and gilly hicks…

     however, my most recent understanding is that the ruehl brand is not doing as well as they had hoped and they may shut it down altogether and focus on expanding gilly hicks

300. Well, if they lowered the prices and and made the brand different from its fellow brands, then maybe they would do very well. I can’t see them shutting down completely when they haven’t even attempted to make it better yet.

301. honestly, i prefer ruehl to A&F because the prices have gotten a lot more reasonable (when it first opened, Jeans were $150 and above, whereas they are now $108). basically it’s priced at about 10 dollars more than A&F for most things in the store, and for 10 dollars, I’m willing to pay for the extra quality, better denim washes, etc.

     As for making it different from its fellow brands, It actually was a lot different when it first opened, but when it started doing poorly, they abandoned the attempts to make it a truely unique brand and basically pushed it back in like with the style of A&F and Hollister. You can still see some of the style it used to have with their more artistic inspired shirts.

     Unrelated, but does anyone know what is being built near Nordstrom and across from coldstone and bahama breeze? I thought I saw somewhere that that will be Urban Outfitters, but i’m not sure.

302. Yeah, it is Urban Outfitters and one other store.

     Also Jonah sorry for not resonding before, that Food court pic was taken from where the existing Food court bathrooms were, pretty much right through the wall.

     I would have taken it from the front but there was a nice gathering of Security watching over it =/

303. I actually remember the truck tunnel as a kid.

     Anyway, on some related news to the mall area, “Sports Authority” is opening up across the street in the Target/Kohls shopping center. It is renovating that old carpet store. Also Target is renovating their whole store and modernizing the look.

     When is the completion date of the new wing and Nordstroms again?

304. as far as the completion date is concerened, different areas are opening at different times. i know that the 3 retail spaces they converted the old food court into are opening this fall, one of which i’m assuming is garage, only because i’ve heard that store is opening on black friday (which should be interesting because hollister opened a week before black friday last year and still didn’t have their associates trained in time to handle the business they did, so i assume garage will have a hell of a time)

     i’ve heard that nordstrom is scheduled to open in the spring, but i’ve heard that the wing of stores leading to it supposedly opens a bit earlier, but i doubt in time for the holidays. one clue may be that the abercrombie kids store (which was supposed to open a year ago) apparently has a scheduled opening in february.

     maggiano’s supposedly opens for the holiday season, and it looks like a few other restaurants are starting to be built near the mall entrance by macy’s

305. There is an article in todays Courier Post about the new food court, with some pictures too. You can see it here: [url]http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/NEWS01/809120361&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL[/url[

     ARTICLE:

     [i]New food court at Cherry Hill Mall ready to open
     By RACHEL MISENKO • Courier-Post Staff • September 12, 2008

     CHERRY HILL — The Cherry Hill Mall is celebrating the opening of its new food court with a weekend of dining and entertainment.

     From 11 a.m. today through 5 p.m. Sunday, mall-goers will be treated to entertainment and $5 food vouchers. Lisa Wolstromer, mall marketing director, said there will be 1,500 vouchers given out over the course of the weekend.

     “We wanted to celebrate this milestone in our construction,” Wolstromer said. “We’re halfway through the mall redevelopment, and we wanted to let people know the food court has relocated and is open.”

     In addition to the vouchers, Wolstromer said there will be entertainment in the form of jugglers, balloon sculptors and dressed-up characters like chefs or waiters.

     Currently, only Dairy Queen, Orange Julius, Fruit Sensations and Salad Works are open for business. Wolstromer said she expects other vendors to open within the next few weeks for a total of 10 vendors, as compared to the old food court’s 13.

     “Everything is new and looks good,” Fruit Sensations manager Jose Luis said, “but I think the only problem is that the space is a little small.”

     Though there is less room in the food court’s new location by J. C. Penney, the atmosphere makes it seem more open. With a wall of frosted glass windows, there is plenty of light to fill the space.

     Wolstromer said the area is fitted with new tables and chairs, combining elements of light and dark wood for a fresh feel.

     “I like how open it feels,” said Stephanie Maddox, of Mount Laurel. “It’s a lot more classy, and personally, I like it better than the old location.”

     Maddox said she thinks the addition of the new, covered parking deck will also help attract customers. With most of the mall in the process of redevelopment, Luis said he hopes the lull in business will pick up as more restaurants start to open.

     Construction on the new food court began in February, and Wolstromer said the project is on schedule. Plans are in the works to make the food court’s old location into retail space.

     “We’re also going to be building Bistro Row, facing the Route 38 corridor, with several different white linen restaurants opening in the spring of 2009,” Wolstromer said.

     The $200 million reconstruction of the Cherry Hill Mall is designed to enhance its image as a retail destination.

     The interior will be made over with earth tones instead of the mall’s old teal and gray color scheme, and new retailers and vendors will be added to the 47-year-old mall.

     Construction on the mall began after the 2007 holiday season. The parking deck is scheduled to open this fall, and retail-giant Nordstrom should be open to customers by spring of 2009, according to the mall’s Web site.[/i]

306. Sorry if I am not allowed to post articles?

307. Just the link would be better:

     http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/NEWS01/809120361&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

     But wow, that looks a LOT better than when I went there last.

     But I still don’t understand why in the HELL PREIT would allow the contractors to not have put an entrance/exit in the frosted glass window wall.

     It truly boggles me.

308. Wow, I second that AceJay! I have not been to the mall in a while and the new foodcourt really does look good. I like all the colorful plants they put in planters around. It is peculiar though about those doors…..hmmm…

309. I know for next time. I did not know how to link it properly. (I used [url] instead of ) lol

     Yeah, I don’t understand why they wouldn’t put a direct entrance to the food court. I have never seen another mall with out a direct entrance to the food court. Also, you would think they would wait until the other places would open up before opening up the food court. Who want to go just for Dairy Queen, Orange Julius, Fruit Sensations and Salad Works?

310. Well, AJ, I like Orange Julius and Dairy Queen snacks…and my mall doesn’t have an exterior exit to the food court!

311. Where is the nearest entrance in that area of the mall? Does seme strange, what happens in case of an evacuation?

312. A main entrance is right near it, it’s not a fire hazard.

313. As I said the nearest entrance is right here:

     http://i33.tinypic.com/2u7oznp.png

     But it just seems stupid to not give the Food court itself an entrance.

314. Yes, not having an entry directly into the food court is stupid. Hence my prire question. Somebody either forgot or had no clue what they were doing. Either way there is no excuse for that type of incompitence.

315. I really don’t think exterior entrances need to lead directly into food courts…I think it’s more of an opinion question, really. My question: I know Old Navy opened in 2005 (ref) but what did it replace? Someone mentioned a puppy mill and a dollar store…what else and what were the names?

316. I -think- Modell’s was 2 floors originally, it might have been them.

317. I know it was the dog store for certain but I dont remember the name.

     Went to the mall today and it seems to be coming along really well. Lots of white paint, fixed up ceilings, new windows. Very bright.

     The food court was open but only 3 places, but it was mobbed.

     One of the exposed beams said Delaware Mall which was pretty cool to see.

     Ill try to update some more later on

318. Old Navy replaced a couple of different stores. The basically took out a “Block” of stores and made it into one big store that old navy took over. From what I remember, there was some clothes store, a dollar store, a pet store (now across the street), a Yankee candle shop (now at Garden State Park), and a couple more I can’t remember. (I think).

     Regarding the entrance to the food court, the old food court used to draw in a lot of outside people who would come to the mall JUST to eat lunch and such. (may businesses around the mall) So the direct entrance to the food court was useful.

319. I don’t think Yankee Candle was at that part of the mall. The Old Navy replaced a number of stores, but most were garbage, including the dollar and pet (puppy mill) store.. Old Navy was an improvement, and Old Navy left the Garden State Pavilions shopping center for the mall without an entrance, but PREIT has to plaster Old Navy’s name all over the mall, as if they are a junior anchor, but they are really still small, and Old Navy hasn’t been doing so well nationally…But this was all before redevelopment. I’m sure now PREIT may have thought, well maybe we could get something better, especially with better stores like Talbots defecting to the Towne Place in the racetrack. Other nearby Old Navy stores are in East Gate Square and in Marlton (which probably has more upper incomers from Medford, Marlton and Voorhees) who frequent.

     Isn’t the new foodcourt look smaller than Voorhees Town Center’s food court and other mall foodcourts (evnn malls with half the business of CH)? In philly.com they said the new food court will only hold 10 tenants, rather than 13 from the prior. But at any given time in the old foodcourt, atleast 1-2 were not operating, and I’ve seen strong malls elsewhere like Tyson’s Corner in VA that don’t have much a foodcourt or one at all.

320. Another popular addition in or around the mall would be a Trader Joes. ZIt should be put in somewhere, but not at that Plaza at Cherry Hill which is an eyesore of a shopping center, unless the developer really redevelops that. While Marlton already has Trader Joes, it’s not stopping west Cherry Hill from getting some of the same upscale or destinational stores Marlton has. And Trader Joes wouldn’t be impacted by price points or competition even though Wegmans has that part of town.

     Also, the mall is central and somewhat destinational even for Philly folk who come to NJ to fill up for cheaper gas, and shop at the mall or at the racetrack now.

321. Besides Maggiano’s, several other new structures along what is supposed to become “Bistro Row” seem to be making progress — especially down near the Macy’s end, and again between Bahama Breeze and the new Nordstrom building. Does anyone have a clue definitively what these new restaurants are? They would not be that far along if a lease was not already signed for restaurants as these type of restaurants… The one near the new Nordstrom has beautiful stone work on it’s exterior already in place — from Joey’s previous posting on July 6, the space was listed as “Seasons” (link from that post included here).

     http://bp2.blogger.com/_AcUdTl7Aq-s/SD7Gx4RzT1I/AAAAAAAAFZM/hFyS87eCFD0/s1600-h/03_Cherry+Hill+plan_2009.jpg

     The map there includes: Morton’s, Seasons (which should be Seasons 52), California Pizza Kitchen, Wildfire, and Big Bowl.

     I have never seen confirmation anywhere else of any of these restaurants, but did find Seasons 52 listed on the “Cherry Hill Towers Blogging Apartments” page (link below):

     http://cherryhilltowers.bloggingapartments.com/

     Seasons 52 would make sense since it is also owned by Darden Restaurants which owns Bahama Breeze. With the lack of and expense to acquire liquor licenses in Cherry Hill, companies that can put multiple restaurant concepts at the mall while using one license will be incredibly valuable. If I am not mistaken, a liquor license holder can utilize that license for up to three different restaurants at the same overall location (like a mall or shopping pad) even if the kitchens or walls do not connect. This fact, plus the stone facade on the new building looks EXTREMELY similar to the look of the Seasons 52 exterior photos shown on their website make it seem fairly certain that Seasons 52 is indeed one of the new restaurants on Bistro Row.

     And although Morton’s Steakhouse has been thrown around a lot (even in the Courier Post), it would make more sense if it was Capital Grille since they are also owned by Darden — although very few Capital Grille’s are located outside of the downtown big cities.

     So what else has anyone heard about restaurants for the mall? What happened to Stephen Starr putting El Vez and Jones at the mall which he even spoke about in interviews last year and was reported in the New York Times?

     Curious to hear and getting hungry thinking about it! Thanks.

322. I just googled seasons 52 cherry hill and I think you are right about it being that. There are tons of job ads listed, so I think we can be sure about this one. I’m glad they’re adding this, looks like a good addition!

323. What is seasons 52? I never herd of them before.

324. It’s a restaurant chain. Most locations are in Florida but they have some locations in Atlanta/Buckhead. They look to be a little bit more health consious. I think it looks nice, sophisticated and refreshing.

325. There was a Yankee Candle shop there before. It was on the corner of the “block” before you turn toward the exit doors/mini-wing. It later moved (or moved from there. I dont remember) down toward the escalators.

326. Wow, that will be a lot of restaurants in Cherry Hill now with the restaurant row and the new restaurants that are by the Garden State Racetrack as well. Any fall outs from the gain? [Perhaps some of the lower class chains in and around the area like Bennigan’s which closed]

     I think Cherry Hill Mall will enjoy high occupancy and A list tenants for the foreseeable future, with these stores/restaurants, and will the be ‘it’ mall in the area, and the racetrack business will just make Cherry Hill west a huger shopping area. Though I’m sure PREIT still doesn’t like the racetrack because it prohibits PREIT from increasing rents at the mall itself (at perhaps a higher rate) when there is competing centers around. PREIT has to make money on an expected rent from the millions invested in CH.

     Regrettably CH Mall’s nearby co-owned malls might suffer. Over a decade ago, Echelon Mall wasn’t so distant from Cherry Hill in quality of stores, sales and traffic, and Moorestown seemed to gain some momentum with the Lord & Taylor addition but it quickly tapered. The townstreet center of Voorhees still has atleast a year or two before stabilization, so its still too soon there.

     Since Moorestown doesn’t have a thread and will probably have more labelscars at the end of the day now…I’ll just say – With Moorestown, PREIT can lower the rent, and the mall becomes like Burlington Center Mall, owned by Jager Management, with high occupancy but your mom & pop tenants inside it. I don’t foresee PREIT doing that.

     Otherwise it’s more or less 80/20 or 75/25, the latter number vacancy. I’m sure PREIT has a threshold. Right now, I can see some attrition of some tenants or outright displacement of stores to big box centers, esp. East Gate Square which lost OfficeMax, CompUSA, Mikasa, and Linens N Things which has room to accept tenants. Think about Parade of Shoes a mall based store that’s no longer around, but those DSWs that open in big box centers,or the fact that Sam Goody and Suncoast closed but there is a Best Buy right outside the mall.

     East Gate could carve space for Payless, Justice, and a few of the mall like tenants inside Moorestown at the moment and w/o investment from PREIT in that mall, Moorestown further slips. I wonder why they put the Krazy City park in Voorhees, which is somewhat remote, instead of Moorestown. Did Krazy City pay for the tenant improvements? The downside of Krazy City in Moorestown would be more direct competition and perhaps less kids because of competition from FunPlex in Mt.Laurel, which is bigger and better anyways.

     The Pei Wei, Potbelly standalones and the Chipotle, Eastern Mountain Sports and new Route 38 entrances aren’t nearly enough to boost Moorestown esp. with so many stores like the apparel oriented stores only choosing A malls or lifestyle plazas.

327. Josh,

     While I agree with your assessment that Moorestown Mall may have hard times to come, I believe that PREIT will eventually do something about it and the mall will survive. First, Moorestown Mall is at a very good location (frankly better than Cherry Hill) and has direct access from I-295. Also, Moorestown is a fairly affluent town and I don’t see them allowing the mall to turn into Burlington Center. We all know that Cherry Hill is their first priority (frankly that’s why they purchased MM…to protect CHM) and they will address the malls issues. What I would propose is first, an interior renovation. While I actually like the interior, it’s a little tired. Second, I would propose a lifestyle center anchored by a Barnes and Noble which can move over from East Gate Square. Third, they need a new and larger movie theater. Fourth, they need to change their marketing strategy to being the ‘smaller more family oriented mall.’ Paramus Park has done this and it has suited them well. Lastly and probably most importantly, the town of Moorestown can help by repealing their liquor license laws. Due to its Quaker history Moorestown is a dry town and has stayed that way into 2008. Restaurants will be less likely to open in a dry town since the bar is usually a big profit builder for them. If those items can be addressed, MM will be fine.

     We in NJ have this ability to have to large successful malls within close proximity to each other (examples: Paramus Park, Garden State Plaza and The Shops at Riverside are only about 3 miles apart from each other; Short Hills and Livingston are 4 miles apart from each other; Menlo and Woodbridge are 2.5 miles apart) and along the Route 38 Corridor, there is no reason why Cherry Hill Mall and Moorestown Mall can coexist.

328. I live in Moorestown, and while I would like to see what Mallyguy says happen to the mall, I don’t really think that It will happen. I was in the mall last night. It is really an unconfortable place FULL of mallrats. The highest-end tenant is Hollister which is not saying much. Mo’town will never repeal the dry town status, so I dont think any big/worthwile restuarants would open. Last year there was a referendum to vote on whether or not to repeal it, but the town shot it down. Redstone said it would have been interested in the mall if the liquor lisence was approved, too bad as Redstone would really be a good draw.

     Cherry Hill on the other hand, while being closer to poor areas (camden specifically), seems much more managed, more confortable. The tenant roster is obviously 100 times better there also, and the Restaurant list will be great in a few months.

     with that being said, I do hope that both places do well and grow.

329. Aliijandinho:

     That is interesting to hear Moorestown put the dry town status to a vote. If they ever do get it back on the ballot, maybe they’ll limit the area where liquor can be served to just the mall. As I said, there is great potential there and the town should realize this…especially since, as in NJ, malls are a big property tax source that help lower property taxes for those living in the community…look at Bridgewater, Wayne and Paramus and major examples to this.

     I’ve heard rumors about an upcoming renovation to another nearby mall, Deptford Mall. Anything new with that?

330. Actually the only thing new that I’ve heard about Deptford is that they’ll get a Gilly Hicks and Abercrombie. Although, I beleive that Deptford is far enough from Cherry Hill that it can be really successful.

331. Aleijandinho:

     True.

     And don’t forget, Deptford Mall is owned by Macerich and they just completed mega expansions and renovations for 3 of their prime properties: Tysons Corner Center (2006), Freehold Raceway Mall (2007/8) and Danbury Fair Mall (2007/8). All have been very impressive and if they follow the pattern, then Deptford Mall will get something nice and go head to head with CHM.

332. Don’t forget about Queens Center, also owned by Macerich. What an undertaking, that was not a simple add on to an existing mall.

333. If Deptford gets what QCM and FRM got, that would be awesome.

     Macerich knows what they’re doing.

334. Forgot that one on the basis that I haven’t been there since it’s been redone, but yes, that remodel was quite impressive.

335. http://74.125.45.104/search?q=cache:zf0L8k4o0SwJ:www.cherryhill-nj.com/BoardMeetings/Planmins/planagenda.pdf+seasons+52+%22cherry+hill+mall%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a

     Cherry Hill Planning Board meeting set for Oct 6… on the agenda are site plan waivers for new mall restaurants… looks like the mall will definitely be getting:
     Seasons 52
     Maggiano’s
     California Pizza Kitchen
     Capital Grille

     woo-hoo!

336. friend of mine works at hollister….according to her cherry hill is definately getting abercrombie kids and gilly hicks when the nordstrom wing opens and possibly ruehl

337. Wow, Capital Grille is a surprise. A good surprise though! California Pizza kitchen is also pretty good, but for me at the bottom of the list of new restaurants. I predicted that Cherry Hill would get one though.

     There should be a few more added to the list soon, right?

338. I have a question: what did H&M and Bertucci’s used to be? Yes, I know it was indeed Woolworth’s prior to 1997, but then what did the most of the space (minus the Foot Locker) become?

339. The Woolworth space inside the mall was converted to Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker. The latter two have moved elsewhere in the mall, and now its Armani and Apple but a smaller Foot Locker. The Woolworths used to have an outside entrance. Note: Foot Locker is owned by Venator Group, Inc., and is successor corporation to the F.W. Woolworth Company

     The remaining portion facing Route 38 was leased to Bertuccis, but it didn’t immediately happen. Nothing else happened in between. The Bertuccis in East Gate was the first and foremost one in the market.

     H&M has been there for awhile. I don’t remember what it replaced, but it was definitely a good add to the mall.

     I wonder why to this day – Quakerbridge Mall owners haven’t tried to lure in H&M over there?

     I know Finish Line replaced Eddie Bauer, and SEPHORA replaced Casual Corner/Petite Sophisticate, Forever 21 replaced Eckerd and Champs, Champs replaced Sam Goody. Why do I know all this!

     Interesting note though is that Finish Line opened in Echelon before Cherry Hill, but still for whatever reason doesn’t want to open in Moorestown. Finish Line opens where its a huge mall, or if is an urban mall (Burlington Center/Gallery), but sometimes misses the malls in between. As far as oversaturation with sneaker stores, yes, there are quite a few shoe stores in in East Gate though with Dick’s, Rack Room Shoes, Famous Footwear, Sports Authority now further east in Centerton Square, but Finish Line’s main rival is Foot Locker/Champs, which are both in Moorestown.

340. RE: Deptford
     Deptford Mall is definitely nice and central to a lot of areas, more ppl are moving to Gloucester County, but I doubt it will be on the lines like FRM anytime soon. There isn’t the enough of the $100,000 annual income HH demographics so closeby. And, South Jersey doesn’t have the density that Northern NJ where malls prosper a bit more. But I could be underestimating the So. NJ appetite for mall shopping.

     My guess is maybe a few more restaurants are built, and maybe some more upscale leaning stores (abercrombie), maybe Banana Republic. They used to have Eddie Bauer. To really develop it the owner would have had to build a parking deck atleast. The owner could have bought the Strawbridge space before Boscov did, as the owner had first right, to truly redevelop and possibly expand the mall, but they passed.

     At this point, I don’t think PREIT has to worry about Deptford, as its far enough. I doubt ppl from Cherry Hill or Voorhees would drive there unless they work there. Its only the residents of towns from Stratford, Somerdale, Clementon, Blackwood, maybe Lindenwold now are more likely to frequent Deptford over Voorhees/Echelon, but that has already happened, esp. with JCPenney in Deptford now.

     RE: Quakerbridge – Where will the Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus be built?

     RE: Moorestown Mall. I remember reading long back in the papers (Philly Inq./Courier Post) that Regal was supposed to open a theater in East Gate Square. I think this would have effectively ended the movies at the mall. However, no follow up was ever mentioned, and instead the newer phases of the plaza came about, with Circuit City, ULTA and such. I think Circuit City is on the spot that was originally planned for a Regal theater. The other pads facing Boscov don’t seem large enough.

     Anyways, Regal now owns UA and the UA is set there, and possibly they don’t want to expand, renovate and such, and PREIT might be waiting off before re-doing the dated foodcourt, and the side of the mall facing East Gate.

341. Actually, there was a follow up. Doing a quick search “east gate square” “regal” on newslibrary.com and selecting Philadelphia Inquirer, I pulled the first paragraph:

     1. Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) – May 12, 1999

     REGAL CINEMAS OUT OF THE PICTURE FOR 12 SCREENS AT EAST GATE SQUARE
     Regal Cinemas has backed out of plans to build a 12-screen, 3,000-seat movie theater in the East Gate Square shopping center, straddling the Mount Laurel-Moorestown border.The decision came about five months after two other theaters opened a few miles west on Route 38. Hoyts Cinemas in Pennsauken and Sony’s Loews Cineplex in Cherry Hill, with a total of 34 screens and 6,630 seats, opened in December. The planned Regal Cinemas would also have competed with a seven-screen United…

     That said, they could work with PREIT to build a huge theater at Moorestown, and compete against AMC Loews. Regal’s biggest screens in our area are in Burlington and Turnersville, the first one a ghetto one, near the ghetto Burlington Center Mall.

     However, possibly with the economy or whatever, ppl are staying at home and maybe movie theater construction is down. My theater of choice is the Ritz Theater in Voorhees, which was recently acquired by National Amusements, and is now more a mainstream theater (they allow kids) but with arts fare on the side, rather than arts fare with some mainstream stuff on the side. I’m not sure a huge movie screen at Moorestown would be nice, because of the crowd that tends to follow. Visit Neshaminy Mall in PA which has a huge AMC but has too many teenagers and younger.

342. Josh,

     On Quakerbridge Mall, the Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus will be built in a new wing that will be perpendicular to the current mall. The plan is to relocate JCPenney next to Sears at the rear of the mall. Once built, the current JCPenney will be torn down and the wing will be buit there. Walking toward the new wing, Nordstrom will be in the center of it, Neiman Marcus will be built at one end facing Clarksville Road and facing Route 1 will be lifestyle center type stores. JCPenney construction was supposed to get started in August, but I haven’t been down that way and don’t know what’s going on. Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom are supposed to open around 2010/2011 and the mall will be fully renovated as well. I’d bet that H&M will open in the remerchandised Quakerbridge Mall.

343. Oh don’t even get me started with QBM. ~_~

344. I was at the mall for a short while yesterday. I have a few updates to share:

     -The new foodcourt is open: it looks really nice. Very bright and airy design, lots of tropical folage in small built-in planters, cushioned seating with white leather on booths, overall really nice design. Only about 3-4 places out of 9 are open so far, but more will come soon I’m sure.

     -The old foodcourt is completely walled in already. Some of the old foodcourt is being subdivided, and beleive it or not, the far corner of the old foocourt’s footprint is where Garage is going. The temp. walls with signage is already up and they are hiring applicants.

     -Down towrds the new wing, things look pretty much the same, but construction of the new wing itself is moving rapidly. Its starting to look really good, you can now sort of see what its going to look like (with some immagination).

     -The Macy’s corridor is still being worked on, but in general looks almost complete, It looks really nice. Short Hills lite, I like to call it.

     Other than that, Maggainos looks like it’s coming along, as well as seasons 52 and other exterior restuarants.

345. Re: Quakerbridge.

     Ok, that could be a plan. I’m wondering though that JCPenney must have to compensated for that in much reduced rent or a great wad of cash. They are sacrificing their location to be tucked at the rear of the mall, near Sears!. Not good.

     I was there 2 weeks ago and saw nothing like new construction going on. While I agree it’s fine to wait for Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, and maybe then banks and other institutions will be eager to lend Kravco money on this mall, I think Kravco Simon could have done more.

     I mean PREIT was taking care of CHM way before Strawbridge’s parent company merged with Macy’s and all this redevelopment business. Stores like bebe and H&M were all brought into the mall with the mall owner’s efforts.

     For example in Quakerbridge, there is a full McDonalds on the second floor. Yet the food alley has a barbershop. There needs to be some repositioning esp when leases are up for renewal. I bet Kravco didn’t much into strategy there. McDonalds to the food alley, and create a strong contigouos space for apparel retail. The mall does have Lord & Taylor and Macy’s and its the only enclosed mall in Mercer County and the demographics are strong.

346. While I do question Quakerbridge and its lackluster operations for the last 5-10 yrs., I do believe as mentioned it will one day be remerchandised esp. with Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus coming aboard.

     Right now, I think it was interesting to see Coffee Beanery and Dunkin Donuts so close to each other in the mall.

347. “Its the only enclosed mall in Mercer County”

     Hi, my name is Marketfair!

348. Haha you got me…thats a much smaller center.

349. Marketfair is more like an indoor lifestyle center than a triditional mall like Quaker Bridge.

350. As probably one can see in Cherry Hill, the retail to the west of the NJ Transit A.C. Line of Route 70 is on decline. This includes the former Burger King then Bob Evans restaurant and that mess of a shopping center, Garden State Paviliions, which should be torn down and converted to a new mixed use center.

     I can’t see folk from Haddonfield and the east side of town willing to shop beyond where the A.C. Line runs over Route 70. It quickly changes to a Pennsauken/Camden feel there.

     Possibly Staples ROSS and ShopRite need to move elsewhere perhaps by Route 38. Route 38 and Church Rd. around the mall is stronger though there are occupancies esp. the former Levitz building, the old Pathmark shopping center, and parts of the Plaza at Cherry Hill. I think however those centers could be repositioned and revitalized esp. with the mall going in strong direction.

     Two big stores to go:
     A ShopRite on Brace Rd. has closed, which was centrally in the center of town, though not in a big box center, and the Oskar Huber Furniture (former Clover) store on the east side of town will be closing.

     Random thought, but could Old Country Buffet at the dead Garden State Pavilions center might work relocated to Moorestown Mall? While it isn’t a Maggiano’s, It could bring a restaurant tenant that is needed by the foodcourt.

351. I can’t really say I’m surprised that the Shop-Rite on Brace Road closed, they seemed to have over expanded with the take over of the former Stop and Shops of South Jersey. Plus, there is already enough shoprites in the area already, they outnumber the amount of Super Fresh’s, Pathmarks and Acme’s.

352. True. The Ravitz family owner has a stranglehold in the east side of Cherry Hill to Marlton, up to parts of Mt.Laurel (Union Mills Rd/East Gate) with many cases some homes between two ShopRites and no competing traditional grocery store within closer distance.

     The Garden State Pav. Store I assume over time will probably compete more against the Pathmark by the mall for the Pennsauken/Camden business.

     But those middle income homes in the center to west part of Cherry Hill 08034 and 08002 can go there, or Wegmans, or the small but somewhat pricey Genuardis, or those in 08034 can drive east over I-295 to the Evesham Rd. ShopRite.

     The newly acquired ShopRites by the Ravitz family all close at 10pm. Originally they closed later, but Ravitz must have figured these stores are either near a lot of competition, or not near major roads to warrant being open, and Ravitz probably picked up these stores too soon.

     The Zallies ShopRites south of Cherry Hill don’t have Wegmans competition and most of the Stop&Shop acquisitions were better for them as most of the existing Zallies locations were old and these were seen as an “upgrade” for them.

     The Ark Rd. ShopRite in Mt.Laurel is owned by Eickhoff that owns some ShopRite stores in northern Burlington County, but the other Mt.Laurel stores were picked up by Ravitz.

353. Just got back from the mall.

     Godiva is now across from the Sephora.

     There is a pretty cool board game store, I think its the same on that they have in KOP, near the food court. I hope its permanent.

     The metal railings on the second floor that are next to the openings looking down to the first floor, are being replaced by glass and it looks pretty nice.

     Subway and Lorenzos Pizza in the foodcourt look like they could open at any time.

354. What’s currently in the foodcourt? Is Taco Bell/A&W open yet?

355. There is no Taco Bell. Is Taco Bell expected to re-open there? I know a new one opened off Haddonfield Rd., which was a Donato’s location before. Lorenzo’s Pizza opened in Voorhees Town Center too.

356. The CHM website said a joint TacoBell/A&W waws “opening soon”

     Also what happened to Donato’s after the fire? Did they move?

357. Abercrombie & Fitch is now open at Deptford Mall

358. It was Famous King of Pizza that was burnt. They rebuilt and I think they do well. Apparently, Peace A Pizza in the Marketplace at the Garden State Park closed. A lot of pizza competition – Wegmans sells pizza, Panera, and even Houlihans in that plaza alone. Same with coffee – with Starbucks, Wegmans and Panera in that plaza. Yet, at the Voorhees Town Center, there is still no cafe. The Auntie Anne’s Pretzels sells coffee on the side, but there is no latte business at VTC yet.

359. Another thing I was surprised to see as a new tenant was Chick Fil A in the Marketplace at the Garden State Park plaza. Chick Fil A is already on Haddonfield Rd. (in a former Burger King location) pretty close to the mall. I know they are doing well, but this is pretty close. Of course, such is common with Subway and Dunkin Donuts.

     The Target across the mall used to have Taco Bell. I think Taco Bells in Target is probably rare at this point, and Taco Bell is always strange with them often closing locations in prime spots. But, I’m glad they are returning to the CH Mall.

360. Re: Marketplace at Garden State Park
     I wanted to buy shoes recently and stopped by the Dick’s there. I can tell you it’s not easy pulling out of the plaza and heading to the next one where DSW is located.

     My preference for shoe shopping is still East Gate Sq./Moorestown where it’s a lot easier to pull in and out from each plaza to the mall, where there is Dick’s, Famous Footwear, Rack Room Shoes, and then Foot Locker, Champ’s, The Shoe Dept. in the mall, and Boscov’s and Macy’s with a selection. It’d complete it well if Finish Line joined the mall.

     Sports Authority used to be around but moved further east to Mt. Laurel Centerton Sq. and recently added another store in Cherry Hill.

     With a number of vacancies in East Gate at some good spots, I wonder if the developer could lure MJM Designer Shoes back there (perhaps at CompUSA former site). MJM is still around with locations in Lawrenceville. I don’t know what big box stores this area is missing. DSW would have been better, but I suppose (like majority of the stores) they chose the Cherry Hill location as it’s spatially farther away from the Marlton store, not to dilute that store.

361. Regarding the Chick-Fil-A, it is “Cafe Style”. No drive through, and has a cafe style feel to it with outdoor seating. If I recall correctly, it was part of a new model of cafe-style stores they plan to open, with Cherry Hill being the first. That place, as well as the one across from the mall are always packed though.

362. I went to East Gate Square this evening, and Modell’s Sporting Goods is opening up at CompUSA’s former site. Modell’s must be doing well. They opened another store in Center City Philadelphia – on Chestnut st. at a site prior held by Loehmann’s, within the last year.

363. Perhaps these could be some new tenants (with the necessary needed renovation as well) to spruce up Moorestown Mall:
     -new Regal screen (~12 screens)
     -new foodcourt
     -restaurant (w/o liquor as Moorestown is dry) perhaps family oriented Old Country Buffet at side end of all.
     1 junior anchor: Filene’s Basement (return to Moorestown some 10 years later)
     girl stores: Joyce Leslie (moves from CH plaza to MM), Forever 21 and Wet Seal re-opens at MM. Girl stores are needed at the mall.
     Finish Line
     Disney Store
     Le Gourmet Chef
     PREIT could position MM as the middle ranged family oriented mall, with a few upscale stores (Lord & Taylor and GUESS), but CHM is the power & leaning upscale mall for the area. A new movie screen isn’t necessary.

     East Gate Square:
     Anna’s Linens – replace Linens N Things
     K&G Fashion Superstore (relocate from CH Church Rd. to East Gate Sq.) to replace OfficeMax.
     Office Depot – replace Circuit City (if Circuit City goes under)

     Lowe’s Hardware then opens a CH store next to Pathmark. Lowe’s originally wanted to open at the race track, for a CH store in the area, but Home Depot signed a deal precluding that.

364. When was Filene’s at Moorestown?

     More importantly, WHERE was it?

     That little Boscov’s annex?

365. Just to make it clear, it was a Filene’s Basement (which was also in Newport Centre) as opposed to a full line Filene’s. It was on the Boscov’s wing and the Boscov’s annex is on the Route 38 side of the mall, then you are correct, AceJay.

     BTW, how’s the construction coming at CHM…are the new center court and expansion wing set to open yet?

366. Yeah I know about the whole basement story. Also, you mean where Lane is now?

     At CHM last week, they had most of the flooring done in the Macy’s wing, and a lot of the ceiling was up and close to completion. The Center court doesn’t look all that complete, but since everything else is nearly done I suppose they’ll be putting all their efforts into it soon. Oh, and the Penney’s court Escalators are running.

367. It was very close to where Lane is. When Filene’s Basement closed, the space was later re leased to Pay/Half. Pay/Half closed and the space was divided to become Aeropostale and Wet Seal. Wet Seal closed within a year and closed out of Echelon as well. Not too long later, DEB closed out of Moorestown as well. I think the Wet Seal space became JUMP but has since been boarded back up. So, the girl stores all left because girls were going to CHM.

     This leads me to believe that Moorestown Mall’s rent is above average (on the high side) but traffic is low, so local less nationally recognized stores like Deb and Pay/Half can’t justify the high rent, but Deb can justify being in CHM because a lot of visitor traffic.

     Deb can justify being in Audubon Crossings because rent is low even though traffic is also low. Since PREIT doesn’t want to lower rent and make the mall like Burlington Ctr., PREIT needs to increase traffic at MM, and they’ve been doing so, but not fast enough to counter the turnover. And, they are likely loaned out for redevelopments at CHM, Voorhees and Plymouth Meeting, so they might be limited in doing something too costly.

     Rather than re-building Moorestown, they can possibly get away with just making cosmetic changes and tenant positioning. In the foodcourt, they should try to lure Noodles & Company, a fast casual chain, which would be popular with the office workers nearby. I think it’d be more received than a buffet place. Noodles has a lot of locations in Baltimore but none in Jersey yet. I think they’d do well and can fit in the space across the movie theater.

     Filene’s Basement should be lured by the Sears side, across EMS, and like EMS have an external entrance and mall entrance. It’d fill some vacancies, and compete against the Marshall’s across the street in the Kmart center.

     Lady Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker can move to between Macy’s and Lord & Taylor. PREIT could offer some stable tenants assistance in relocating to parts of the mall that have chronic vacancy, while opening a block of main space for newer tenants, perhaps girl stores.

     As for CHM, PREIT should look at the tenants at Bridgewater Commons, Freehold Raceway, and KoP among others. They shouldn’t have a hard time getting tenants in CHM.

368. The Gap has moved to the old Houlihans spot. I guess a new big store will take its spot so it’ll fit in with the Garage and the store in construction next to it that is taking shape as well.

     A KB Toys Holiday Store is now open near the spot of the old McDonalds. I assume its a one time thing and once the holidays are over another store will replace it.

     The Nordstrom area is looking better and better each time I go to the mall. You can see through the viewing windows that it is taking shape now.

     Garage looks to open soon.

     A woman at the Disney store said sales have been slow because of the renovations, but I dont think thats any new news for anyone on here.

369. Also…

     The entrance near the Macys has been fixed so that traffic flows more smoothly.

     The Maggiannos looks like it could be good to go in a 2 months or so.

     The new kiosks for the stands in the mall are very nice. But the sales people are still pretty pushy ha.

     The parking garage looks like it could open anyday, they’d just have to clean the debris around it.

     A structure is taking form outside of the parking garage. I believe this is supposed to be a restaurant but I’m sure one of the more well informed know better.

370. Has the new Grand Court area opened yet?

     I heard that Santa is in front of Macy’s this year, so it sounds as though it’s (the Grand Court) not yet ready.

371. Santa is in front of Macy’s. The Grand Court is definately getting there but not done yet.

372. I thought the CH Mall first and second level new retail wing that will surround Nordstrom will be contiguous with the levels of the JCPenney/Old Navy/Modells/foodcourt wing, but it appears like not.

     Over at Moorestown, the Lane Furniture store has closed. The furniture was still left inside the store today! I wonder if PREIT is litigating the closure as a breach of the lease. Apparently, the operator was the same operator that owned Oskar Huber Furniture.

     I think it was retarded of PREIT to sign a deal for a furniture store (flaky in this economy, and was even when Lane opened) at a prime location in the mall in the first place.

     It appears the market can support 5-6 and that’s it: Raymour & Flanigan, Ashley Furniture, Macy’s Furniture, American Signature Furniture, Mealey’s Furniture. On the bright side, it appears that a Route 38 entrance/exit right next to it will open by the Aeropostale. That makes sense. They should later close the other one that is next to Sears, and carve it out for a new retailer (like how Eastern Mountain Sports did on the other side).

     Pei Wei and Potbelly should have been in the mall itself with outside and inside entrances, 2 each, where Lane was. Oh well. I say Noodles and Company by the foodcourt at the location where Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe once was, maybe a Five Below (if FB can move from Centerton Square in Mt.Laurel or open another store), Filene’s Basement and/or a list of girl stores, and apparel outlets, over the nonsense of putting a furniture store in the mall.

373. I have been coming to the Cherry Hill Mall since it opened in 1961. It’s changed a bit over the years. The Penny’s wing was added in 1978 and the new renovation is coming along nicely. They’ve made some structural changes and the new decor and design is quite nice. In the areas that have been completed, it’s bright and airy and the kiosks are new and match the design motifs of the interior. The tile work is interesting and it (to me anyway) gives you the feel of walking down a wide out door pedestrian avenue. Even the new storefronts are made to look like a traditional store. From what I was told by a mall employee, the Gap will not only be in the old Houlihan’s spot but will also occupy its original space once the renovation is completed. It’s going to be nice when it’s finished and I talked to a security guard and he hinted that they may go to a Friday and Saturday night policy similar to the Mall of America and Christiana Mall have where if you’re under 16 (or 17) you have to be with an parent or other adult or you’re out the door. Here’s hoping.

374. Another popular replacement for Lane would be a Trader Joes. Love that store. While nearby Marlton has a store, that one can be for Medford, Marlton, Voorhees and CH east, while this one be for Collingswood, Haddonfield, CH west, Moorestown and Mt.Laurel. It might be hard getting an apparel retail store to refill Lane because of the economy and Moorestown’s somewhat long time trouble with keeping fashion oriented stores, with exception of GUESS and Lord & Taylor.

375. AceJay, anyone, can you get pictures of the mall? I mean, I want to see what it looks like when it’s rebuilt?

376. According to the mall website, J Crew is another one of the new retailers to open soon…(look @ the floorplan. It’s near Aveda.)

377. Yeah I’ll go when it’s -completely- done and take a set of pics

378. I went to CH mall last week, and got a couple of pictures on my camera phone. I will upload them soon. The mall really has changed. Almost looks like a completely different mall with the new White marble and wood accents. The macy’s wing is completely finished, while the JC’ Pennys wing is almost done. Also Nordstroms lettering is up on the side of the store.

379. AJ: I’d like some comparison shots. I assume the shrubbery in front of Penney’s is gone…and apparently, Talbots, Discovery Channel, and JasmineSola are still empty…but the McDonald’s is now a temporary K-B Toys, surprising due to all the closures of KB Toys recently.

380. This site has a few pics on the Strawbridge’s demolition…apparently the basement of the agéd building was pumped full of concrete.

     http://www.centralsalvageco.com/sp-cherry.html

381. Here’s a bunch of pics from The Courier Post:

     http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=BZ&Date=20081118&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=811180805&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1

     I still think the Marble Green facade of macy’s doesn’t fit in at all with the new mall though

382. I will upload them shortly. I didn’t get a whole lot of pictures, but you can see the difference in them from the ones at the top of the page. I also got some shots through the window to the new Grand court being constructed (Which is going very good. Escalators are already up). I also parked my car on the other side, and took the foot bridge over to get some exterior shots from up there. (By the way, the elevator doesn’t even work….)

383. I went to the mall tonight. IT WAS PACKED.

     The renovations are mainly done in the Macy*s wing as someone said earlier. They finally took down the scaffolding and barracades that hid the new centre court from us. Its still under-construction, but at least you can see it. It is immense, almost dizzying, but looks great (even half-finished.) GARAGE is open for business, and it seems like a cool store. Down by where the old food court was, there seems to be a store setting up shop, but no sign is up. From the way it looks, it could very well be Gilly Hicks. Otherwise, on the exterior, Seasons 52 is pretty much done (on the outside at least), and same for Maggianos. I’m still not sure where The Capital Grille and California Pizza Kitchen will be located, but another exterior structure is coming along nicely. The parking Garage is now open.

     All in all everything is really starting to shape up nicely. Sorry I did’nt take pix.

384. the place in the old food court across from aeropostale is most likely abercrombie kids…gilly hicks stores have roman-esque columns out front but if you looks at the store being built, it looks exactly like a kids store…a very large kids store by comparison to most abercrombie stores.

     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gilly_Hicks_storefront.jpg

     what i’m told is that abercrombie kids will be the first new a&f brand to open and that they still aren’t positive they are going to bring gilly and ruehl to cherry hill just yet

385. That makes sence. Thanks for pointing that out, otherwise I would have been expecting a GH in that location. I still think they should put one in this mall though. Is the GH in Deptford confirmed?

386. as far as deptford is concerned, i’m not sure…deptford’s lease plan a while ago showed gilly hicks next to the location of their A&F but i haven’t heard anything else about it since then…

     I was told at one point that A&F had at least one location (specifically on the second floor) to place one of their brands when the new wing opens. originally that was where i heard the kids store was being placed but what is being built across from aeropostale is, no doubt in my mind, an abercrombie store. now what i’ve been told is that they are unsure whether to bring ruehl OR gilly hicks but not both, at least not now.

     not much weight can be put on any of this really as the kids store was originally planned to open when the hollister did and ruehl scheduled to open this past spring at one point. if they aren’t going to open one of the brands in the new wing, obvious other locations could be between garage and the kids store or even the old talbots location after the christmas store vacates…one thing to look for with A&F brands is definately the fact that they need a big location for all of their stores because of their multi-room layout…

387. Hmm. I posted a post on the 21st with pictures, but it doesnt seem to have shown up yet. I assume it has to be approved since it contains images/links?

388. Email Caldor or one of the guys, it must have gotten caught in the spam filter. Got a Photobucket or Flickr link for them instead?

389. I just checked the spam filter and it appears it’s already gone. We get so many spam comments now (hundreds upon hundreds every day) that anything that’s caught erroneously–which tends to include anything with a bunch of links–gets buried really fast. Sorry about that 🙁

     If you want to post it again just let me know right away and I’ll go and make sure it gets marked as “not spam.”

390. I too began my visits to the Cherry Hill Mall in 1961, and we were regulars through the late 1970’s when I moved to upstate Pennsylvania after getting married.

     My wife and I are looking forward to visiting the Mall this holiday season. It has been many years since our last visit — perhaps sometime in the 1980’s.

     For an old-time like me, the improvements appear to have somewhat of a sterile feel to it, compared to the palm trees and fountains of its great past. It was wonderful to stroll through the many pathway areas (including little bridges, birdcages, etc.). The feel was calm and very relaxing. The department stores were quietly elegant.

     I imagine when I walk into the NEW Cherry Hill Mall, there will not be anything to remember or to remind. But I will be happy for the new generation of Cherry Hill shoppers — probably most who post here at labelscar.. This new mall will one day become their memories, just like the old Cherry Hill mall has become mine.

     I’ll probably come back home and look at the old postcards of the Mall, just to relive those days one more time. She sure was Grand.

391. Just wait till it’s 100% done at close to full occupancy (Feb-March?), you may change your mind!

392. I visited the Promenade at Sagemore and its bite out of CH Mall, or Marlton shopping out of Cherry Hill, may be gone. Brooks Brothers has opened in Marlton though. The former Organized Living store, which was vacant for a very long time, is going the route of being subdivided, with Brooks Brothers taking one spot.

     Sagemore has quite a few vacancies, and it appears now the “it” stores maybe inclined to go to CH, and Promenade at Sagemore will more or less be just another plaza/mall. I mean it still has a few stores like Lucky Brand Jeans and Hugo Boss that you won’t find at CH Mall or by the racetrack ctr though. GUESS is in Moorestown Mall and Sagemore.

393. While some stores are pulling out of the Promenade, it will obviously still be the dominant outdoor/lifestyle retail center in South Jersey. I don’t know yet about Garden State Park, becuase it’s not done. With the attaction of the restaurants @The Promenade (PF Changs, Redstone &more) I dont see it going down hill anytime soon. The subdivison of the Organized Living store was a good idea, as nobody needs that much room for a retail store.
     I think Hollister or maybe an Abercrombie&Fitch would be another good addition in the former space along with Brooks Brothers.

394. Yeah, possibly Abercrombie & Fitch, but less likely a womens store by that side of the outdoor ctr, which isn’t as strong.. There are still a number of vacancies, but I think its also the economy, and management maybe not aggressively looking to refill. Otherwise it’d be possible that Aeropostale and half a dozen mid-range chains would join American Eagle Outfitters at Promenade. Promenade, Marlton Square, and Marlton Crossing, the combo of the 3 of them, is basically the subsitute for the Echelon Mall from 10 years ago, though the Ech. Mall anchors (Macy’s Boscovs) remain stranded behind in Voorhees over Marlton.

395. I’m on my way of buying an Apple ipod Touch. With Apple doing so well, would they be inclined to open a store in Deptford Mall, which is successful and serves So. NJ, or another DE store – in Concord Mall? DE for the benefit of sales tax free. I shouldnt be complaining though. Have 2 stores in this area, while Princeton and Mercer Co. lacks a store, though I think the CH Mall store is more of a “to service Philadelphia” store, as Apple for whatever reason isn’t in Center City – though Suburban Square in Ardmore is apparently SEPTA accessible.

396. Apple is spreading pretty fast…just opened up another in North Jersey at Willowbrook Mall, which is sort of a midway point (12 mi either way) between Mall at Short Hills and Garden State Plaza, where there are already Apple stores. They also redid their Bridgewater Commons store to a full-line store (was a “mini”). After what I recently read about Deptford Mall (the possibility of an expansion of Neiman Marcus…on Wikipedia, but I have not seen another source. Although Macerich does know how to improve its portfolio…just look @ Freehold Raceway Mall) it would not surprise me. I would also think that if the expansion of Quakerbridge ever happens, Apple would go there, too.

     Doubt they’d open in in Concord Mall (Christiana Mall has much better access), but I could see them in Oxford Valley (if the Quakerbridge expansion falls through) or Willow Grove.

397. deptford opening neiman marcus is laughable…wikipedia also states that along with neiman marcus, deptford is opening up every store known to man, most of which would not fit anywhere in the vicinity of deptford mall…

     also, the store across from aeropostale at cherry hill has now been revealed as a relocated american eagle, not abercrombie kids…it is easy to understand the confusion however since american eagle’s store design is pretty much a carbon copy of A&F

398. Was there a solid source for this? My guess is the Deptford Mall info is make believe. Haha. At most, maybe a PF Changs and a new AMC screen, with some upscale tenants inside would make sense at Deptford. Maybe they could get Whole Foods as well.

     For majority of So. NJ, if they want to shop upscale its not that far to drive up I-295 to get to the Moorestown Lord & Taylor, or 295-73-38 to CH Mall, or up 130-38 with Nordstrom coming aboard, and Atlantic City has the Pier…..Aside from that, how can there be that much demand and support for a lot more upscale shopping?

     Some of the towns around south of Echelon between Ech. and Deptford like Blackwood, Clementon and such don’t feel upscale. More defined by Save A Lot and FamilyDollar anchored plazas.

     Maybe Oxford Valley could get a Lord & Taylor or Neiman to replace the Boscov store which is no longer existant, and even otherwise, Quakerbridge is supposed to go upscale.

399. as far as deptford is concerned, i’m 24, and as far as i know, no one my age likes to shop at that mall because of the reputation it has as being full of delinquent juveniles whose parents just dropped them off at the mall so that they wouldn’t have to deal with them for a few hours. it’s closer to my house than cherry hill, but i’d much rather drive the extra 20 minutes to go somewhere where i actually enjoy my shopping experience.

     I feel like no one went to deptford mall until there was a hollister there, because it was the only one in south jersey for a while. and when the most popular brand amongst teenagers has only one store open in an area, of course they will flock to that mall. however, since the opening of deptford, Hollister has opened at hamilton, moorestown and cherry hill and there is really nothing special to separate deptford from those malls anymore. everything deptford has, cherry hill has plus more, such as BCBG, apple, armani exchange, old navy, french connection, banana republic, and garage. Furthermore, if rumors are true, cherry hill will also have abercrombie, J. Crew, Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Swarovski, Gilly Hicks, Movado, and (keeping my fingers crossed) Ruehl. Deptford has no way to compete with any of that, as they have allowed “DEB” to lease enough room to consider itself a flagship.

     Also, Ruby Tuesday doesn’t quite stack up against Captial Grille, California Pizza Kitchen, and Maggiano’s. In my opinion, Deptford Mall is getting a little ahead of itself if it thinks it is going to be able to compete with Cherry Hill once it is completed. They were able to get A&F, Sephora, Coach, and a few others, but they simply don’t have the room or the clientele to really lure any more luxury retailers. I mean, yes, it’s great to have a Coach store, but what is the point if you are just going to place it right outside the Macy’s coach department?

400. There tends to be a few chains that are in Deptford that are not in Cherry Hill (Mall, racetrack), or Marlton shopping centers, or Moorestown Mall. But most of them are mid-range. Like Le Gourmet Chef, Delia’s, 5.7.9.

     I went to Moorestown and both the new Route 38 entrances are now open. I read that Forever 21 and Kohl’s are replacing a number of Mervyn’s stores and possibly PREIT cans sign for a Forever 21, Disney some stores already in CH, and then some other mid-range chains in Deptford not in Cherry Hill-Marlton corridor at the MM mall by the Boscov’s as there are a few vacancies, and its a decent long corridor to put a new row of stores, to replace Lane Furniture, CVS, etc. I could see the former Sam Goody(occupied by a mom&pop store that’s going out of business), Whitehall Jewelers (going out of business) across GUESS gonig to something good next year, as now the new Route 38 entrance there is open and its a corner store (windows on both sides).

401. I’ve been there a couple of times over the past month and I’m sure many others have.

     It looks like a good portion of the outdoor construction appears to be done. The Nordstroms looks about done on the exterior along with the other couple of stores and buildings that have been built (but I’m not sure what these are going to become).

     Indoors the mall is really taking shape.

     The new wing interior is taking shape and it looks beautiful. The March/April deadline or whatever I’ve heard about looks like it really could come true.

     Across from the Disney Store a new American Eagle looks to be taking shape pretty well. Next to that is another store but I dont know what it could be. And next to that is Garage which my girlfriend likes.

     J.Crew is coming next to Coach and hopefully a nice store will take the place of the Christmas store which is bound to close soon.

     In the dual layer section of the mall I’m still unsure about what is going to open near the escalators by the Old McDonalds. The KB Store will surely close and hopefully a good tenant will take its place. I really like the games and puzzle shop that is open on the lower level but I’m not sure if that will be permanent.

     The foodcourt is getting there….slowly ha. There is a Subway, Lorenzo’s (very good btw), Juice Place, and the Dairy Queen. There is signage up for A&W and an Asian food place if I recall correctly.

     Hopes this help somewhat if anyone was wondering what was going on.
     Usually once there is an update, several updates follow so I hope this is the case.

402. I visited again for a photo shoot on the 14th. Excuse the photo quality- it was very busy when I visited and I couldn’t use Flash.

     First up; Nordstrom, Seasons 52 and the Main entrance:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/Nordstrom1.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/Nordstrom2.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/Seasons52.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/MainEnt.png

     Now this I find amazingly smart on PREIT’s part- H&M has its own Exterior entrance that will be between Maggiano’s and some other restaurant. Great idea:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/HM.png

     Then the Macy’s Entrance:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/MacysEnt.png

     And here’s something weird. I can’t recall if there was a sign here before, and I couldn’t really see a labelscar, but I thought this was odd. On the Church Road side of JCP (btw for everone thinking something was going on near there, it’s just them digging up the parking lot. The stuff there was just construction materials for the rest of the mall.):
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/JCPLabelscar.png

     Cold Stone Creamery is gone, most likely due to it being winter AND the fact that the construction was going on all around it:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/ColdStoneLabelscar.png

     And here’s some pics from the roof of the parking garage (surprisingly nice design) I still don’t know what the restaurant is going to be next to it:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/NordstromRoof.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/Construction1.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/Construction2.png

     The GAP Entrance should look nice when finished:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/GapConst.png

     And here’s the walkway that will be going into the new wing:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/Walkway.png

     Now as for the interior, as Mike said, it’s definately coming along nicely.
     Here’s the Food Court and the new JC Penney court, complete with Escalators. It’s going to look great when it’s finished, with the JCP Black Glossy background:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/JCPLabelscar.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/FC1.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/FC2.png

     I couldn’t get a good picture of the new transition court, but they redid it and it’s got a much nicer layout.
     abercrombie is going to be in the space across from the GAP, whose entrance is moved to the exit for some reason.
     Here’s the Macy’s wing, it looks very nice:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/GC2Macys1.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/Bistro.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/BlueLight.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/AuntieAnnes.png

     Auntie Anne’s had a huge line. I think they need some kind of food option in the Macy’s court, honestly.

     And finally the Grand Court. It’s coming along well, and they kept SOME of the Gruen design (pillars+wavy lights), amazingly:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/GC1.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/GC2.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/GC3.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/GC4.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/GC5.png
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/GC6.png

     In all seriousness though, if someone had been to the mall during the 90’s, and then visited it when the renovations were complete, they wouldn’t know where they were. It was really confusing going there after being used to the old layout and food court (oh, the memories)

     I did overhear a couple saying they didn’t recognize anything, haha.

     But yeah, I’ll be going to the Nordstorm grand opening, so I’ll take another set then.

     As for surrounding retail, Rt 38 is looking worse than ever with many vacancies between CH and Moorestown, however Moorestown is looking great with the new Facades, I’m SO glad they got rid of the ugly green scheme.

     Over at Garden State Park, the Parking Garage is coming up near The Cheesecake Factory, along with the hotel or whatever it will be. When it’s done, it’ll be so impressive how far they’ve come. I remember when TCF was the only building on that plot of land, and even then the parking lot was full!

     Take care, Happy New Year all!

403. Sorry, the JC Penney Court is here:
     http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a124/AceJay/Malls/CH1214/JCPCourt.png

404. The new CH Mall foodcourt is just too far by the JCPenney wing. Now, I won’t go to the mall hungry, because unless I plan on shopping at JCPenney, Old Navy or Modell’s, its not practical for me to walk all the way down there. I’m sure CH Mall will be like Christiana and King of Prussia though and be more apparel and store oriented. I’d think Lucky Brand Jeans, Lego, Zara and some other stores could open at CH.

     As far as vacancies on Route 38, I agree there are quite a bit but its also slowness in the economy. I think Wawa could open a big store on some site, like where the Pearle store is could move into a regular shopping center. Where else am I going to grab something to quick to eat now that the mall foodcourt is inconvenient.

     Moorestown’s foodcourt is convenient, and it probably gets a lot of nearby Mt.Laurel office workers during the Mon-Fri daytime lunch.

     Other news:
     Moorestown Mall’s Lane Furniture is staying open…pardon our appearance notice…they are getting new furniture

     Over at Voorhees Town Center, Foot Locker moved into a small temp? space on the first level next to Lady Foot Locker. The second level really doesn’t have anything now, except for an old Victoria Secret and Payless, and Lenscrafters. I’m thinking the second level is orienting as a “community center” type place over a retail place. I don’t think PREIT is going to be happy with that direction, since they’ve put so much investment in sprucing up the interior. PREIT should have spruced up Moorestown’s interior first.

     However, I think Macy’s and Boscov’s will continue function at Voorhees for the time being, since Voorhees is an upscale area and for a convenience sake, its a lot easier for someone to pick up something nice from the nearest dept. store (Macy’s in Voorhees) if they live there, then trek to Deptford or CH where its chaotic. The foodcourt is still strong, and some retail on the low level. I think Burlington Center Macy’s, JCPenney and Sears can attract folk from Burlington township, etc. , folk that will buy stuff from the dept. stores but not necessarily anything from the mall.

405. A big thanks for all of the updates and photos. I’ve been following this page since last year. I’m an original 1960’s Cherry Hill Mall regular visitor. I was hoping to visit over the holidays, but decided to wait until the March/April 09 completion date.

     In this day and age of green, I do wish that the overall design looked less clinical. It does have a very modern feel to it — but I won’t go as far as to say “futuristic”, due to its lack of this green element. One will be hard-pressed to find any newer mall designs, or re-designs, that will be as stark from here on out. The design for this probably came to fruition several years ago . . . right on the cusp of — but unfortunately just a fraction before — the current trend. I think the “look and feel” is going to age quickly, mostly due to comparisons to other, newer design schemes that will follow on its heels at other retail establishments (providing the economic outlook supports ANY type of upgrading in the next few years).

     Well, thanks for allowing a place to post. The Cherry Hill Mall (along with Morrestorwn) both played very big roles in my childhood and early teen years. I look forward to visiting (from upstate PA) come Spring, and once again standing in the spot where I stood nearly 50 years ago.

     If I close my eyes I may even be able to hear the fountains.

406. The GUESS store in Moorestown Mall is closing/now closed. It wasn’t a full service store apparently like the Sagemore Marlton store. Let’s face it – That was the only A-list non anchor tenant by the Macy’s Lord&Taylor wing, or in the mall itself, and has been there since Lord&Taylor.

     I think it’s time PREIT realize they won’t be getting A-listers in that wing now….they’ll all go to CH Mall…and to lower the rent in that corridor. Unfortunately, the mid-range chains (Forever 21, Finish Line, etc.) may not be expanding because of the recession.

     PacSun is also gone from Voorhees Town Center. The billboard on Route 73N traveling from Berlin to Marlton advertises PacSun, RadioShack and a few others at Voorhees Town Center.

407. What is the current status of CH? I haven’t seen any updates here in forever!

408. Well, I don’t have any pictures, but I was there today and can bring some pretty interesting updates:

     -Maggianos opened either on March 2nd or 3rd
     -Seasons 52 is supposed to open of March 23rd or somewhere near there.
     -Nordstrom opening at the end of March

     The exterior of the mall looks wonderful, most of the restuaurant structures look done with the exception of California Pizza Kitchen and Capital Grill. There are also a few gaps between the restaurants that will soon be developed into streetfront retail. I’m pretty sure one of the retailers is going to be Urban Outfitters.

     The interior looks amazing, bright, airy and upscale. The new wing is looking like it will probably open up when Nordstrom does. There is a really nice tile mosaic floor in the new center court that looks really nice. The new wing doesnt really have alot of stores looking like theyre going to open yet, but one thing that you definitely can see is a new Coach location. Also, it looks like Brighton Collectibles will be setting up shop in the new wing. Other than that, Im not sure what retailers will be in the new wing. Anyone have any Ideas?

409. A new store I would love to have is Ruehl, but i highly doubt one will be added. A gilly Hicks is definately planned to open. Possibly a 77kids will be opening in the old American Eagle space. Urban Outfitters is most likely coming. And what happened to the Walking Company? Their current location closed so…are they coming back to the new wing?

410. New article on

     http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/16/2009/march/13/cherry-hill-mall-is-growing.html

     Never have heard of Backstage.
     I might go to Maggianos tonight…hope its good.

411. I would focus more on the fact that the Nordstrom will have a real, honest, full-service restaurant inside. That’s exciting!

412. I always thought that would be odd, eating a meal in a dept. store.
     Then I remembered Sears/Kmart had fast food in their stores in the 90s, lol.
     Totally different, but still.

     I wonder which restaurant we’ll go to for the grand opening…. None of them are near us yet. I’m dying to finally try CPK but my parents are fans of Seasons 52 from Orlando, and my brother likes Italian so I wonder, haha.

     The Nordstrom Grill is going to be rediculously expensive. Maybe I’ll grab a coffee or something from them.

413. Nice to see that Nordstrom is returning to having a full-service restaurant. When they first came to NJ and at least until 2001, many Nordstrom locations had “The Pub” (usually at the rear of the Mens Dept) and the “Garden Court”

414. Before Nordstrom opened in White Plains I went to the Paramus location & ate at the Garden Court. That was a real treat, because I only went there when I had to be in Westwood wich wasn’t all that often.

     They had a bread salad that was out of this world! I wish I could have one right about now.

415. Nordstrom’s grand opening is this Friday!

416. Nordstrom officially opened today!

417. That’s great! Im really looking forward to the new shops in the new wing to open up. Im seeing on the leasing plan, in the new wing there is a store that is set to open up called “backstage.” Does anyone have any clue what this is? I have looked a few times to see if I can get any info on it, but no.

418. Nordstrom Opens New Store in New Jersey at Cherry Hill Mall

     March 27, 2009

     SEATTLE, March 27, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ — Leading fashion specialty retailer Nordstrom opened the doors to its new store in South Jersey today at Cherry Hill Mall. The 138,000 square-foot store is the second Nordstrom to serve the greater Philadelphia area and will offer a well-edited selection of designer, luxury and quality fashion brands for women, men and children.

     “We’re thrilled to be opening a store in the updated Cherry Hill Mall,” said Jennifer Strugala, Cherry Hill store manager. “We look forward to serving our customers in South Jersey and hope to offer them a great shopping experience.”

     The new two-level Nordstrom store features a compelling selection of clothing, accessories, cosmetics and shoes, including a designer offering of American and European collections. Customers can shop from well-known designers such as Blumarine, Burberry, Lida Baday, Missoni, Ports 1961 and Temperley. Other hot brands and designers include Clu, Helmut Lang, Tracy Reese and Vince. To complement this offering, the store also offers Chloe, Marc Jacobs and Versace handbags, as well as footwear from Christian Dior, Jimmy Choo, Stuart Weitzman and Tory Burch.

     Nordstrom at Cherry Hill Mall offers a number of services to enhance the shopping experience. These amenities include in-store alterations and tailor shop, certified bra and prosthesis fitters, shoe shine, complimentary gift boxes and Personal Touch — a complimentary wardrobe and shopping service. The store will also feature two food offerings: a Marketplace Cafe and an espresso bar.

     Opening day started at 8:00 a.m. with Nordstrom hosting a cosmetics Beauty Bash. Shoppers learned about the newest cosmetics and fragrances for the spring season, and enjoyed complimentary skincare consultations and makeup lessons from Nordstrom beauty advisors. When the store opened at 10:00 a.m., more than 300 excited employees lined the aisles and cheered enthusiastically to welcome customers through the doors.

     On Wednesday night, over 1,250 guests attended a gala hosted by Nordstrom. The event raised more than $125,000 for three local nonprofits: The Links, Incorporated, Philadelphia Museum of Art and Symphony in C.

     Nordstrom opened its first store in the Philadelphia area at King of Prussia in 1996. The new Nordstrom at Cherry Hill Mall is the retailer’s fifth store in New Jersey.

419. I visited the new and improved Cherry Hill Mall on Friday. Although it is definitely very beautiful, I do miss some of the things that are gone that I felt made the mall unique.

     Shopping in Nordstrom was very fun. This has replaced the Strawbridges. I was at Strawbridges right before they closed for a closing sale and I don’t think the impact of losing it really hit me until more recently, as I did not have a lot of knowledge about the retail industry, etc…my mom had complained that the mall was becoming dowdy,but I kind of liked that. I really liked seeing the escalators for Strawbridges whenever I would visit the mall. I also liked the vintage exterior that had read Cherry Hill Mall. That is all gone. There is a new escalator for Nordstrom, but very modern looking. Gone is the food court too. It wasn’t a stellar food court, but it is pretty weird to just have it gone. All new eateries are there now too, such as Maggianos and other places. They also connected the Bahama Breeze to the mall.

     A lot of new stores are there now too, including Backstage, which seems to be a trendy clothing type store. It’s definitely new and modern, but like I said, I miss some of the older things!

420. Also, the JCPenney is undergoing renovations right now. I think just interior at the moment, but I hope they do exterior as well. Would be nice if it was modernized to the standard of the newer Deptford Mall JCPenney in appearance. Even Modells seems to be have re-arranged things around in the store so its not so closet like.

421. I went to CHM and took a ton of pics of everything last week. Sent the set to Caldor, hopefully he appends the original post with them. Also noticed that JC Penney for some reason now has red exterior lettering, but not inside. Didn’t go inside. Overall I am seriously amazed at how the mall has changed in just two years.

     It seems like just yesterday that I was interviewed by The Courier-Post for eating at the Taco Bell suspected of spreading e-coli there in the mall.

     My school was nearby, and we often had trips to the mall for various reasons. I’ll never forget the awesome Strawbridges staircase. I honestly almost couldn’t recognize the mall now.

     Overall there is a lot of seating and public spaces, but to be honest, the decor is TOO WHITE. It’s as sterile as a hospital =/ No character whatsoever. Too bad they didn’t think of a better design scheme, like what they did with Plymouth Meeting Mall in PA.

     Also, the Macy’s court skylight seems unnatural and rushed. The Auntie Anne’s that was near the Bistro is moving down to next to the Macy’s court, which should provide some hunger relief down there, lol.

     Also Nordstrom was pretty empty. Prices are dumb. The fake storefronts look pretty awesome though haha. Oh, and the Grand court fountain is pretty nifty. And so is the small one near Nordstrom.

422. Your school took field trips to the local mall? Dang. I wish mine did that. I could only remember going to the mall twice in my school years, this one mall in Dallas, and the local mall food court.

423. Yeah well, since it took only a couple minutes to walk there they figured it’d be a decent cheap way to give us something to do. They also said “Hey it’s getting near Xmas/other holidays” and let us go buy gifts. We did a few Secret Santas too. Too bad they didn’t have an arcade…Did they ever? I remember taking a few trips to Moorestown Mall since they had the awesome Vans Skatepark + arcade. Now it just sucks 🙁

424. It seems nowadays, too many malls sport the white generic look. It’s like they wanted the mall’s design to be as boring as possible, to get the attention away from the corridors and into the stores.

425. Over at Moorestown Mall, both Cinnabon and Coffee Beanery are gone. While the recession has hit, and McDonalds right in the foodcourt has cheaper coffees and deserts, I’m surprised that Coffee Beanery is gone – given that it was adjacent to the upscale Lord & Taylor store. I don’t know what the plan is for Moorestown – Boscov’s stayed, but it seems every time I go there more and more in line stores are gone.

426. Then again, Moorestown Mall seems very much like a drive in to your store, then drive out type mall without too much inside, and the Barnes & Noble in East Gate has a much nicer cafe area for those looking to sit in a cafe and get Starbucks coffee.

427. Holy crap, Thanks to the courier-Post we now have a sketch of what the Grand Court was going to look like:

     http://cmsimg.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Site=BZ&Date=20090320&Category=CHMALLPICS&ArtNo=805020802&Ref=PH&Item=13&Maxw=542&Maxh=352&q=60

     Awesome.

     Also, they have about 700 more pictures of the mall in their massive Photo Gallery:
     http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=chmallpics

428. Didn’t AceJay send you the “remodeled” pictures?

429. @Jonah Norason, I did indeed.

430. Does anyone know if Tower records is still there on Rte 38 by the Cherry Hill Mall? I drove around the mall, then went to Moorestown and headed back down 38 byt Cherry Hill and couldn’t find. I need to meet a bus there very early Monday morning and can not find the location. It is so changed around there with all the nice restaurants and stores.

431. @Elaine, the entire Tower Records chain shuttered in fall of 2006, including this location. The plaza that contained it is located nearest the Macy’s store in front of the mall.

432. Thanks!- Am I correct in picturing it where ChucK E. Cheese is and Raymore and Flannigan and Total Wine (in the back) is? That center? I don’t need the exact building cause at 7:30 am I’ll spot the bus!

433. @Elaine, Yeah, it’s right there. I think there are some fixtures left inside but nothing else.

     Here: http://i39.tinypic.com/8zmdn8.png

434. greetings. i just discovered labelscar tonight, first the (former) echelon mall page, then this cherry hill mall page. both pages bring back memories of the ‘good old days’. thanks for the historical postings.

     my family moved to cherry hill in 1959 when i was in kindergarden. i still live in the same house. while i don’t remember the CH Mall’s opening, i do remember the opening nite of the Woodcrest Shopping Center also in the 1960’s.

     having read all 433 posts above i’m surprised that nobody has corrected Caldor’s opening paragraphs about the mall & the township’s history.

     the CH Mall was the FIRST enclosed mall east of the Mississippi, not “one of the very first”.

     “The Cherry Hill Mall … even predates the town of Cherry Hill itself, which was carved from the Delaware Township and named for the mall itself.” not so. “In 1695, the English formed the community of Waterford Township” which was renamed Delaware Twp in 1844. in 1961 voters again simply changed the township’s name from Delaware to Cherry Hill when we finally got our own Post Office. Until then we used other towns’ names for our address. (my side of cherry hill had a Haddonfield address, so i’m guessing that other parts of cherry hill may have used other adjacent post offices, such as Merchantville.) so the township of cherry hill existed way before the Mall, just under the name of Delaware Twp. the mall didn’t predate the town; there was no carving involved.

     the CH Shopping Center (now called CH Mall) was built about 5 years after the Cherry Hill Inn had opened across the street. The Inn was built on the former Cherry Hill Farm, which had been around since at least 1875. so ‘cherry hill’ had been in use for almost a century in that part of Delaware Twp, and voters decided to take that long established name for the entire township. the town was not named (just for) the Mall!

     a brief history of CH is at http://www.cherryhill-nj.com/about/default.asp .

435. @Jon,
     March 15th, 2008 at 10:58 am

     “I had family in Cherry Hill when I was a little kid back in the late 70s-early 80s. My uncle used to take me to a really old McDonald’s built in the 50s in Cherry Hill.”

     can you give us a general idea of what part of town this old McD was located in?

     for example. the McD’s on rt. 70 opposite Ponzio’s Diner at the (former) Ellisburg Circle was knocked down and paved over for a parking lot–for a new McD’s built on the old McD’s parking lot!

436. @AceJay,
     March 25th, 2008 at 11:32 pm

     “Apple store’s Grand opening is this Saturday, at 10am!
     I might actually go there and get some pictures for you guys.”

     i was at the grand opening, and my photos include the same photo view linked to in a post below. what i found most interesting, besides the fact that there’s already an apple store ‘down the street’ in Sagemoor, is that the mall’s apple store is adjacent to a store called ‘mac’! (a women’s store of some sort.)

437. @Alex, May 7th, 2008 at 3:14 pm

     “Houlihans is moving over to the Garden State Park next to Pei Wei.”

     it’s been open a while now, and is supposedly the largest Houlihans in the country.

438. @Zach, October 14th, 2008 at 11:46 am

     “I can’t really say I’m surprised that the Shop-Rite on Brace Road closed, they seemed to have over expanded with the take over of the former Stop and Shops of South Jersey.”

     Mr. Ravitz told me that he was offered an all-or-nothing deal. that is, he had to take all the Stop & Shops as a package. he didn’t want the one on Brace Road, but had no choice if he wanted the others he was offered. So he converted it to ShopRite and then closed it because it was losing money. Last I heard he was still paying rent on the closed store and was using it for storage.

439. @Josh, October 14th, 2008 at 12:01 pm

     “The newly acquired ShopRites by the Ravitz family all close at 10pm. Originally they closed later, but Ravitz must have figured these stores are either near a lot of competition, or not near major roads to warrant being open, and Ravitz probably picked up these stores too soon.”

     they close at 10pm due to lack of business after 10. when Super G opened on Brace road it too had longer hours at first, then pared back. the Super G on Evesham, now ShopRite, also cut back its hours. i don’t think the cut back in hours are due to competition or location, just lack of business after 10pm. Ravitz picked up these stores when they were offered to him.

440. I finally made it to Cherry Hill Mall and I am in complete and absolute awe of what had been done there! I remember what it once was and now I see what it is and I do not recognize the place one bit! At the tail end of its first renovation (which still had signs of what it looked like before), Cherry Hill was slipping a tad…didn’t seem the safest, fountains never ran, and the place looked old and tired.

     The renovation makes the mall look incredibly bright, ceilings were raised to create a more open and airy feel, I’m glad they kept fountains and the Nordstrom in the mall is great! Much more fresh than every other Nordstrom in NJ (obviously, since it’s 7 months old). Lighting effects are also really cool (changing colors, a projected red cherry logo near the former food court and the lighting that makes it look like daytime at night!)

     And the phrase “If you build it, they will come” holds true! At 5PM on a Saturday afternoon, the place was mobbed…and unfortunately, I noticed that CHM is now on my #1 of most psychotic drivers…more than Short Hills or Garden State Plaza!!! And oh, the traffic in the mall and around!!! PREIT should have paid for Cherry Hill Mall Dr to be changed into an overpass from the current at grade, 3 light intersection it is. Route 38 isn’t that bad, but accessing the mall from 38 East can be harrowing.

     I am very impressed with the changes and I understand the complaints of the mall purists, but a change was needed there.

     I did also visit Moorestown Mall and even though people claim it’s tired and in need of an update, I really like it. I like that they still have large fountains in there, the stores are surviving and the parking is much better than at CHM. Sure, some aspects of it could be updated, but others should stay.

441. I realize that I’m in the minority, but I fail to see what is so wonderful about Nordstrom. True, they do have great customer service and nice in-store restaurants, but that is really all they have. Certainly, the quality of customer service does not justify the extremely high prices the store charges (especially in this recession). And besides, I find Nordstrom to be boring since all they sell is clothing, shoes, cosmetics, and jewelry. (Well, to be 100% accurate, they have an extremely tiny department that sells pillows and sheets. However, that really doesn’t count as a true domestics department.)

     I would have much preferred a Bloomingdale’s to have been Strawbridge’s replacement. (It’s a much more interesting store since most locations have big housewares and domestics departments, as well as a small cafe area that sells their delicious frozen yougart.) I’m still surprised that Bloomingdale’s passed on this location when it was theirs for the taking; the only reason for this which makes any sense to me was that the chain felt that three locations in surburban Philadelphia was too much (as they already have stores at King of Prussia and Willow Grove Park). Only the other hand, Nordstrom was probably more eager to open at Cherry Hill since their only other surburban Philadelphia location is at KOP.

442. CHM is so awesome. I was also there yesterday and noticed the much larger and more upscale-looking Aeropostale, trying to compete with the big names around there including Garage, Tillys (awesome), A&F, etc. Wondering if PacSun will either move or renovate. Urban Outfitters is awesome by the way, though the second floor is undersized.

     One thing I’m noticing is that a LOT of stores are swapping places to gain larger SqFt locations, and it’s looking a lot nicer overall with brand new stores. Even Spencer’s moved from the lower level up about 3 spaces towards the old Food Court. Brand new store, very nice.

     Sadly Cold Stone did not return to its’ old location outside the main entrance or anywhere inside the mall. Oh, and there are 3 Auntie Anne’s now, lol. The in-line store next to Gamestop/Old Navy (EB Games closed, strangely enough [while at QB Mall a GameTrader was recently opened]WHY?!?!), one tiny kiosk one next to the Food Court, and one large kiosk all the way next to the Macy’s court. Santa’s village is being constructed as we speak.

     Hm, also, there’s a plaque on a large rock outside of the Macy’s court entrance, near CPK. It says stuff about Cherry Hill Farm and the township.

     Oh, and the pylon sign on Haddonfield Road is great, super visible. I also noticed that Nordstorm did some neat lighting effect showing the shadows of the trees on the building.

     Overall, it’s such an impressive mall. I can only dream of the day when Quakerbridge can beat CHM.

443. @mallguy,

     Another thing I noticed (which AceJay slightly alluded to below) is that the majority of the stores in the mall seem very new and very fresh. They are the most updated in the area and the largest in the area. I have seen similar instances of modern stores/storefronts at other malls such as Garden State Plaza and Short Hills, but to say that Cherry Hill is now in near/in their class is a profound statement!

444. @Max, While I think Bloomindale’s would have been an interesting addition in lieu of Nordstrom, Nordstrom was the conventional choice. When I look at malls that have attracted a Nordstrom, they all have a common bond: they are all new (e.g. The Westchester, Freehold, Pentagon City) or they have been massively renovated/rebuilt/expanded in preparation for their arrival (Garden State Plaza, Roosevelt Field, Tysons Corner, King of Prussia, Cherry Hill). Mall’s know Norstrom’s reputation and draw, hence the reason they seek them. Other stores know the customer draw of Nordstrom and that’s why they are attracted to the malls to where Nordstrom locates.

     Therefore, in a retail sense, it’s a coup for a mall to sign a Nordstrom on and good for everyone involved: Nordstrom, the REIT, the customer and the stores in the mall.

445. @mallguy, Well stated. I know when I’ve gone into Nordstrom it’s always been easy to get what I need despite being visually challenged. Customer service is top notch & a plesure to deal with.

     What Nordstrom did for department stores in malls, Cheesecake Factory & Barns & Noble did for restaurants & destination stores in those same malls.

446. @SEAN,

     Very true! If Cheesecake Factory hadn’t previously located down the road, they would have likely attempted to get into Cherry Hill Mall. Even without CF or Grand Lux, CHM has a very nice restaurant lineup in CPK, Maggiano’s, Seasons 52 and Bahama Breeze.

447. @AceJay,

     I happened to be @ CHM tonight on the way back up north from Philly and I noticed that shadowing. Gotta say, that is really cool and I guarantee it was intended!

     CHM was mobbed tonight with Christmas shoppers!

448. My wife and I finally made our trip to see the new CHM. My family visited regularly throughut the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s, so I not only know the history, but lived it (I’m also shown in one of the 1960’s main court fountain postcards — I’m the little body with the captains hat on).

     Both my wife and I felt that the redesign of the entire mall was very stark and cold. Almost as if it were a movie set in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. It seemed that the proper attire would be a laboratory contamination suit.

     The overall “feel” of the design is devoid entirely of any pleasant stimuli to the senses, lacking life and vitality. Clinical. Sterile. It is the perfect mirror of modern, electronic-based human socialization. I predict that, in this age of going green, this look and feel will become dated rather quickly.

     Now, CHM fans please don’t get upset. You have to remember the world into which the CHM was born, and the folks that were there to live it (myself included). Back then, the CHM reflected (and promoted) grace, warmth and social interaction in its layout and design, and did so by giving visitors an almost shangri-la experience in sights, sounds, and overall atmosphere.

     In the meantime, for me, I’m looking forward and keeping my fingers crossed for the NEXT design.

449. The mall may not be decorated as festively as it used to during the holidays, but the website is quite festive during the holidays!

450. @mallguy, if you haven’t noticed, all PREIT-owned malls have the same website.

451. @Gary, After you mentioned that I did happen to notice. It was pretty cool PREIT did that on their sites for the holidays!

452. @Frank,

     I think it’s meant to appeal to the “high fashion” crowd that CHM now wants to attract. So far, it’s succeeded – I went on the 29th after work, and it was so crowded that I couldn’t move. There’s some awkwardly placed blank walls where the old food court was, but even those were crawling with so many people it was ridiculous. The only part of the redesign I liked were the flashing multi-color lights in the food court, but you can’t appreciate them when you’re drowning in a sea of pushy people.

     Few of the stores in there appealed to me anymore, and the ones that did I could go to without feeling like I was in the ending of “Soylent Green” at the Moorestown Mall. I recommend you go there – I find the quilt theme they’re going with to be unique & home-y, and it’s a neat way to decorate empty storefronts without making them look stark. It beats the huge gaps of blank white space and inexplicable sofas. (BTW, why would you put sofas in for your mid-mall seating? Those things will be putrid in less than a year!)

     CHM wants to go for what I call the “dress size is equal to IQ” crowd, one that I strive to avoid. Good for them that there’s more of that crowd than of mine, but the redesign has brought so many of them out of the woodwork that the “fancy” mall (as it had always been in my family) has lost nearly all of its appeal for me.

453. Hello,

     My name is Matt Siegrist and I formerly worked at the architecture firm that designed the newly rennovated Cherry Hill Mall. I am a graphic designer and was responsible for the design of the signage and graphics at the mall. I was laid off from that firm shortly after the grand opening and have never seen photos of the exterior signs (day or night), specifically the short monument signs, one off Cherry Hill Mall Drive and one off Haddonfield Road. I am in Michigan so it is not possible for me at this time to take a trip there so I ask all of you local people on this blog if you have taken photos of this monument sign, or maybe the next time you visit the mall you can take a few for me. Please!

     Thank You

454. Hey Matt, I took this picture on 4-19-09 from the Pedestrian Bridge over 38:
     http://i46.tinypic.com/tamv7k.jpg

     I’m sorry that you got laid off, after such an impressive job. The renovation seems to be a huge success, with one exception: there’s a bit too much white in the interior, and not enough colors. Specifically the Grand court and Nordstrom wing. It’s not at all bad, but it could have been done better. As Frank and Mela said above, it has a kind of sterilized feel to it.

455. AceJay,

     Thank you for the photograph and the constructive criticism. There are two other smaller signs, about 6′ high and 12′ long that have dimensional shapes in the middle of them, they are located at entrances on Cherry Hill Mall Dr. and Haddonfield Road. Are you familiar with these? If so, do you by chance have any shots of them?

456. Those are great, but no, I didn’t manage to get any pictures of them, sorry! I may go down today, I’ll post here if I do. Does anyone else have any photo requests?

457. @Matt,

     Very sorry to hear about you being laid off – the signage is one of the highlights of the renovation (keeping the old logo but modernizing it effectively and using a font style that won’t easily date). If I can get one from Haddonfield Road, I will. And best of luck in Michigan.

458. @AceJay, Great picture looking towards the mall, I really like its new sign, plus how the entrance from the street into the mall looks! Doesn’t look cheaply designed, like say the ones you’d see at a renovated Colonial or Westfield mall.

     I definitely will detour and make a visit here, if I’m ever in the Philly area.

459. Cherry Hill Mall is HUGE!!!! And they continue to build on! They must have twice the number of stores! But it is too big. You have to be there all day to go through to entire mall. And trust me you’re gonna get tired! Most likely if it’s your first time going in there, your gonna get lost!!!!

460. @Selenads,

     It is big, but if you want to see big, check out Garden State Plaza in Paramus!

     And in my visits to CHM a couple of months ago, I love how the majority of the stores in the mall have been renovated and are some of the most modern in their chains!

461. Who was the General Contractor for the most recent rennovations T the Cherry Hill Mall in NJ?

462. @Matt,
     You
     at be just the person who can help me. My name is Kay and I’m a SJersey Interior Decorator and a client wants to use the etched plexiglass panels in metal frames in their business and I’ve been trying to track down the source. I went to the Mall office but they have not been helpful and PREIT person never returned my call. Any info will be helpful.
     Thank you,
     Kay
     I Want It I Need It, LLC

463. I was just watching an episode of House Hunters on HG-TV that took place in Cherry Hill. In relation to the malls location where are the neighborhoods of Woodcrest, Cherry Valley & Apple Hill. Those were the areas feachered.

464. This is somewhat OT, but does anyone remember the very short-lived Superfresh that operated near the mall from March 1999 to August 2000. (I can’t think of another supermarket that had a shorter run.) The building was originally an S. Klein department store (Superfresh altered the front of the building before opening), and has since become an LA Fitness.

465. @mallguy, Shame on you! you forgot about King of Prussia Plaza. Now that’s big! LOL

466. @SEAN, I’m NJ-centered, lol

467. @Dave, 100 feet is more like 10 stores or so

468. Driving back from Philadelphia, I drove past Cherry Hill Mall tonight and happened to notice there is now a Grand Lux Cafe at the mall!

469. Yes, Mallguy, there is a Grand Lux Cafe in the “Bistro Row.”

     I moved up to this area in February 2006, a year before the Mall did its huge update. Even with Strawbridge closed, I still found Cherry Hill to be overwhelming. I was coming from Cape May County, where you had to drive 45 minutes to the Hamilton Mall/Shore Mall area near Atlantic City to do any major shopping. The mall almost seemed to have too much to do.

     I was just in there yesterday. They just lost their Hallmark’s; they were shutting down a few weeks ago when my best friend visited and we hit the Mall and are gone now. The Bistro’s still going strong, an expensive but popular choice for Cherry Hill’s upscale lunch crowd. My friend and I had delicious salads there.

     I do rather miss the nifty 60s-era signage seen in these photos that were still there when I moved here. I also wish the remodeling hadn’t left the place so sterile. I haven’t checked out Nordstrom’s – I’m afraid they’re a little too upscale for my wallet.