VOORHEES TWP. — When Macy’s announced earlier this month that the 68 stores it was closing included an anchor store in the Voorhees Town Center, it was another blow against the mixed-use site in Camden County.
It’s been 10 years since the $150 million redevelopment and rebranding of the Voorhees Town Center, but it seems it is still trying to rise from the ashes of the Echelon Mall.
The idea was to create a more lively downtown shopping and residential area on the same property and downsize the mall. Residents, restaurants and shops moved in, but the mall is still plagued by empty storefronts and restaurant spaces. The loss of Macy’s, one of two anchor stores in the building, is not good news.
Property spokeswoman Lisa Milideo said that while the mall owners are sorry to see Macy’s close its doors, they are approaching the situation with a “confident optimism.”
“Voorhees Town Center is in an obvious state of transition,” Milideo said when asked about the vacancies there. “We are transitioning into a ‘Town Center’ from what was once a traditional mall, which is still a positive for the community.”
The other two Macy’s closing in New Jersey are in the Moorestown Mall and in the Preakness Shopping Center in Wayne. The Voorhees, Moorestown and Wayne store closings will mean 77, 107 and 72 associates respectively will lose their jobs, the chain said.
Employees at the stores said the Moorestown location would close in March and the Voorhees store would shut its doors in May.
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Macy’s is an anchor store in the Moorestown Mall, but a mall spokeswoman hinted that the property owner, Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) is considering dividing up the space and diversifying its offerings more.
“We view this as a real opportunity to reshape the landscape of this property and further differentiate it from PREIT’s Cherry Hill Mall, said Heather Crowell, the company’s senior vice president of corporate communications and investor relations. Both malls have Macy’s stores and are only three miles apart. “The remerchandising effort we have undertaken over the past few years has substantially improved the merchandise mix for our shoppers and we look forward to continuing this trend.”
Voorhees Town Center
At the mall last week, shopper Marilyn Carey said the Macy’s will certainly be missed, though she said the selection there was never the best. She wouldn’t mind seeing a Wegman’s go in the space.
The old mall building is just not thriving like the “nicer” boulevard part, she said.
“It’s getting bare,” she said.
The current owners of the Voorhees Town Center, Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty Group, bought it in October 2015 for $13.4 million after PREIT announced that it was losing one of its anchor stores. While there was speculation then that it was Macy’s, the chain did not include the Voorhees store on the list of stores being closed in 2016.
The landscaped boulevard now includes stores, restaurants, and less traditional mall businesses, plus apartments.
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While the vacancies there include the former Yogurtland and Victorian Savories Bakery, there are far more empty spaces inside the mall. Off the food court, which has seven empty eateries, Country Scents was having a closing-down sale last week, flanked on either side by vacant storefronts.
The mall’s second floor is largely vacant other than Macy’s and Boscov’s second levels, several offices including those for Voorhees Township, and the deserted coin-operated children’s rides.
“It’s really empty,” Sondra DeAnthony of Marlton said of the mall while leaving Macy’s. “If you wanted to go shop for a day, you couldn’t come here.”
Milideo said that the public may struggle to grasp the idea that the mall and boulevard are not focused solely on retail, but it is working instead to offer a greater variety of services, from the Camden County Store to Liberty Travel.
Plus, she said, retail operations there are thriving, including Boscov’s, the other anchor store, and Verizon, which recently expanded. Brooklyn Pizza will be moving into the food court this spring, she said.
Milideo said she could not comment on what might go into the Macy’s space until a lease and other legal documents are executed.
Macy’s in Moorestown
Macy’s is also an anchor store of the Moorestown Mall, but the smaller mall is dealing with fewer vacancies than its counterpart in Voorhees.
Crowell said PREIT has been working on the mall’s “transformation” over the past few years, diversifying stores and restaurants, and it saw a 10 percent increase in traffic over the 2016 holiday shopping season.
As for the Macy’s space, she said PREIT is looking for the tenant that best suits the interests and needs of consumers. “We’ve received a number of inbound inquiries about the space and are evaluating a number of alternatives,” she said, but added she was unable to provide details.
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The vacancy may also be an opportunity to “reshape the landscape” of the mall she said. That may mean bringing in multiple tenants to fill the space, instead of just one.
“For the last 10 department stores reconfigured, PREIT has seen 40 percent more in sales generated” from the individual stores that filled the spaces, she said.
Inside the mall, most of the vacant store spaces are clustered around the Sears.
Carmen Delph of Mount Laurel said while heading into the mall last week that she doesn’t shop at Macy’s but is curious to see what will move into the space.
“This Macy’s has been here a long time,” she said. “It’s still a pretty good mall. I think they try to keep it filled. People still come here.”
Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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