Voorhees Town Center

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www.voorheestowncenter.com

Constructed in 1970 as the Echelon Mall, a bi-level indoor shopping mall in Voorhees, New Jersey, occupying property at the intersection of Burnt Mill and Somerdale Roads. At its peak, it was home to four anchor stores (Sears, JCPenney, Boscovs, and Strawbridge & Clothier) and was the second largest shopping mall in southern New Jersey after nearby Cherry Hill Mall.

Decline came about in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the introduction and/or expansion of not only other shopping malls in southern New Jersey (notably Deptford Mall, Cherry Hill Mall, and Moorestown Mall), but also large outdoor shopping centers near or even adjacent to these malls.

Additionally, Echelon Mall's location proved detrimental to its growth. Whereas the aforementioned malls were situated alongside major New Jersey routes (such as State Routes 42, 70, 38, 55, and Interstate 295), Echelon Mall was located well off its closest major route: White Horse Pike / US 30. Furthermore, property surrounding the mall was very residential in nature and thus could not accommodate the oversized shopping centers that were put into place in the vicinities of Cherry Hill, Moorestown, and Deptford Malls. Before long, almost 75% of Echelon Mall's storefronts were vacant, and two anchor stores (Sears and JCPenney) had left, leaving only Boscov's and Strawbridge & Clothier, which itself became Macys in 2006 following the Macy company's acquisition and subsequent closing of all Strawbridge's locations. Interestingly, these two companies are housed in the same buildings which housed the mall's initial two anchor stores.

In 2007 Echelon Mall was converted into Voorhees Town Center, a mixed-use establishment consisting of part of the Echelon Mall main building, as well as new office and residential properties.

Former anchor stores, in addition to Strawbridge & Clothier, Sears, and JCPenney, included Gimbel's, Stern's, and Lit Brothers.